From Tampa Bay Online:

From a hallway on the second floor of Centro Asturiano de Tampa, a visitor is greeted with rising voices, laughter and the clatter of domino tiles.

It’s the Centro’s Cantina, where regulars gather Monday through Saturday to play intense games of dominoes and rummy while they chatter about life and politics, share a drink, sip Cuban coffee, smoke a cigar and reconnect to a social scene no longer commonplace in Tampa.

“Keeping the tie to the past is extremely important to us because it shows where we came from, how we got here,” said Rick Duran, the Centro Asturiano’s executive director.

“It’s a little example of how the immigrants who came here to work at the cigar factories back at the turn of the 20th century lived their lives,” Duran said. “Everything centered around the social club they belonged to, the mutual benefit society they belonged to.”

After retiring as a butcher, Pedro Aribu has been a regular at the Cantina for 16 years. He enjoys the opportunity to play dominoes because it connects him to Cuba, his native country where the game is a national tradition.

At age 81, playing dominoes also serves as a good diversion. He is grateful the Cantina allows him to keep up his skills. Aribu hangs out at the private club from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. six days a week. Manuel Blanco is another regular. He has been involved with the Cantina for 40 years. Blanco plays both dominoes and rummy. He said the domino matches with partners can get heated, so he prefers playing rummy.

Cantina regulars are trying to attract more members and are hosting their fourth annual domino tournament March 28 to tout the history of the Centro and increase membership.

Read more about the Cantina and the men who gather to play dominoes every day.

Mexican Train Dominoes has become a popular party game, and has spawned something of it’s own sub-culture within the domino family, inspiring clubs, tournaments, commercial games, and now an online version.

Mexican Train Dominoes Online, from DillyDallyGames, is a well-done version of the game, in which you compete against three computer opponents in thirteen rounds of dominoes action. The lowest cumulative score wins, and gets a chance to make the worldwide leaderboard list!

If you’re new to Mexican Train Dominoes, you can learn how to play using the in-game tutorial, or check out our collection of Mexican Train Dominoes Rules.

A reports from the World Domino Open Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada:

More than 100 of the best Domino players from across the Americas are in Las Vegas this weekend to battle it out at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Between 120 and 150 participants are expected to compete for $50,000 in prizes.

Domino players of all ages have traveled from across the Americas – including Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Panama – to vie for the title.

“We have around six or seven world champions of Dominos here in Vegas,” tournament organizer, Ricardo Arias, said.

The group of accomplished players includes the 2008 world championship winner, Julio Tronconi, and the 2007 World Domino Open victor, Thomas Ortiz.

Tronconi, who won his designation in May at the World Domino Championship in Orlando, came from Caracas, Venezuela, hoping to claim a second championship title. Meantime, Ortiz traveled from his home in Tijuana, Mexico to defend his title.

First place in both the Open’s individual and team divisions fetches $10,000. The prize purses shrink the further down from the finish you go, but a ninth place result is still given a cool $1000.

Not too bad for two days of playing Dominoes.

Read more from the Las Vegas Sun.

Arias believes Dominoes is the most popular game in the world – even more so than baseball, soccer or even football – because it is a game anyone can enjoy, regardless of age or physical ability. “It’s a table game that permits people to socialize and anyone in the world could play it,” he said.

According to a post on listverse.com (Top 20 Greatest Strategy Games), Dominoes is the 20th-best strategy game of all time:

The game features bones (tiles) with a number of pips on them. Players match them up trying to empty their hands by matching one of the numbers with one of the free numbers on the table. Dominoes are also noted for being able to stand on end in long rows so that when one is knocked over they all fall in a row. A popular pasttime is lining up hundreds or thousands of dominoes to make designs when they fall.

OK …

Some domino games are purely mechanical, other can be quite strategic. Which dominoes game is the poster referring to? Doesn’t say.

The number one, most strategic game in the world, according to this list? Poker.

Uh, yeah.

What do you think? How should Dominoes rate in the pantheon of strategic games?

The first U.S. Open Domino Championship is being held in Mesquite, Nevada (1 hour north of Las Vegas) on December 6, 2008.

The tournament is organized by the USITA, an organization formed to promote fee-based internet tournaments of all types. USITA has an agreement with Game Colony to host all tournaments.

You must be a member of Game Colony (membership is free) to join USITA. Being a member of USITA will not guarantee you entry into tournaments (entry into tournaments will be on a first-come basis) but you must be a member of USITA to participate in USITA tournaments hosted by Game Colony.

In addition to the U.S. Open Domino Championship, the USITA hosts 12 online tournaments every month, with low entry fees and great cash prizes.

Join Game Colony

Learn more about the USITA and the U.S. Open Domino Championship.

The Dominologist: Learn To Become The Best At Dominoes is a new book by Nathan Holsey.

The book is about Double Six Dominoes, the most commonly-played domino game in the U.S. Now the novice will be able to compete with the experienced player. Benefit from the author’s 30 + years of experience. Learn to talk trash like you have been playing for years.

The Dominologist is the first of it’s kind. If you ever wanted to join in a on a game of Dominoes but chose not to because of your confidence level, stand on the side lines no more. Get in with the big boys. No one will ever know that you just started playing Dominoes. You’re getting all the experience you need to play Double Six Dominoes from The Dominologist.

