Domino is a game of skill and strategy. One basic strategy is to hold onto your doubles until later in the game. This will prevent your opponent from burying them.
A domino set is a set of playing pieces that are traditionally made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, or ebony. They have contrasting black and white pips.
Rules
There are many different domino games. The most common are blocking and scoring games. Most of these games are played with a standard double-six set, but some also use extended sets such as the double-nine or double-twelve sets.
Generally, the player who wins the previous hand starts the new one. However, if the winning player can’t play (or “dominoes”) his first hand, then the next player has the option of starting the hand.
If a player can’t play his turn, he must “knock” (bang or otherwise tap the edge of a domino on the table) to make it public and allow other players to add to his train. Players may also draw tiles from the boneyard as permitted by the rules of the game, and these are added to their hands according to the rules of the game. Eventually the player with the least combined number of pips on his trains is declared the winner.
Materials
Today’s dominoes come in many different types of materials. Most are mass produced for inexpensive applications such as classroom use or making domino photo mosaics. Others are made by skilled craftsmen using high quality wood and often layered in multiple woods to make beautiful domino sets. These are rarely found in stores and have hefty price tags.
A domino is a rectangular game piece that represents the results of two dice rolls. Each end bears an arrangement of dots (called pips) and is marked as either a number or blank. The most common domino set contains 28 tiles that are twice as long as they are wide.
The earliest dominoes were carved from cow and sheep bones. By the 18th century, they were being manufactured out of tagua nut. In the 19th century, urea and Bakelite were developed. Eventually, plastic from petroleum replaced them. Today, dominoes are still made from a variety of materials including stone, metal and wood.
Variations
There are many variations to the basic game of domino. Some use different types of domino sets, and some involve more than two players. The most common games are the standard Block and Draw games. These games are played with the standard double-six set, although they can also be used with extended (double-nine and double-twelve) sets.
In the Block game, a player draws a number of dominoes from the stock. Then, he places the first tile on the table so that it forms a cross with the other tiles. After the first tile is placed, any other domino may be played on it as long as its matching ends are adjacent.
The game continues in this fashion, with each turn resulting in a new chain that extends across the table. The game ends when a player cannot play a domino or his hand is empty. Some games allow players to add to each other’s trains, though at a limit of one domino per train.
Scoring
In many domino games, players score points for the number of ends in their opponent’s hands. The winning player’s total score is the highest at the end of the hand. In some games, such as bergen and muggins, the scores are based on counting the pips (spots) in opposing players’ hands. Other scoring games, such as Mexican train and chicken foot, involve blocking opponents’ plays. A domino may be played against a block only if the free ends of both matching sides touch.
The value of a domino is indicated by the number of spots or pips on its two ends, which are sometimes called “points”. A higher value indicates a heavier tile; a blank has no value. Various games are played with the standard double-six set; larger sets of dominoes are available for more complex game play. Some games also use a spinner domino, a special type of double six with a rotating marker.
