ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (TheStreet) — Underneath many Christmas trees this year will be the familiar box of the original Monopoly, the best-selling board game in the world.

The place names on that iconic game, where the players land with a roll of dice, are from the Atlantic City of 1934, in part because the streets of the real Atlantic City were named after states and oceans and were generic and memorable enough for a mass audience. Generations have grown up playing a Depression-era game making imaginary deals in a cartoon portrayal of a real place.

The place names in Monopoly are from Atlantic City, N.J., but the real world and game version have diverged radically since the game’s first edition in 1934.

How do current, real-world economics compare with the fictionalized version dating back to the 1930s?

Not so well, actually.

In the game, you can own a railroad for a paltry $200. Off-board, Warren Buffet, our real world Rich Uncle Pennybags, shelled out $26 billion to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A). That’s an awful lot of silver thimbles and race cars.

The world of Hasbro’s(HAS) Monopoly accomplishes something numerous politicians have failed to do over the years: establish a flat tax.

If you land on one of those penalty spots, most pay a straightforward $200 tax. The other option is to hand over 10% of your assets (including real estate holdings) to the bank. In reality, the sort of high roller who owns railroads and hotels would be in a 35% income tax bracket.

Monopoly’s most notable links to the real world are the 22 color-coded streets players vie for, most named for actual avenues and neighborhoods.

In the years that passed since Monopoly was introduced, Atlantic City’s heyday gave way to a much sadder economic state of affairs. In 1976, legislation sought to add shine with legalized gambling. Though casinos and hotels have economically propped up their small section of the city, there hasn’t been much of a trickle-down effect.

To be sure, if you plunked down the real-world equivalent of a red hotel on Boardwalk or Park Place, you have done very well. Even though Atlantic City’s casino business is considered to be stagnant, and even more dampened by the recession, these properties still racked up $3.9 billion in revenues last year.

Although casinos and hotels eat up much of the real estate in this area, expensive residential properties continue to anchor the waterfront. A nine-bedroom, 9,000-square-foot estate brokered by Soleil Sotheby International Realty carries a (recently reduced) price tag of $3.4 million. A listing at Realtor.com features a nine-room row house condo with ocean views for $950,000. Less opulent condos listed are in the $350,000 range.