The Only Game in Town
Why the author thinks Dominoes is the world’s best game, and he its best player.
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• Psychology VI: Play rapidly against those who ponder or hesitate; conversely, slow down against those who love slam-bang action. This is easier than it sounds: while your slow opponent is pondering, you have the opportunity to ponder the various potential options without appearing to. Thus when he plays, you snap back so quickly he thinks he’s pitted against a computer. This gives him no breathing room; no sooner has he made his difficult choice than he’s forced to think out yet another difficult decision. It helps to say periodically—quietly, and with a touch of solicitation—“Do you pass?,” as if to indicate he faces an impossible situation, or soon will. Against the action-loving foe, on the other hand, never say a mumbling word during those long silences while you pretend to ponder: do not answer his questions, the telephone, or a small child’s pitiful cry for help. Do nothing to assist time’s slow passage. Even after you select the rock to be played, pause with your arm in mid-air, purse your lips thoughtfully, and then place it ever so slowly and gently down.
• Psychology VII: If it appears your opponent is likely to domino—that is, end the hand by playing his last rock before you can—then get rid of your larger rocks. The primary reason is obvious: to keep from being caught with a big count in your hand. The second benefit is more subtle: if your opponent catches you with four rocks, say, he’ll have sugar-plum visions of scoring no less than 35 points. If you surrender, against those great expectations, noting more than blanks, aces, deuces, and treys, he’ll be disappointed and demoralized. This is especially effective after you’ve dominoed on him for large profits, and he has anticipated sweet revenge.
• Psychology VIII: At the point where it appears most propitious—and here you must judge your man, whether you should act when the game is close or as you begin to pull away—you kindly and innocently ask the opponent whether he is capable of beating a notoriously bad Domino player of mutual acquaintance, as: “Burnett, have you ever beat ole Wayne Oakes?”
• Psychology IX: When ahead, or after enjoying a particularly profitable hand, announce the score during each subsequent shuffling of the dominoes; when behind, yawn and otherwise act as if the score is a matter of supreme indifference at that point in time.
• Psychology X: Appear totally astonished when you quickly “go out”—i.e., win a game—as: “My God, already?” You may follow by saying, “Gee, I didn’t realize . . .” and let it trail off. Or say, “Mercy, that’s the quickest I ever ….” It may make the opponent super-cautious in the next game: he won’t want to be understood too quickly. You are then free to take bold gambles while your opponent—concentrating on keeping the score respectable—may be timid in claiming repeater counts or reluctant to initiate his own offensive.
• Psychology XI: After a particularly close game, especially if your opponent appears pleased by his effort, say: “You’re a little rusty, Wayne, but otherwise that really wasn’t too bad.”
• Psychology XII: If safely ahead of an opponent, and you need five or ten to win when it is your down, do not down the rock that would put you out. After you make the necessary five or ten on the board, smile and permit your opponent to realize you kept the game going longer than necessary. This implies the utmost contempt for his skills, and is particularly shattering in the early going.
• Psychology XIII: Against a pressing, desperate foe periodically ask—as if you aren’t keeping track—“Whose down is it?” Eventually, backed into a corner and fearing to lose the game during the next hand, he’ll claim a down out of turn. One then looks sincerely puzzled and says, “No, wait—I believe you downed the six-four that time and got in all that trouble. Isn’t that right?” He’ll agree, of course, reaffirming that he was in deep trouble and, hopefully, will feel cheap and guilty as cheaters properly should.
• Psychology XIV: Never appear to doubt the tall tales of your opponent, no matter how improbable. Except for us Champions, who have no need to gild the lily, Domino players are incorrigible liars and braggarts. Smile, nod, and politely murmur as your opponent tells of humiliating ole Joe or ole Bill or ole Bob. Then you say in admiration, “Gee, Cedric, you must have really been good . . . back then. Gimme twenty-five....”
These tips, while helpful to amateurs, are largely known to the ranking players of Texas. The real professional secrets I shall reserve until next faced with a worthy challenger, if any. You don’t think Amarillo Slim would show you his hole card, now do you?
What To Play With …
A serious Domino match is usually played with ivory rocks. But in the West Texas oil patch, many of the best players have a set of A.L. “Babe” Ringle’s mesquite dominoes.
