Gallinazo: A Unique Domino Game

Let me tell you about an exciting game called Gallinazo. It’s a domino game that’s popular in Puerto Rico and Mexico. It’s similar to a game called The Block Game, but with some interesting twists in the scoring rules that make it even more strategic.

How to Play Gallinazo

First, someone shuffles the dominoes by mixing them up face-down on the table. Each player then draws 7 tiles, taking them one at a time until they have a full hand.

The player with the double six domino starts as the first player. They lay this domino in the center of the table to kick off the game. As the game progresses, players take turns laying dominoes. To make a legal play, you need to place a domino next to one that has the same number or equal number of dots. The play then moves to the right, with each player taking their turn.

The Exciting End Game

So, here’s the deal: once a player has played their last domino tile (yeah, that’s called “dominoed”), the game is blocked. That means no other player can make a move. The round is basically over. Now it’s time to do some math.

You see, players need to score the number of pips (you know, the dots) on the dominoes that are still in their hand. But there’s a catch. If a player’s score is lower or the same as the score of the player who dominoed, things get interesting. The last player to make a move has a chance to score big time. They get a whopping four times the number of pips in their opponent’s remaining tiles. Pretty sweet, huh? But don’t worry, the other players just score the pips they’re holding. Nothing fancy.

Now, here’s the fun part: the game is made up of seven deals. And you’ll never guess what happens at the end. The player with the most points has to buy beer for everyone else! Yeah, that’s right. It’s like a little reward for being the big winner. Oh, and by the way, people usually keep track of the scores on a secret sheet. But if you’re good at adding up numbers and have a sharp memory, you might not even need a sheet. Impressive, right?