Domino Texas 42 Rules

Game Type: Trick-taking dominoes game
Set of dominoes: Standard set of double six dominoes, a total of 28 pieces.

The game of 42 is the state game of Texas. The game’s name comes from the total number of points possible for each hand, 42.

Number of Players
Played by four in teams of two.

Rank of Suits
The trump is determined by the winner of the bid. They can choose the 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blank (0), or doubles as trump, the option to choose no trump is also available. The highest trump played always wins the trick.

Rank of dominoes
If the trump is 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or blank, the double of the trump is the highest domino. For example, if 4’s are trump, then 4-4 is the highest, then the 4-6, 4-5, 4-3, 4-2, 4-1, and 4-0 from highest to lowest. Doubles are always the highest domino of their suit, all the way to the rank 0 of that suit. There are seven tiles in each suit when that suit is trump.

If doubles are chosen as the trump, the order from highest trump to lowest is as follows: 6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1, and 0-0. If the 6-5 is played, this is the highest domino of the 6 suit, not the 6-6, since the 6-6 belongs to the trump suit. Another example to clarify: the first player leads with a 4-3, in this case, the leading suit for that trick is the 4’s; and the ranking is as follows: 4-6, 4-5, 4-3, 4-2, 4-1 and 4-0 from highest to lowest, in this case, the 4-4 doesn’t belong to the suit of 4’s, instead since doubles are trump, it belongs to the trump suit and would win the round if played.

Trump’s Tile Order

Suits	Tile Order (from highest to lowest)
Doubles	6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1, 0-0
Sixes	6-6, 6-5, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0
Fives	5-5, 5-6, 5-4, 5-3, 5-2, 5-1, 5-0
Fours	4-4, 4-6, 4-5, 4-3, 4-2, 4-1, 4-0
Treys	3-3, 3-6, 3-5, 3-4, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0
Deuces	2-2, 2-6, 2-5, 2-4, 2-3, 2-1,2-0
Aces	1-1, 1-6, 1-5, 1-4, 1-3, 1-2, 1-0
Blanks	0-0, 0-6, 0-5, 0-4, 0-3, 0-2, 0-1

If they chose no trump, then the highest number of the piece led becomes the trump for that trick. The other players must follow suit or discard any other piece. The double is always the highest piece. Let’s say the first player leads with a 4-3, in this case, the leading suit for that trick is the 4’s; and the ranking is as follows: 4-4 is the highest, then the 4-6, 4-5, 4-3, 4-2, 4-1 and 4-0 from highest to lowest.

Suit of Non-Trump Tiles when Led

Sixes	Fives	Fours	Treys	Deuces	Aces	Blanks
6-6	5-5	4-4	3-3	2-2	1-1	0-0
6-5	5-4	4-3	3-2	2-1	1-0
6-4	5-3	4-2	3-1	2-0
6-3	5-2	4-1	3-0
6-2	5-1	4-0
6-1	5-0
6-0

In all cases, whether the domino is a trump lead or a non-trump lead determines which side is the lead suit and which is the ranking value. For example, if 4’s are trump, the piece 4-6 is of suit 4, the trump, and rank 6; and not of rank 6. The piece 2-6 has suit 6 and its rank is 2.

Points
Each hand has 7 tricks, each counting 1 point, in total 7 points.

Other points are given for winning tricks with count dominoes. A count domino is one whose total pips is a multiple of 5. Count dominoes are worth their total pips count; meaning that 6-4 and 5-5 are worth 10 points each, and the pieces 5-0, 4-1, and 3-2 are worth 5 points each.

This means that there are a total of 42 points for each hand played that a team can score.

Object of the Game
The object of the game is to be the first team to reach the number of points agreed to play in that match. You can play Quick games, meaning you play a hand, or you can play for 3, 5, or 7 marks (points when you create a table). In this case, marks mean the number of hands won, for example, if you’re in a match for 7 marks, it means that the game will continue until one team wins 7 hands.

The Deal
Each player gets 7 dominoes dealt.

The Bidding
Each player can bid the number of points they think they can win, they can also pass. When a player bids, they’re bidding for their team. The minimum bid is 30 points and the maximum bid is 42. Each bid must be higher than the previous one. Whoever bids the highest can choose the trump. In the case nobody bids, the dominoes are drawn again.

The Play
The winner of the bid plays first. Players must follow suit, if they cannot do it they can either trump or discard. The player who wins the trick leads on the next one.

The object is to win as many tricks and count dominoes as possible to either reach the bid made or prevent the other team from reaching theirs.

When a bid is met by the team or the opposing team wins the points that the other team would require to meet their bid, the hand ends without the need to play the rest of the dominoes.

The Scoring
Each team scores the number of points made according to how many tricks they won and 5 or 10 points for each count domino according to its value. If a team reaches their bid, they win the hand and get one mark. If a bidder doesn’t score the number of points they bid, then the opposing team wins that hand and gets a mark. To win a game a team must win at least the number of marks agreed to play for at the beginning of the game. Each mark won, is a stroke used to write the word «ALL» in the score table; if it’s a 3 mark game, the winning team should finish the game with an «A», if it’s a 5 marks game, with an «AL», and finally, if it’s a 7 marks game, with an «ALL».