Ringle lives in Big Lake, a small oil town about an hour’s drive from San Angelo, Midland-Odessa, or Big Spring. He finds mesquite in the pastures near Big Lake, cuts it into strips in his garage, and then into small blocks the size of dominoes. After sanding and varnishing several times, he works the dots in with a drill, paints them with a cotton-covered toothpick, and makes a box for the set. Needless to say, he can’t make too many at this rate, but he makes all he can and he sells all he makes. His dominoes can be purchased in Big Spring, Odessa, San Angelo, Rankin, and Big Lake, as well as in Ruidoso and Artesia, New Mexico. Oh, yes. He has also sold 36 sets to Neiman-Marcus.
When The Pips Are Down
Dominoes is easy to learn and hard to master. Any ten-year-old can grasp its fundamentals; after that his progress is largely determined by his own cunning and other personality skills that cannot be taught.
The game is played with 28 rectangular blocks known as dominoes, or rocks. The face of each domino is divided in two, each half containing markings similar to a pair of dice—except that some are blank. The 28 dominoes represent all possible combinations from double blank to double six.
In two-handed Dominoes, the players draw for the right to start the game (known as the down). After the dominoes are reshuffled, each player draws seven; the remaining fourteen rocks go into the boneyard to await the unwary or inattentive player. Any domino may be played on the down, but subsequent play is restricted: players must follow suit by matching the pips (spots) on the exposed ends of the dominoes. Rocks are placed end-to-end, except for doubles, which are set down at right angles to the main line of dominoes. The first double played becomes the spinner and may be developed in all four directions, but other doubles do not affect the direction of play.
Players may score in two ways. After each play, the number of pips on all open ends is added; if the sum is divisible by five, a player scores the total. (A six-four on the down would score ten for the opening player; his opponent could retaliate with a six-one to score five). When a player puts down his last rock with a triumphant “Domino!” he scores the value of the pips in his opponent’s hand. The strategy is simple: score, keep your opponent from scoring, block his plays and make him draw from the boneyard, and then go out. Game is 250, or anything else you want to make it.
That’s all you need to know to become State Domino Champion except Larry L. King’s telephone number.
. . . And Where To Play
Some of the best Domino players in Texas live in and around the town of Taylor 30 miles northeast of Austin. For many years they would gather at Zieschang’s Bar and Cafe in nearby Noack, until the day several years ago when the place burned to the ground. Undaunted, the regulars continued to play on the slab until the cafe was rebuilt. Domino Parlors inspire this kind of loyalty, and in return, they have enriched the social and cultural lives of their communities. The pervasive smell of stale beer that seems common to most Domino Halls leads the uninitiated to describe them as “dives”; in truth, however, that smell is as much a part of Dominoes as the crisp scent of autumn is of football.
Where to play—Austin: Town Pump Lounge, 1500 Barton Springs Road (country and western music and shag carpeting); Corpus Christi: Wilson Building Sandwich Shop, 613 Leopard (everyone from businessmen to ranchers); Dallas: Pla-Mor Recreation Club, 1913 Commerce (offers Bridge and Pool also); Forth Worth: Idle Hours Club, 103 W. Exchange (near the stockyards); Houston: La Bodega Wine Cellar, 2402 Mandell (a highbrow pub with imported wines and cheeses); San Antonio: El Fenix Grill, 925 W. Houston (good sandwiches).
Put Up or Shut Up
“I’m a pretty good Domino player, but it’s a bad game. It’s too much of a sure-thing game. You can learn to be a perfect Domino player—there are plays that are automatically right and plays that are automatically wrong. Games like Backgammon and Bridge are still evolving; we’re not close to knowing all there is to know about them. The inferences in Dominoes are simple compared to Bridge. Anyway, who is this Larry King? I’d back Red McLaughlin of Oklahoma City against him any day.”—Oswald Jacoby, Dallas, world champion Bridge and Backgammon expert.
“Dominoes is a good game, an intriguing game. It’s very definitely a game of skill; I’d say it’s only about ten per cent luck. It requires a lot of concentration and thought. You tell Oswald Jacoby that if he posts $10,000 I’ll back another man from Oklahoma against Red McLaughlin, and if he’ll post twice that, this anonymous guy and I will play some partnership Dominoes against Mr. Jacoby and his Red McLaughlin. You can tell him that, you hear?”—T.A. Preston, Jr., Amarillo (Amarillo Slim), world champion Poker player.
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