Pablo Escobar, the notorious Colombian drug lord, ruled his empire with a mix of brutality and whimsy—a duality that reportedly extended to family game nights. According to his son, Juan Pablo Escobar, the billionaire narcotrafficker couldn’t resist rigging games of Monopoly, turning a harmless board game into a microcosm of his real-life manipulation tactics. The man who bribed governments and evaded armies apparently also fudged dice rolls, hoarded fake cash, and “borrowed” properties from the bank, all to ensure victory over his bewildered relatives.
In his memoir Pablo Escobar: My Father, Juan Pablo recounts how Escobar’s competitive streak and need for control seeped into leisure time. Monopoly, a game about capitalist domination, was his favorite.
The irony is thicker than Escobar’s mustache. Here was a kingpin who smuggled 15 tons of cocaine daily, yet felt compelled to scam his way to Boardwalk. Psychologists might chalk it up to pathological control issues; his family called it “Pablo being Pablo.” Even in fiction, Escobar’s cheating made waves: the Netflix series Narcos depicts him hustling at card games, a nod to his real-life antics.
But was it all fun and (monopoly) games? Juan Pablo’s accounts suggest Escobar’s cheating was less about laughter and more about reinforcing power dynamics. Losing, even symbolically, was unthinkable for a man who built a zoo, airstrips, and a private army to avoid defeat. His family’s forced participation mirrored the fear he instilled nationwide: play by his rules, or else.
Historians caution that such anecdotes, while colorful, shouldn’t soften Escobar’s monstrous legacy. Between rigged dice and real-life hits, he ordered thousands of murders. Yet the Monopoly tales endure as morbidly humanizing footnotes, proving even tyrants have quirks. They also highlight a universal truth: no one likes losing to a sibling, not even if you’re history’s most infamous drug lord.
So, next time you argue over Free Parking cash, remember: Escobar would’ve pocketed it, bought a hotel with counterfeit bills, and maybe bombed the board for good measure. His game night philosophy? “Win by any means”—a mantra that built an empire and destroyed a country. Just don’t try his tactics at home. Monopoly cheaters rarely fare well, unless they’ve also got a private island on standby.
