domino-play How to play...  

 

Domino Euchre

A domino version of the playing-card game Euchre, played with a Double-Six domino set., by two, three or four players, but best played with four as two partners.

Play:

The dominoes are shuffled, facedown, to form the boneyard and then either the player designated dealer deals five tiles to each player, or players draw their own five tiles from the boneyard, depending on the convention agreed upon by all the players.

The dealer or designated player draws a tile from the boneyard and turns it face-up to determine the "trump" suit, which is the highest pipped suit value on the domino.  Suits of a different value to the trump are ranked in descending order from 6 down to blank (0).  However, the double of the trump suit is known as the "Right Bower" and ranks highest of all.  The double of the suit one below the trump suit is known as the "Left Bower" and ranks as the second highest tile.  Should the trump suit be blank (0), and their isn't a suit numbered below it, then the double-six becomes the "Left Bower".  So, for example, if 5 is the trump suit, then the tiles would rank in descending order as 5-5, 4-4, 4-6, 4-5, 3-4, 2-4, 1-4, 0-4 and with the remaining tiles ranked in descending order by the highest suit then followed by the other but with doubles ranked highest in their suit..

Each round begins with the player next to the dealer or designated lead player, and then with players in turn, either accepting the trump suit or passing. So, in turn players must either do one of the following two things:

  • Accept the trump. In Euchre terminology this is traditionally known as "Ordering Up" when an opponent of the dealer accepts it, "Assisting" when the dealer's partner does it, or "Taking Up" when the dealer accepts it. The player who accepts the trump suit also has the option of announcing and adding "Alone" to his bid.
  • Pass. Meaning the player doesn't like the trump and the bid passes to the next player.

Should all players, including the dealer or lead player, pass, then a new trump tile is taken from the boneyard and turned face-up. The accepting or passing process is then repeated for the new trump. Again, if no player accepts, then another tile is taken from the boneyard and turned face-up to show trumps, and the process repeated for a third time. If no one has accepted the trump suit after the third round, then all players' tiles are returned to the boneyard and they are reshuffled and dealt again to start a new hand.

Once the trump suit has been accepted, the dealer takes the turned up trump tile and discards one tile from his hand, facedown.

The player next to the dealer/lead player plays a tile into the centre of the playing area and announces which suit on the tile he is playing. The other players, in turn, play a tile and must follow suit if able. If they don't hold a tile of the first played suit, they may play a tile bearing the trump suit or any other tile of their choice. The highest ranked tile of the played suit wins the trick unless a trump was played and the highest ranked trump tile then wins. The player who won the trick then plays the next lead tile in the next trick.

If the player who won the bid chose to announce "Alone", then if he is playing with a partner, the partner places his hand facedown on the playing area and takes no part in the play of that hand. The player next to the bidder plays the lead tile for the first trick.

Should the partnership who made trumps, win five tricks, they are said to have "made a match" and score two points. Should the partnership win three or four tricks, they are said to have "made point" and score one point. If the partnership fails to win more than two tricks, they are said to have been "euchred" and the other partnership scores two points.

Should a player announce they are playing "Alone" and they win five tricks, his partnership scores four points. If he plays "Alone" and wins three or four tricks, his partnership scores one point. If he doesn't win more than two tricks, then the other partnership scores two points.

The first partnership to score five points, wins the game.

 

 

To Find A Comprehensive List Of Many Other Domino Games, Visit...

www.domino-play.com/GamesAtoZ.htm


Copyright © 2022 Stormdark I.P. & Media  -  www.domino-play.com
The content of this page is for personal use only and may not be copied or reproduced in any form, including digital, for any purpose without prior written permission from the author and publisher.  Copyright is retained on all text and illustrations.