Block Dominoes

This is the simplest and probably the most common domino game. There are any number of variations on the game.

Equipment

The game uses a double six domino set, but other sets can also be used when you have more players.

The Deal

The size of the hand varies with the number of players:

• 2 players get 7 tiles each
• 3 players get 5 tiles each
• 4 players get 5 tiles each

The rest of the tiles stay in the boneyard and are not used in the round.

The Play

The four handed game can be played in partnerships or as individuals. The players draw for the lead and take turns placing tiles on either end of the train. Doubles are played across the line, but are not spinners. A player who cannot play passes. The round stops when one player dominoes or when nobody can play. The lead for the next round passes to the previous leader's left.

Scoring

At the end of the hand, each player counts the total number of pips in his hands. The lowest scoring player is the winner and is credited with the sum of the scores of the losers, minus his own total. If there is a tie for lowest score, then nobody gets a score.

The game is played for 100 points in a two player or partnership game, and for 61 points in a three or four handed game. This convention allows a cribbage board to be used for keeping scores.

Variations

Variations include:

1. Different numbers of tiles in the hands.
2. Drawing for high tile to determine the lead in the first hand, then rotating the lead for the following hands.
3. Drawing for high tile to determine the lead in the hand after a blocked round.
4. Determining the lead by requiring that the highest double be lead first.

Latin Partnership Dominoes

In Spain and Latin America, the usual conventions for the four player partnership game are:

1. Play is counter-clockwise; partners sit facing each other.
2. All the tiles are dealt to the four players - seven tiles each.
3. In the first deal of a new session, the player with the [6-6] begins and must lead this tile. In subsequent deals, the turn to start passes to the right. When a team wins the round (by reaching a score of 100 or more points), the new round is started by the player to the right of the one who started the previous round, and this player may lead any tile.
4. The deal is won by the team of the first player who plays all his tiles. A blocked game is won by the team whose unplayed tiles have a lower pip total. The winners score the pip total of the losing team's unplayed tiles (with no deduction of pip values of their own tiles). If the teams have equal pip totals in a blocked game there is no score for that deal. The first team that achieves a cumulative score of 100 points or more wins the round.

In Africa and parts of Indonesia, the game goes by the name Milo and points are scored differently. The winning partnership gets one point for domino. If the game is blocked, the partnership with the smallest total of pips on their tiles gets one point for the round. If the tile that made domino causes both ends of the train to end in the same suit, then the partnership scores two points. This is called a Milo and can be announced the same way that "Domino" is called. A game is five points.

In Britain, some clubs change the scoring

1. If the winner dominoes with a tile that could have been played on either end of the train, his opponent's scores are doubled.
2. The opponents points are doubled if the winner dominoed with a double.

Strategy

The best play is to set your strongest suit, preferably with a double, so that you will have more options for further plays when it is your turn again. This also tells your partner what your strong suit is so he can play to it.

The better control you have of a suit, the more you should try to leave that suit on the ends of the train.

In a partnership game, you can assume that your partner's lead is his strongest suit and play to it.