BONES DOMINOES FREE

If a player plays a domino with the result that both ends of the chain show the same number (normally a number which is useful to the player and distasteful to the opponents), that player is said to have 'stitched up' the ends. A player may only play a tile which has upon it a number showing at one end of the domino chain or the other. The PlayĮach player must in turn then play a tile onto the table positioning it so that it touches one end of the domino chain which thus gradually increases in length. If none of the players hold a double, then the tiles are reshuffled and re-drawn. The tile played must be the double tile that permitted the player to take the first turn. The first person to play is that person holding the double-six, or failing that the double-five and so on.

Remaining dominoes are termed 'sleeping' tiles. Beginners can just place them on their edge in a row facing them.

BONES DOMINOES FREE

The traditional English pub method of doing this is face down in two rows of three so that all six can be picked up with both hands, looked at and returned leaving the other hand free for the equally important business of drinking a pint. Each player draws 6 dominoes and places them so that the other players can't see their value. The dominoes are ritually shuffled face down in circles with the flat of the hand - producing a sound that has been familiar down the centuries.

Bones dominoes