How to play Draw Dominoes

Objective

Be first to empty your hand, or hold the lowest pip total when no one can play. Win hands to score points, and be the first player to reach 100 points after a completed hand.

This page teaches individual Draw Dominoes with a standard double-six set. Players who cannot match the line draw from the boneyard until they find a playable tile or the boneyard is empty. Block Dominoes, where players never draw, is a separate variant.

Setup

Turn all 28 dominoes face down and mix them thoroughly. This face-down supply is the boneyard.

Deal tiles as follows:

• two or three players: 7 tiles each;
• four players: 6 tiles each.

Keep your tiles hidden from opponents. Leave every undealt tile face down in the boneyard.

The player holding the highest double opens: double-six, then double-five and downward. If no one has a double, the player with the heaviest tile—the greatest total pips—opens. For equal totals, compare the tile’s higher end; if still tied, randomly choose between the tied players. Place the opening tile face up in the centre.

Turns

Play moves clockwise. Add one tile to either open end of the growing line so the touching ends show the same number. A blank matches only a blank.

Doubles are normally placed crosswise to make the line easy to read, but they have only two playable ends like any other tile. A double is not a spinner in this ruleset, so it never creates a third or fourth branch.

If you hold a legal tile, you must play one. You may choose either open end when several moves are possible.

If you cannot play, draw one tile at a time from the boneyard until one of these happens:

• you draw a playable tile, which you play immediately; or
• the boneyard becomes empty, in which case you pass.

Tiles drawn before the playable tile stay in your hand. You may not draw voluntarily when you already have a legal play.

Worked example

The line’s open ends are 2 and 5. You hold 6–3, 4–4 and 1–0, so none can play. Draw from the boneyard. The first tile is 6–1, which also cannot play and stays in your hand. The next tile is 5–3, so place its 5 end against the open 5 and end your turn. The new open end is 3.

For a blocked-hand scoring example, suppose three players finish with pip totals of 6, 11 and 18. The player holding 6 wins the hand and scores the opponents’ combined total minus their own: (11 + 18) − 6 = 23 points.

Winning

A hand ends in either of two ways:

1. Domino: a player plays their last tile. That player scores all pips remaining in every opponent’s hand.
2. Blocked hand: the boneyard is empty and every player passes in succession. The player with the lowest pip total wins and scores the combined pips in all opponents’ hands minus their own total.

Count both halves of every remaining tile. A blank counts zero. If players tie for the lowest total in a blocked hand, score no points for that hand and redeal.

After scoring, turn all tiles face down, shuffle and deal another hand. The opening privilege is determined again from the new hands. The first player to reach 100 or more after a completed hand wins the match.

Common mistakes

• Matching tile totals instead of ends. Only the touching halves need the same pip count.
• Playing on the side of a double. A crosswise double remains part of one line and has only two ends.
• Drawing just one tile and passing. Keep drawing until you find a play or empty the boneyard.
• Drawing while already able to play. This ruleset requires a tile from your hand when one fits.
• Discarding unplayable draws. Every drawn tile stays in your hand.
• Calling the hand blocked while tiles remain to draw. Blocking requires an empty boneyard and a full round of passes.
• Scoring only the winner’s pips. An empty-hand winner takes all opposing pips; a blocked winner scores the opponents’ total minus their own.

Variants

Some tables reserve the last two boneyard tiles instead of drawing them. A draw-one rule takes only one tile before passing, while other groups let players draw voluntarily despite holding a play. State the draw convention before dealing because it changes hand sizes and blocking.

In Block Dominoes, there is no mid-hand draw: a player who cannot match simply passes. Partnership versions seat partners opposite and combine their remaining pips. Match targets such as 50, 150 or 200 are also common.

A spinner lets players build from the sides of a chosen double, creating branches. This page uses a single line with no spinners. Larger double-nine or double-twelve sets support more players but require different hand sizes.