Dominoes Rules
Players match tiles by their pip (dot) values, trying to be first to play all their tiles.
2-4 players; a league typically plays a set number of rounds (hands) per fixture and totals the scores.
- •Winner of a hand scores the total pip count remaining in every opponent's hand
- •League table ranks by total points across the season, or first-to-empty-hand wins if playing block-style
- •Tiebreaker: most hands won across the season
- •Tiles are matched end-to-end by equal pip values
- •A player who can't play draws from the boneyard (or passes, if empty)
- •The round ends when someone empties their hand, or when the game is blocked (nobody can play)
Choose one game and stick to it
Dominoes is a family of games rather than one game. Block, draw, Five-Up and Mexican Train all use the same tiles and score completely differently, and a league that has not specified which is being played will produce a table nobody trusts.
Block or draw dominoes with a double-six set is the usual choice for a straightforward league. Mexican Train suits a larger social group and a double-twelve set, and plays much better with four or more players at one table.
Partners and seating
Partnership dominoes, played four-handed with partners opposite, is the traditional competitive format and rewards signalling and counting far more than the individual game does. It also halves the number of results you need to record.
If you run partnerships, rotate them through the season rather than fixing pairs. Fixed pairs entrench the strongest partnership at the top of the table and give everyone else little to play for by week six.
Common questions
What score do you play to?
A common target is 250 in a partnership game or 100 in individual play, with points from the losers' remaining pips at the end of each hand. Setting a target rather than a number of hands keeps the game length predictable for a league night.
What happens when the game is blocked?
When nobody can play, the player with the lowest total pip count wins the hand and scores from the others' remaining tiles. Stating this in your rules matters, because some house versions instead score the round as void.
How many players fit at a table?
Two to four with a double-six set. Larger groups want a double-nine or double-twelve set, which supports up to eight players and is what makes Mexican Train work as a social league format.
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