Editor’s note: A big thank you to my friend @mforch who wrote this inaugural guest post live from Porto, Portugal. He comes to MS from the real estate and AP world and has a unique perspective on the game. Enjoy the post!

Greetings from Porto! Yeah, I know, you didn’t ask for a guest post, but I’m dropping this one anyway. Why? Because some old-world plays offer real-world similarities that are too good to keep secret. This game has a way of making you see the matrix (great movie), even in the old world.

I was on a tour here in Portugal today. Most of the crowd? Facts in one ear, out the other. Me? I kept seeing the dead plays. It was the most interesting part of the day to me.

First up, the legendary Window Tax. This brilliant piece of legislation taxed buildings based on the number of windows. The Play: People literally boarded up their windows and disguised them as doors.

Even better? We learned how the Port wine shippers set up their massive storage cellars across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia. Why? To dodge Porto’s city taxes. Pure, unadulterated, geographical arbitrage. They physically moved their business to exploit a jurisdictional loophole. Genius.

Look, the past never perfectly repeats itself, but it sure as hell rhymes. If you find yourself in a city with some ridiculous new restriction, if you’re a gambler, flip a coin. If it lands on Tails, scale your operation on the other side of the river. If you have a lot of Windows™, make them look like doors.

Get out there, scope the landscape, build your own cellar. The world is full of loopholes if you know where to look.

-mforch