Domino rules
How to score dominoes
In the most common domino games, you score by going out first. Your points are the pips (the dots) left in everyone else's hand. Here's how to count them, with examples.
Count the pips left over
When a player plays their last tile, the hand is over. Everyone else turns their leftover tiles face up, and you add up every pip on them. The player who went out scores that total.
A blank half counts zero, so the 0-1 is worth just 1. The double-six is the heaviest tile in the set at 12 pips, which is why good players try to get rid of it early.
Scoring a hand, step by step
- 1A player plays their last tile and calls “Domino!”
- 2Everyone else turns their tiles face up.
- 3Add up every pip in those hands.
- 4Write the total next to the winner's name.
- 5Deal the next hand. The first player or team to reach the target score wins the game.
Watch: score a Puerto Rican game in under 5 minutes
When the game blocks
Sometimes nobody can play, and the game is blocked (a tranque). Then everyone counts the pips in their own hand, and the lowest count wins the hand.
Partner scoring
With four players in two teams, partners share one score. When either partner goes out, the team scores the pips in the two opponents' hands. Partner games are often played to 500.
Bonuses
What score do you play to?
| Game | Common target |
|---|---|
| Draw or Block, 2–4 players | 100 or 150 |
| Partners (two teams) | 500, sometimes 200 |
| All Fives (Muggins) | 200, or 250 for two players |
| Mexican Train | 13 rounds; lowest total wins |
All Fives scores during the hand too, and in Mexican Train points count against you. Each has its own guide below.
Keep score with Pipside
Free, no ads, no download. Tap the tiles left in each hand and Pipside adds up the pips.
Start a gameCommon questions
- Do blanks count as zero?
- Yes. A blank half is worth nothing, so the 0-0 counts 0 and the 0-5 counts 5. The exception is Mexican Train at many tables, where a leftover double-blank counts 50 as a house rule.
- Does the winner count their partner's tiles?
- It depends on the table. Many count only the two opponents' hands; many Caribbean tables, Dominican ones especially, count all three other hands. Agree before you start, and in Pipside turn on Count partner's tiles too in House rules.
- What if the lowest hands tie in a blocked game?
- Most tables give nobody points for that hand and deal the next one.
- What's the easiest way to keep score?
- Paper works fine. Pipside is free and does the adding for you: tap the tiles left in each hand and it totals the pips.
Where these rules come from
Tables play differently. These are the most widely documented rules we checked against.