The first team to reach 150 points wins the game. This total is awarded to the winning teamвЂ™s score. Once the winning team is determined (by domino or low score), the losing team (and only the losing team) counts the value of their remaining fichas. Each player counts the value of the remaining fichas in his hand and the person with the lowest total wins - the team actually wins as the partner вЂњrides alongвЂќ on the victory of his partner. If none of the players can make any more plays, the game also ends. You might hear the winner call out вЂњDomino!вЂќ However, you are much more likely to hear the losing team call out a Spanish expletive or two. Play continues until one player runs out of dominoes.

Remember, only one tile can be played in each turn! However, a double is traditionally laid perpendicular to the tile it matches - forming a вЂњTвЂќ shape. The player does not have the right (or obligation) to play another tile. Unlike some versions of dominoes, playing a double has no special significance. Each player may play only one tile per turn. If a player canвЂ™t make a match from his hand, the player passes his turn (вЂњUn PaseвЂќ) to the player on his right (counter clockwise). (There are no вЂњspinnersвЂќ in Cuban dominoes.) There are always two and only two open ends where a play can be made. They, and the rest of the extras, are out of play and NEVER played again.ДЄs in most games of dominoes, each player tries to match the dots on one end of a ficha from his hand with the dots on an open end of any ficha on the board. The four fichas drawn to select the first player are returned to the extras pile. Obviously, itвЂ™s nice to get rid of a high value ficha early! It is traditional to begin the game with the double nine, if you have it. Whoever gets the ficha with the highest number gets to go first. In the beginning, each player picks one ficha from the 15 pieces that were set aside. Some domino tables have special channels or a raised edge to help keep the hand upright. Each player places the 10 dominoes in his вЂњhandвЂќ on edge facing away from the other players so that only the player can see them. Once shuffled, each player takes 10 dominoes each (40 in total), leaving 15 pieces aside. One player mixes up the tiles by sliding them around randomly.

The fichas, or tiles, are placed face down on the domino table. The two teams usually play three sets - whoever wins two games out of three wins the match. The most popular game is played to 150 points. There are three standard games: 100, 150, or the longest version, which is 200 points. Two teams of two players acting as partners play Cuban dominoes. In all of Cuba, Double Nine (55-piece dominoes) is the most widely played version of dominoes, except for Santiago de Cuba where they traditionally play Double Six (28-piece dominoes). Master these rules and you can feel comfortable playing the game on Calle Ocho or even in Havana. However, the Cuban Game is unique and we preserve the original rules here. There must be a hundred different ways to play dominoes. Visitors to Calle Ocho are often drawn to the park by the click-clack noise of the tiles - called вЂњfichasвЂќ in Spanish - and the sounds of heavy Cuban Spanish arguing and laughing. In the United States this tradition is kept alive at Maximo Gomez Domino Park on Calle Ocho in Miami, where many of вЂњLos VeteranosвЂќ - older Cuban gentlemen, many smoking cigars and wearing the traditional guayabera shirt, keep several tables in a constant state of activity. You frequently see people playing games in parks and other public areas. For many, the game is a daily social event that combines competition with camaraderie. The game of dominoes is the national game of Cuba.

Cuban domino table