Dominoes — Rules

International Dominoes for two

The scoring of international dominoes carried over to a game for two. The federation rules describe only the four-player pairs game — this variant is our adaptation. Moving, adjusting the line and the end of a deal are described in the basics.

The deal

Each player gets 7 tiles. The other 14 stay out of play and are never revealed. There is no boneyard: a player with no move passes, and the pass is made automatically.

Who starts

The first deal is started by the player holding the highest tile — the most pips, and on a tie the most pips on one of its halves. Every following deal is started by the winner of the previous one. If a blocked deal was a tie — the player who blocked it.

Scoring

Every tile is worth its pips: 6–6 is 12, 0–0 is zero.

• Someone plays their last tile. They score what is left in the opponent's hand.
• Blocked game. The player with fewer points in hand wins the deal and scores both totals — the opponent's and their own. If they are level, nobody scores.

Blocked game example: you hold 1–2 (3 points), your opponent holds 6–6 (12). You score 3 + 12 = 15.

The match

The first to reach 200 points wins the match.

When offering a game

• The match target.
• Tiles per hand — from 2 to 14.