Sharing A Fun Game

[HEXA]

This is my MOST favorite game.. With the economy the way it is and less families affording a night at the movie-theatre
I thought i would share it, it's fun to invite neighbors over and have an evening of 42 & snacks! It's addictive!!
(I put OUR variations to these rules at the bottom..)

Forty-Two Domino Rules
How To Play Forty-Two Dominoes
Number Of Players: 2 to 7 (Our variation.. we use 4 players making 2 teams)
Domino Set Required: Double-six


Forty-Two, or Texas 42, is a domino game that is played like a card game. In fact, unlike most domino games, there is no connecting of dominoes at all. The object of the game is to win tricks; 42 is a bidding game. Forty-Two is based on the card game Auction Pitch, and requires considerable skill in bidding and gameplay. Other names for this game include "Four-Hand Texas" and "Domino Rounce".

42 can be played by up to seven players, but it is best as four-handed partnership game, which is the version described here.

Tricks & Honors
Each hand is played as a series of seven "tricks", and each trick is worth one point. In addition, each of the dominoes whose pips add up to 5, or a multiple of five, have special values. These are known as the "honors:

0-5 = 5 points
1-4 = 5 points
2-3 = 5 points
4-6 = 10 points
5-5 = 10 points

The honor points are won by the player taking the trick in which they are played. Together the 7 tricks and 5 honors make up 42 points, hence the name of the game.

Our Variation.. Along with winning the pointed dominos above.. each play that you win the 4 dominos played (also called the trick) you get 1 point (making it 42) the 35 above + 7 plays in one hand = 42.
So if you only bid 30 you would need to win atleast 2 of the 10 pointers, a 5 pointer and 5 plays to equal 30 (10+10+5+5=30)

Setup
After shuffling the dominoes, each player draws seven tiles to make up their hand. There is no boneyard.

Bidding
The player holding the 0-1 tile bids first. Each player may either bid or pass. Each bid must be a number from 30 to 42, and must raise the previous bid. If the bid is maxed out (42), it may be doubled (84), and then doubled again (168). Bids of 42 or greater are made only my taking all 42 points.

If no one bids, the tiles are reshuffled and dealt again.

The highest bidder names the trump suit (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or doubles).

Gameplay
The highest bidder leads, and must play a trump, and call out which of the numbers on his domino is the trump suit. Each player must follow suit is he can. If he cannot follow suit (that is, if a player does not hold a tile containing the trump suit), then he may play any tile. The trick is won by the heaviest trump, and the winner of the trick leads the next. A double is always the heaviest tile in its suit.

In subsequent tricks, the lead may either be a trump (containing the trump suit), or a non-trump (not containing the trump suit). If the lead is a trump, then the other players must play trump cards if they can. If the lead is a non-trump, then the suit is the higher of the two ends, and the other players must either play from that suit, or play a trump. A trick is won by the heaviest tile of the suit led, or the heaviest trump.

Our Variation**this is where if you do not have suit to follow, and your partner will win the play with the highest domino. you would want to throw off some points such as 5/5, 5/0, 6/4 etc**

Scoring
If the highest-bidding player meets his bid, both sides score their totals. If the highest-bidding player fails to make his bid, his side scores nothing, and his opponents score their own totals plus the bid.

If the bid was 42 or higher, then the score is the bid. If the bid was 84 points, and the bidder made 42 points, then he scores 84 points. If he did not make 42 points, the opposing team scores 84.

Winning The Game
A game is 250 points.

My families variations to these rules.. WE play 4 players with 2 teams. not singles. Your partner sits across from you. Each player gets 7 dominos.

1) We dont go to 250 what we do is spell the word ALL .. With each line in the letters being a win (or a mark, there are 7 marks in the word ALL, the horizontal line in the A is also a mark), the first team to spell ALL wins.
2) Bidding an 84 (we never use 168) and if you bid 84 we call it an 84 stack.. where the dominoes are not collected after each play
but rather they are kept in the middle and stacked up to cover each play before it (so you cant see whats been played before), and the bidder must win EVERY play in that hand. They get two marks for that win, if the other team wins they get the two marks.
3) We take turns shuffling in the game, at the very beginning the dominos are mixed up face down on the table.. we all pull a domino to see who wins the shuffle.. 6/6 or the highest domino wins the shuffle. Then the shuffling will go around clockwise. The first bidder is the person to the left of the shuffler.
4) If no one bids the shuffler has to take the bid for 30, We dont reshuffle and bid again..
5) We also have whats called a NIL bid..The bidder takes no tricks like in spades.. But there is a twist to it. The Nil bidder & his partner picks two dominos to exchange with eachother(face down) BEFORE looking at the exchanged dominos the partner who didnt bid NIL must name the trump and then THEY DONT PLAY THE HAND AT ALL. They sit out, and his partner, the niller, must play alone. If he makes it the Nil brings two marks for that team, if he doesnt the opposing team gets the 2 marks
6) We Play.. The winning bidder plays first but in our way of playing he doesnt necessarily have to open by playing a trump, but does have to announce what trump is before playing his first domino

Let me know if you enjoy it, or have questions
xox
Hexa