Hobbies And Interests
Rules to Begin
Depending on the number of players at your table, each player chooses either 9 or 15 dominoes from a face-down "bone yard" of tiles. The fewer players, the more tiles each person should begin with. For best results, use a double 12 or double 15 set of dominoes. Each player should have a marker. Choose one person to keep score.
Initial Rules and Strategies of Play
All players should position their dominoes so that only they can see the dots. The person with the highest double domino begins. She places that domino at the center of the table as the "hub" for all ensuing trains. The same player can then play a domino on the hub if she has one with one square that matches the hub. For example, if the hub is double 11, then a tile with 11 and any other number is acceptable. If the initial player does not have a match, she must draw one tile from the "bone yard"--the bank of face-down extra tiles. She can play the tile if it works; if not, play passes to the right.
As more players establish trains, there will be more opportunities for play even for those who do not have their own trains. Patience is the key at this stage.
Continuing Rules and Strategies of Play
Once two or more players have established trains, a participant can play on his own train, play on another train (if open), start a Mexican train, or draw a tile and play it, if possible. Only one Mexican train is allowed per game and everyone can play on it.
Always play on your own train first, if possible. Arrange your tiles according to the order in which you can play them on your own train. Because the object of the round is to play all your tiles first, plan ahead.
If a player cannot add to her own train on any turn, she must place her marker on her train, thus opening it up to other participants to play on it. When the player can once again add tiles to her own train, she removes the marker and closes it off to others&' play.
Play your larger-numbered dominoes as soon as possible to prevent being caught with a large score at the end of the round.
Rules and Strategies for Double Tiles
Whenever a player places a double tile, he can immediately play a second tile with a matching number to "cover" the double. If he cannot cover it, play passes around the table until a player is able to cover the double tile with a match. Each player draws one additional tile if she cannot play on the double, and if she still cannot cover it, she must place her marker on her train.
Plan to play a double when you have lots of tiles in your hand and can cover it, thus doubling the effectiveness of your turn. Alternately, if another player is close to going out--using all his tiles--and you want to delay him, play a double that you cannot cover in order to force that player to open his train and draw more tiles.
Rules and Strategies for Winning
When a player uses her next-to-last tile, she must rap the remaining tile on the table to alert other players. If she fails to do this, she must draw an additional tile.
If you think you know where the player might place her last tile, block her by playing there yourself, unless it is on her own closed train.
When a player places the final domino in her hand, she has won the round.
Rules for Scoring
The scorekeeper makes a list of all the double numbers, then scores each round next to the hub number of the round. Each double-hub number is played only once, so when all the doubles have been hubs, the game is over.
Each player totals the numbers on his remaining dominoes to get his score. The round winner will have a score of zero. The player with the lowest score at the end of all rounds is the winner of Mexican Train.