42 (dominoes)
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". Tournaments are held in many towns, and the State Championship tournament is held annually in Hallettsville, Texas on the first Saturday of March each year. In 2011 it was designated the official State Domino Game of Texas.
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 1887 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.Rules
Object
The game is played by four people, in teams of two each, where the partners sit across from each other. 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.Bid
Before each hand, and based on the seven dominoes drawn by each player, the first person clockwise from the dealer will either pass or bid in order to win the right to choose the trumps and style of play for that hand. Typically, the bidder determines what to bid by estimating how many of the forty-two total points the team will win based on those seven dominoes. The minimum bid is 30. If all players pass the dealer must bid 30. In some variations the dominoes are reshuffled and the hand restarts. The 42 points consist of one point for each of the seven tricks, plus 35 points from the five "count" dominoes whose total pips are a multiple of 5 and double-five tiles for 10 points each, as well as the 4-1, 3-2, and 5-0 tiles for 5 points each). The reward for attaining the bid is typically a tally mark, or in numerical scoring, the reward is the point total the player bid in a race to 250. The bids can occasionally be stated in "marks", signifying the tally mark awarded to a winning hand. The maximum opening bid under standard bidding is two marks, or "84", with each successive bid being one additional mark. Each player outbidding the opening maximum bid would result in a bid of 5 marks. There are many variations and exceptions to standard bidding, which are covered in Special Contracts, below.Hand
After each player gets one chance to bid, the highest bidder chooses the trump for that hand, which can consist of designating as the trump one of the following: a particular "suit" ; doubles ; or may play with no trump, also known as "follow me".Play then proceeds in a clockwise fashion with the high bidder having the first play of the first trick. All players must follow the lead with the same suit if possible, known as "following suit", unless the other end of the domino is the trump suit. If they do not have a domino matching the suit of the lead, they may play any domino. When led, each tile is considered to belong to the suit of its higher number, unless the tile is a trump. For example, the 4:3 domino is a 4 unless threes are trumps. The highest valued domino of the leading suit wins, unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins. In any suit, the double of that suit is highest, and then the tiles are ranked by the off-suit pip.
The winner of the trick usually moves the played dominoes to an area near their hand, face up. The winner then plays first on the next hand. If playing for marks, play continues until the bidding team has scored enough to match their bid, or else is "set" by not winning enough tricks and points to match their bid. At that time, the team with the highest score and who has made their contract is awarded the correct number of marks. When playing for points, play continues until all seven tricks have been won. The high-bidder receives the points they win if they make their bid. If not, the team that sets them wins their bid plus any points they took during the hand. Example, if a team with a winning bid of 30 wins 31 points, they add 31 points to their total. If that team does not reach their bid, they get zero points. The other team receives the bid amount plus the points won during the hand.
In some cases, when playing for marks, if the player leading has no chance of losing, that player may "lay down", meaning they show why they can't lose by exposing the remaining dominoes. A miscalculation here will usually result in the automatic loss of the game. However, it is usually done as a time-saver for experienced players.
Scoring
Each trick is worth one point. There are five "count" pieces that are worth that number of points: the 0-5, 1-4 and 2-3 tiles are worth five points each; the double-five and 6-4 tiles are each worth ten. The total of all the count pieces 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 is usually documented with tally marks. Some players mark straight lines that spell out the capital letters ALL.
- Points: A game is typically played to 250 points. After the hand, if the bidding team reaches their bid they are awarded the number of points taken in 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 .
Special contracts
- 84
- 42
- 30
Terminology
There are a number of special terms in the game of 42:;0s: blanks, nils, windows
;1s: aces
;2s: deuces
;3s: treys
;bad offs: offs which if led risk the loss of "count" dominoes
;bones, rocks: dominoes
;bull : the double of any trump suit
;calf: the trump immediately below the cow
;count, grease, sugar, game, or money: dominoes worth points
;cow : the trump immediately below the double
;the devil: the 6-3 tile
;dime: a count which adds up to 10
;domination domino: the 2-1 tile
;double shooter: bidding 84
;follow-me: a hand called to be played with no trumps
;Greer County: the 6-5 tile
;have them three deep: to have three of the trump suit chosen by an opponent
;nello, nil: low
;nickel: a count which adds up to 5
;off: domino in bidder's hand that isn't trump suit or double
;the 1-0 tile: roach, the Diane, Little Willy
;pregnant: one who pulls too many dominoes when drawing
;punt: play a low domino in an attempt to lose the lead
;rabbit's foot: the 2-3 tile
;renege: to not follow suit when appropriate
;rollover : a hand that cannot be beaten
;shake, wash, stir: to shuffle the dominoes
;shooter: bidding 42
;spite bid: a bid made solely to deny an opponent the trump selection
;suit: number on one end of the domino
;trash: dominoes worth no points
;trump: as a verb, to play a trump on a non-trump
;trumps and doubles: a situation where the person leading knows they can capture all remaining tricks because their hand consists only of doubles and a controlling set of trumps
;walk: a typically low ranking domino led when all dominoes that can win it have been played
Optional Rules
Nel-O
Also known as nillo, nil, low, nello, nullo, 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 nel-o, instead of bidding a number or passing, if they have particularly low dominoes in a hand. 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.
Nel-o rules may also be used in the domino game "Shoot the Moon".
Splash
The bidder bids three marks, and their partner controls the game as if the partner won the bid, without discussion with the bidder. The bidder must have three doubles to do this. Some variants have a "Splash" worth two marks.Plunge
Also called Crash, this variation is exactly like Splash, except four marks are bid and the bidder must have four doubles. Jump bids are allowed for Splash and Plunge. All tricks must be won for a successful plunge bid. If the opponents win even one trick the plunge bid fails and the opponents get the marks.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", 5-2, and 6-1 tiles), "one away", "two away", 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 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.An even less common version of Sevens is looper, where the bidder takes it for less than 42 points and can lose a trick.
Both Sevens and Looper are not widely played and are rarely allowed by legitimate 42 players.