Sevens

Joe Celko reports that this game appeared on the Internet on a Dutch web site: Teun Spaans' Domino Plaza, but it is no longer listed there. It is the domino equivalent of the card game Fan Tan (also sometimes known as Sevens).

Equipment

The game uses a double six domino set.

The Deal

Each player draws seven tiles, with the remainder forming the boneyard. Because four players would exhaust the boneyard, this game is best for two or three players.

The Play

The player holding the highest double leads with that double. If no player holds a double, then the hand is re-dealt until someone does have a double to lead.

Play continues clockwise with each player laying a tile according to the following rules:

A double may be placed next to another double, provided the double to be played is of the next (higher or lower) rank. Doubles form the top of the triangle (see the diagram below).

A non-double tile may be placed immediately below another tile in the triangle, if it fits the pattern in the diagram below. The smaller end must match that of the domino above it and the larger end must contain one pip more than the corresponding end of the tile above it.

If a player can play, they must do so. If they can not play, they must draw a tile from the boneyard instead. If the boneyard is empty, they simply lose their turn.

Scoring

The winner is the first person to domino.

Comments & Strategy

Another variant of the game allows the lead to be any tile or to be a tile turned over at random from the boneyard. From this the triangle would presumably be built upwards, downwards and sideways.