42 (dominoes)
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42, also known as Texas 42, is a trick-taking game played with a standard set of double six dominoes. 42 is often referred to as the "national game of Texas".[1] Tournaments are held in many towns,[1] and the State Championship tournament is held annually in Hallettsville, Texas on the first Saturday of March each year.[2] In 2011 it was designated the official State Domino Game of Texas.[3]
History
According to a 1985 news article written by Christopher Evans of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the game originated in Garner, Texas. Two local boys, William Thomas and Walter Earl, developed the game in response to a general disapproval of card-playing games held by many Protestants at that time. William and Walter were able to incorporate dominoes in their game, which mimicked the mechanics of a trick-taking card game like pitch. The game they developed, which was the precursor to today's 42, found acceptance since dominoes did not carry the negative stigma of card-playing. From there, the game spread throughout Texas.[4]
Rules
Object
The game is played by four people, in teams of two each, who sit facing each other across the table. The object of the game is to be the first team to reach seven "marks" or 250 points. The game consists of a number of hands (a maximum of 13 hands when playing for marks).
Bid
Before commencing each hand, each player will bid to win the choice of trumps. The bidder determines what to bid by estimating how many of the forty-two (42) total points the team will win in the hand based only on the seven (7) known tiles. The minimum bid is 30. A player may also pass (make no bid). If all players pass, the dealer is either forced to bid or, in some variations of play, the dominoes are reshuffled by the next dealer. Each hand consists of 42 points. One point for each of the 7 tricks, plus 35 points from the 6-4, 5-5, 3-2, 4-1, and 5-0 dominoes, each worth the number of pips it contains. The maximum bid possible is 42, with one exception: a player may bid 84, which means (like 42) that the player must catch all tricks, and the results of the tricks will be stacked atop another as they are played, so as to prevent the players from seeing what has already been introduced into play. The benefit of bidding "84" versus only "42" is that if successful, the bidder wins two marks for the game instead of only one. As the trump is declared by the winner of the bid, one strategy is to bid high if one has most of the dominoes in one particular suit.
Hand
After each player gets one chance to bid, the highest bidder chooses the trump for the hand of play, which can consist of calling a particular suit trumps (blank through six); doubles as trumps, or "follow me" (also known as "no trump," in which there is no trump suit). Some variations of rules allow players to call "no-trump" where doubles as a suit of their own, or doubles are low in their respective suits. Play then proceeds to the left of the person who played. Each player must follow suit, if possible. When led, each domino is considered to belong to the suit of its higher end, unless that domino contains the number of the trump suit, in which case it is considered a member of the trump suit. The double of any suit is the highest-ranking member of that suit, followed by the highest number on the non-suit side. The highest number of the leading suit wins, unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins. The winner of the trick takes the dominoes into their possession and leads on the next trick. If playing for marks, play continues until the bidding team has made their contract, or else is "set" (denied the possibility of winning) by the non-bidding team. At that time, the appropriate team is awarded one or more marks. When playing for points, play continues until all seven tricks have been played, or one person can unquestionably win the remaining tricks.
Scoring
Each trick is worth one point. There are five "count" pieces (those whose spots total five or ten) that are worth that number of points: the 0-5, 1-4 and 2-3 are worth five points each; the 5-5 and 6-4 are each worth ten. The total of all the count pieces (35) plus the seven tricks equals 42, which is the number of points in a hand, hence the name of the game.
- Marks: A game is typically played for seven marks. This can be documented with tally marks, spelling the capital letters ALL, BONFIRE, or by spelling "A" and "M" around a large "T" to make an A&M Logo.
- Points: A game is typically played to 250 points. After the hand, if the bidding team reaches their contract they are awarded the bid they made, not the number of points taken in the hand (if a team bids 30 and reaches 35, only 30 points are awarded for the hand), and the non-bidding team is awarded any points they caught during the hand. If the bidding team does not make their contract they do not score on the hand and the setting team is awarded the bid in addition to any points they caught (if the bid is 30 and the bidding team only catches 26 points, the bidding team receives 0 points while the setting team receives 30 points for the bid and 16 for the points in the hand for a total of 46 points).
Special contracts
- 84 (Two Marks)
- The bidder's team must win all the tricks. Dominoes are played trick atop trick to avoid revealing what has been played thus far in the hand. If the bidder's team succeeds in taking all the tricks, the team earns two marks.
- 42 (One Mark)
- The bidder's team must win all the tricks. The hand is played as per usual.
- 30
- The minimum bid. Successive bids must be higher than this bid, or the player must pass (make no bid).
The highest bid wins the auction and that player has the right to name the trump suit and lead.
