How to Score Dominoes: Points, Rounds and Winning

Most domino games are scored the same way underneath: when a hand ends, someone counts the dots on the tiles that are left over, and those points go to the player or team that won the hand. The details change from table to table, which is why arguments about the score are almost a tradition. This guide covers the common rules, with worked examples you can check against your own games. If you are still learning the game itself, read how to play dominoes first.

Counting the pips

Each half of a domino shows a number of dots, called pips. A tile is worth the total of both halves, so the 6-4 is worth 10 and the 5-0 is worth 5. The double blank (0-0) is worth 0 in most games.

A standard double-six set has 28 tiles, and all of them together add up to 168 pips. Larger sets are used for bigger groups and longer games:

Those totals are a handy sanity check. In a four-player partner game where every tile is dealt, the pips on the table plus the pips still in everyone's hands always add up to 168.

Hands, rounds and games

A hand (or round) runs from the deal until someone plays their last tile or nobody can move. A game is a series of hands played until someone reaches the target score, or, in games like Mexican Train, until a fixed number of rounds has been played.

There are two broad families of scoring:

• Play to a target. The winner of each hand scores points, and the first player or team to reach 100, 150, 200 or another agreed number wins. Most block and draw games and Latin partner dominoes work this way.
• Lowest total wins. Everyone adds the pips left in their own hand after every round, and the lowest total at the end wins. Mexican Train and Chicken Foot work this way. See our Mexican Train scoring guide for that family.

Who scores a hand

In the basic block or draw game, two players usually take 7 tiles each and three or four players take 5, with the rest left face down. When a player plays their last tile, they have dominoed and won the hand. They score the total pips left in their opponents' hands.

Here is a three-player hand where Ana goes out:

Ana scores 14 + 12 = 26. Ben and Cara score nothing for the hand.

Some tables round each hand to the nearest 5 before scoring it. If yours does, Ana's 26 becomes 25. Agree on it before the first hand, not after.

Blocked games

A hand is blocked when nobody can play and there are no tiles left to draw. In Spanish this is a tranque. Nobody has gone out, so the hand is settled by counting: every player adds up the pips in their own hand, and the lowest total wins the hand.

Ana has the fewest pips, so she wins the hand. Under the most common rule she scores the other players' pips, 15 + 20 = 35. Some tables subtract the winner's own count and score only the difference, which here would be 35 − 9 = 26.

If two players tie for the lowest count, the usual options are that nobody scores and the hand is replayed, or that the tie goes to a named player (for example, the player who did not block the game). Pick one and stick to it.

Scoring in partner dominoes

In the partner game played across the Caribbean and Latin America, four players sit in two teams of two, partners facing each other. All 28 tiles of a double-six set are dealt, 7 to each player, so there is nothing to draw. If you can't play, you pass.

When a player dominoes, their team wins the hand. The most common rule gives the winning team the pips left in the two opponents' hands. Many tables, though, count the tiles left in all three other hands, partner included. Both are traditional, so settle it before you start.

In this hand, Luis dominoes for the team "Us":

Counting the opponents only, Us scores 17 + 22 = 39. Counting every hand, Us scores 8 + 17 + 22 = 47.

A blocked partner hand is usually settled by comparing teams: each team adds the pips in both partners' hands and the team with fewer pips wins, scoring the count your table uses. Some tables compare individual players instead, and the team of the player with the lowest count wins. Our Spanish guide to partner dominoes covers these variants in more detail.

Many partner tables also pay a bonus for going out with a tile that fits either end of the line, called a capicú. It is usually 25 points on top of the hand. Read what counts as a capicú for the details.

Playing to a target

Partner games are usually played to 100, 150 or 200 points, and some clubs play to 250 or 500. Every hand's points go on a running total, and the first team to reach the target wins the game. Here is a game to 150:

Us passes 150 in hand 8 and wins, 153 to 94. You don't need to land exactly on the target; going over is fine.

A lower target makes a quick game for a weeknight. A higher one gives the team that starts badly more time to come back. If you are teaching new players, 100 is a good place to start.

A printable domino score sheet

If your table keeps score on paper, print our free sheet. Page one is for two teams: points and a running total for each side, a line for the target, and a notes column to mark capicús and blocked hands. Page two is for individual games with up to four players.

Domino score sheet (PDF)Two teams or up to 4 players, running totals and a target line. Free to print.PDF, Letter size

Tips for keeping an honest score

• Write down every hand, not just the totals. When someone questions the score, you can find the mistake instead of starting an argument.
• Agree on the house rules first: the target, whose tiles count, what a blocked hand pays, the capicú bonus, and rounding.
• Count with the tiles face up so everyone at the table can check the total.
• Recount anything that ends a game. One wrong hand near the target decides the winner.

Domino Score keeps the hand-by-hand list for you. Pick who won the hand and type the points or count them with the camera. If your table counts all three hands, photograph all of those tiles; if it counts only the opponents, photograph just theirs. The camera adds up whatever you show it.

FAQ

How many points are in a set of dominoes?

A double-six set has 28 tiles worth 168 pips in total. A double-nine set has 55 tiles worth 495, and a double-twelve set has 91 tiles worth 1,092.

What happens if a blocked game ends in a tie?

There is no single rule. Most tables either replay the hand with nobody scoring, or award the tie to a set player, such as the one who did not block the game. Agree on it before you play.

Is the double blank worth anything?

In most games the double blank is worth 0. In Mexican Train many groups make it worth 50 so that nobody wants to be caught holding it.