Some Domino Facts and Trivia
*Some of the presidents of the Dominican Republic have sets of dominoes with their faces printed on them. Wonder where we can get a set of those Dominos!?
*The name 'domino' is thought to come from the French word for a Christian priest's winter hood, which was black on the outside and white on the inside. 'Domino' is also a style of mask featuring a black and white motif.
*Domino tiles are usually twice as long as they are wide and usually made to be exactly half as thick as they are wide so they can stand on edge without falling over. A domino tile can be of any size, but is typically about 1 inch wide and 2 inches long.
*Domino words - fichas- tee name of the domino tiles; Repiter- repeat - when a player can keep adding tiles of the same suits; Mata- (literally kill) when a player blocks attempts by an opponent to and helps out his partner; Tranqua- to lock- player plays the last ficha in a suit and no other player can play.
*Six Dots - Since returning to the states, I have learned some other games that can be played with dominoes besides Dominican-style, but my first domino game remains my passion. To play Dominican style Dominoes one must have a traditional set of Dominoes that only has up to 6 dots.
*Pins - The "pins" are the little metal dot in the center of the Domino that keeps it a smidgen lifted off the table. It makes it much easier to spin and mix the dominoes. Also I think the pin makes a louder sound when the Domino is smashed onto the table. One can spin the Domino when they are abut to win the game, its a subtle way to say " I'm cool but neener neener neener! I'm gonna win!"
*Practice your game. Learn a new game. Meet friends. You can play Dominoes on line at
Domino-Games.com
*The game of Dominos in the past seemed to be played by the older people, los viejitos. Now it seems that the younger generation has come to love the game. Even though it is still mostly a Latino game it has come to be loved by many ages and ethnic groups more and more. People have discovered that it is not only a childhood game.
*There are many domino tournaments throughout the world where there is big money involved. The official tournament season starts in February with the big final tournament played in August. A tournament held August 25 and 26, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. presented a total cash award for 1st place at US$50,000.
*ESPN Deportes, the Spanish version of ESPN, started covering the World Domino Tournaments. It became so popular that they now have the tournaments on ESPN2. They cover both the singles and doubles games. It seems that the games passion, trash talking, and table-smacking that is a crowd drawer on the streets is also what draws people to watch the game on TV. The game has suspense, energy and strategy. It is turning into "the next big spectators sport".
*Maybe in time there will be a TV show like the Celebrity Poker shows on Television. Celebrity Dominos..you heard it here first.....