Mexican Train Dominos -Tanglewood Rules

All participants must wear their Tanglewood badge.

Getting Started
11-3 Rule – Draw 11 dominos and the three lowest scores move to another table.

Place dominos face down so the spots do not show and shuffle them. Players draw the required number (11) of dominos. The leftover dominos are set to one side for use throughout game, this known as the boneyard.

The player with highest double starts the game by placing his/her double in the center of the station. Since Tanglewood plays with Double 15 sets, the player holding the domino with double 15 would start the game. If no one has the double 15, the turn goes to the player with double 14, 13, etc. If no one has any doubles, each player must draw, in turn, one domino from the boneyard until a player finds a double. That player also places a domino in the section of the sidings of the station which has one end matching the same number of spots as the center domino. This is referred to as his train.

Each player, in turn, moving to the left around the table, places a domino matching the same number of spots as the center domino into their siding of the station thereby starting their train. If they do not have a matching domino, they must draw one domino from the boneyard. If they do not draw a matching domino, they must put up their train.

If a player does not have at least one domino on their train, that person cannot play on anyone else’s train or the sidecar or satisfy a double until they do have one domino on their train. EXCEPT…That person may continue to draw, in turn, and if they should draw an opener, they may play it on their own train. They are now in the game and play continues as usual.

Play continues to the left with each player matching these spots on the end of their train. If a player has extra dominos with spots matching the domino in the center of the station, they may and should when it becomes their turn, play it on another player’s siding that was unable to start his/her train.

Once everyone around the table has taken their first turn, Tanglewood courtesy requires that if another player has an extra started and someone else does not have any, they should start the other player’s train, in turn. Or, they may start a sidecar (train). No player is obligated to start a sidecar train. This is the train which runs around the table and may be played on by any player when it becomes their turn provided that player has at least one domino on their own train.

Whenever a player does not have a play, they must draw one domino from the boneyard. If they do not draw one that plays, they must put up their train. They continue to draw one domino from the boneyard each time their turn comes around until they draw a domino that can be played. Their train remains up until they are able to play on their own train.

There are no exceptions to this rule. If a player with a train up plays one for more dominos in any configuration, their train does not come down unless and until that players plays on his/her own train. They may, however, play on the sidecar or any other player’s station which has a train up. When a player’s train is up, any other player, in turn, may choose to play on that station.

Playing Doubles
When a player plays a double they must satisfy that double by playing another matching domino on it. If they are unable to satisfy it, they may play on their own train, on the Mexican train or on any other station when the train is up. This applies only to the person who played the ‘unsatisfied double’.

Only the player who plays the unsatisfied double has the choice of playing elsewhere. All following players must attempt to satisfy the double. If they cannot, they must draw a domino from the boneyard. If they are still unable to satisfy the double, they must put up their train. The train will remain up until the player is able to play on his/her own train.

If still unable to play, they, just draw a domino from the boneyard and put up their train. Play continues in this manner until the double is satisfied. Once it is satisfied, normal play resumes. If all 16 dominos for that particular number have been played, then play stops for the game. Each player counts the dominos they have yet to play and add that number to their score.

Playing 2 Doubles
If a player has a double they cannot satisfy, and they have a second double, they must be able to satisfy one of them. The one that can be satisfied is played first. Then the second double is played. Then they satisfy the first double. That player, and only that player, does not have to put
up their train or draw a domino in an attempt to satisfy the second double.

The remaining players, in turn, must satisfy that second double. If a double is a player’s last domino, it does have to be satisfied. The round has ended.

Ending The Round
Tanglewood plays three (3) games of three (3) each.

A round ends when one player is out of dominos. When they play their next-to-last domino, they must ‘tap’ their last domino on the table, thereby alerting the other players so they have an opportunity to play as many points as possible during their next turn. If the player with one domino is unable to play it on their next turn, they must draw from the boneyard and continue as above.

If a situation occurs when there are no dominos left in the boneyard, play continues around the table as many times as possible, until no one has a play left.

Scoring
When a player has played their last domino and the round is ended, each player must count and total all the spots on the dominos they have left. This total is entered in the appropriate place on their score sheet. A double blank is scored as 50 points.

At the end of three (3) rounds, the totals from each round are added together giving an overall score for that game.

At the end of each game (3) rounds, the three (3) players with the lowest scores move to the next table. At the end of the three (3) games, the totals from each game are added together, giving a final score for the bight.
The player with the lowest three (3) total score is the winner.

Prizes
Prizes will be determined and awarded according to the number of players. Winners must be present at the time of awarding of prizes and must have their resident badge.

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