Terminology
There are a number of special terms in the game of 42:
- dominoes: rocks, bones
- shuffle: shake, wash, stir
- suit: number on one end of the domino
- 0s: blanks, nils, windows
- 1s: aces
- 2s: deuces (or "ducks")
- 3s: treys
- the one-blank: roach
- the six-three: the devil
- the two-one: domination domino
- the two-three: rabbit's foot
- low: nello, nil
- off(s): domino(es) in bidder's hand that isn't trump suit or double
- bad off(s): offs which if led risk the loss of "count" dominoes (e.g. the five-one)
- to not follow suit when appropriate: renege
- one who reneges: renegger
- play a low domino in an attempt to lose the lead: punt
- a bid made solely to deny your opponent the trump selection: spite bid
- the verb meaning to play a trump on a non-trump: trump
- to have three of the trump suit chosen by your opponent: have them three deep
- the double of any trump suit: the "bull" or "big kahuna"
- the trump immediately below the double: the "cow" or "moo-moo"
- the trump immediately below the cow: the "calf"
- walk: a typically low ranking domino led when all dominoes that can win it have been played
- a hand that cannot be beaten: a rollover hand, a lay down, or a "walker"
- one who pulls too many dominoes when drawing: pregnant
- count which adds up to 5: a nickel
- count which adds up to 10: a dime
- follow-me: a hand called to be played with no trumps
- shooter: bidding 42
- double shooter: bidding 84
- dominoes worth no points: trash
- dominoes worth points: count, grease, sugar, or money
- trumps and doubles: a situation where the person leading knows he can capture all remaining tricks because his hand consists only of doubles and a controlling set of trumps
Optional Rules
Nel-O
Also known as nillo, nil, low, nello, or low-boy, Nel-O is an optional house rule that allows players with an otherwise low-scoring hand to bid. All players must agree to allow Nel-O bidding before the game begins. Sometimes Nel-O is only allowed by the dealer, if the first three players all passed.
A player may choose to bid at least one mark, then bid Nel-O, if they have particularly low dominoes in a hand (the -blanks and -ones of several suits). This means they intend to win the hand by not catching any tricks at all. Their partner then turns their dominoes face down, and does not participate in that hand. The opposing team will play their lowest dominoes, trying to force the Nel-O bidder into catching a trick.
The Nel-O bidder's team scores a mark if they catch no tricks. If the Nel-O bidder catches even one trick, the hand is immediately over, and the opposing team scores a mark.
Other variations of Nel-O treat doubles in a special way. Doubles may be weighted either as the high of their suit, as a suit of their own, or least commonly as the low of their suit. If any of these variants are used, a declaration is required and all players must agree to allow them before play begins.
Plunge
Also called Crash, the bidder bids four marks (or two as a variation), and their partner calls trump without discussion with the bidder. The bidder must have at least four doubles to do this.
Sevens
Another less common rule is to allow a player to bid Sevens. Instead of the highest domino winning each trick, the domino whose sum is closest to seven wins. Dominoes are classified as "sevens" (the 4-3, 5-2, and 6-1), "one away" (dominoes adding to six or eight), "two away" (adding to five or nine), etc. When more than one domino of the same distance from seven is played, the first domino played is considered the winner. A player must bid at least 42 (one mark) to go in sevens, and losing even one trick will set the bidder. When a bid of "sevens" wins the contract, all players reveal their dominoes face-up and order them from sevens to maximum-away. Dominoes must be played in this order by all players.
Moon
Moon is played with 3 people, no teams. In this game, no domino has a special value, and all tricks remain worth one point. The game is played by removing all of the blank dominoes except for the double-blank. If a player is denied the possibility of winning, or set, then they instead lose the amount they bid from their total. The game is played to 21 points, and the minimum bid is 4 (or 5 as a variation). The name of the game comes from "shooting the moon." If a player states during the bidding phase that they will bid 21 (also called "shoot the moon"), then they must catch all tricks. Doing so is worth 21 points. Failing to catch all 7 tricks results in a loss of 21 points. This is the highest possible bid, unless another player elects to "shoot it over" the player who is shooting the moon; this makes their own bid worth 42 points (also called "double shoot"), or 63 (also called "triple shoot"). There are no special contracts in this game.
External links
- Learn to Play 42
- Rules of Domino Games: Texas 42
- CardsAndDominoes.com - Rules and analysis for 42 and its variations, Moon, Partnership Moon, and Domino Euchre
- 42-Online, an online dominoes gaming site
- Texas 42, a Texas 42 iPhone app
- 42 Now, play 42 from your browser
Notes
- ^ a b Roberson, Dennis (2000). Winning 42: Strategy and Lore of the National Game of Texas. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 0-89672-443-3.
- ^ "Hallettsville Chamber of Commerce". Retrieved 2008-10-18.
- ^ "HCR 84". Texas Legislature. Texas Legislature. Archived from the original on June 19, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
Designating 42 as the official State Domino Game of Texas.
- ^ "Texas 42 - A Game of Dominoes". Retrieved 2012-10-09.