Matador dominoes
How do you play Matador Dominoes?
In short. Matador is the variant that breaks the first rule everyone learns.
You do not match like numbers.
You place a tile so that the two touching halves add up to seven.
So a six accepts a one, a five accepts a two, and a four accepts a three.
The goal in Matador is to empty your hand while placing tiles so that every join totals seven, using matadors to escape when you are stuck.
What does matching to seven mean in practice?
If an open end shows a five, the tile you play against it must present a two.
How do you set up a game of Matador?
Use a double-six set. Two players take seven tiles each; more players take five. The rest form a boneyard, and a player who cannot play draws until they can.
Which tiles are the matadors?
Four tiles are matadors: 6-1, 5-2 and 4-3, whose halves already total seven, plus the double blank. It can be played against any open end, is laid crosswise, and the number it leaves showing becomes the new end.
Why are blanks the hardest ends to cover?
Blanks are the trap. A blank end totals seven with nothing, so it can only ever be covered by a matador. Spending your matadors early is the most common way to lose a hand you were winning.
How does a hand of Matador end?
The hand ends when a player places their last tile. That player wins and scores the total pips left in the opponents' hands. If the layout blocks completely, which happens more often here than in Block because blanks are so hard to cover, the lowest pip count wins the hand.
What is the main skill in Matador?
Matador rewards counting which matadors are still unaccounted for, in much the same way that All Threes rewards counting what keeps the ends divisible.