The Dominologist is not just for the novice, advanced players will enjoy the content provided as well. The Dominologist will help you to continually think out your hand for the best result. This book will help you confirm your greatness or define your muscle.

It’s for teens and Adults of all ages. Based on the most common game played in the US. Now the novice will be able to compete with the experienced player. Get the best strategy and build your confidence level. Get over 30 years of experience and learn to play and sound like you have been playing for years. This book is the first of its kind. There are pictures and diagrams to help you remember plays and combinations. It will also help you to quickly add and call your points. You will learn to understand the game of Double Six Dominoes at its best. Winning will become easy.

Nathan Holsey was born in Hawaii and raised in Long Beach, California. He learned to play Dominoes over 30 years ago. He has competed and placed in the top ten of the First California State Domino Championship, and competed in the Professional Domino Associations’ Los Angeles Regional Domino Tournament. His love for Dominoes inspired him to write the book and start his own publishing company, BIG SIX Publishing. He and his wife now run their own TV and Film production company, Avielle Productions.

You can learn more at the author’s web site: TheDominologist.com.

Domino players in Haiti have a unique way of punishing the loser of a game of dominoes — clothespins:

There was pain in Jean Francois’ eyes, real suffering, an awful look of woe.

It might have been that he had had little to eat that day, or his lack of a job or any real hope of securing one. Perhaps it stemmed from the squalor in his neighborhood, a sprawling and rather depressing slum of tin-roofed houses.

But it turns out that Francois’ life was not the immediate source of his desperation. It was his losing streak — and the dozens of clothespins clipped onto his face, arms and belly.

In marked contrast to Francois’ glum look, the other men crowding around a raucous domino game under way in Port-au-Prince’s Cite Soleil neighborhood on a recent afternoon were smiling with glee. They doubled over in laughter every time they looked at Francois. A chorus of roars rang out each time he lost another game and more of the clips were attached to his ears, cheeks, chin, forearms and midriff.

The ears, everyone agreed, are particularly painful when clipped. Eventually, after losing and then losing some more, Francois could take no more. “It hurts so bad,” he said, rising from the rickety table and pulling off the clips one by one. Another player quickly moved in, nudging Francois aside and taking a turn.

The story, Dominoes ‘helps you forget’, from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, says that “the beauty of dominoes is that it requires not even a single gourde, Haiti’s currency, to compete. That is not to say, however, that there is no price to pay. Clothespins are merely one of many techniques Haitians employ to punish those who lose four games in a row.”

In a story from the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Virginia:

Tom Faulk can’t keep track of the details anymore. He doesn’t remember how long he was in the Air Force, when he got married or if he’s taken his morning medicine.

But put a game of dominoes in front of the 83-year-old, and his focus becomes clear. He shuts out everything but counting “pips,” or points on the domino tiles.

The Stafford County man will play for eight to 10 hours at a stretch.

He doesn’t stop to eat, and he’s not interested in television, reading or going to gatherings for seniors.

If he’s not playing, he’s sleeping.

Faulk’s family speculates that the mental stimulation provided by his domino playing may have helped to keep him and his wife, Mary, who both suffer from dementia, out of nursing homes. Tom’s favorite game is All Fives (AKA “Five Up” or “Muggins”).

An interesting story … (read full article)

The First Hollywood Domino Tournament, a benefit for The Art of Elysium, a non-profit organization that runs arts workshops for seriously ill children, was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills in February.

Celebrities taking part in the tournament included Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Kate Hudson, Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Penélope Cruz, Debbie Matenopoulos, James Van Der Beek, Kate Beckinsale, and many more.

Charlize Thereon was the big winner of the night, walking away with a $25,000 blank check for the charity of her choice. In addition, she was awarded a customized Instrumento NoUno watch by de Grisogono president Fawaz Gruosi.

According to Sky Showbiz: “dominoes – yup, that game where you line up dotted tabs – has got the Celebville X factor. More than cool, it’s inherent (yet hidden) showbiz potential for fun and frolics apparently rivals that of a big-time Hollywood casino. As the event got started, stars flocked to the first De Grisogono’s Hollywood Domino Tournament like sharks to a tasty bait, to do their bit for charity.”

GQ Magazine reports that “Traditionally beloved of stout-sipping pub-goers, it seems that the humble game of dominoes is in danger of becoming the new poker.”

GQ also reports that “The glitzy tournament, inspired by A Night In Havana, is also the official launch of Hollywood Domino, a variation on the classic game in which players build “Blockbusters”, “Sequels” and “Trilogies” as they battle it out for the “Oscar” domino. Hollywood Domino will be available to buy in autumn this year, in time, no doubt, to be a Christmas bestseller.”

According to Vanity Fair, “Hollywood has always been a gaming town,” and “Now there’s a new game in town: Mexican Train dominoes. Best friends Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz are fanatics” and “they’ve converted pals such as Demi and Ashton, Donna Karan, Bruce Willis, and Lucy Liu.”

For more details, as well as photos of the stars attending the tournament, see Just Jarad, PopSugar, Chic Today, omg!, Pacific Coast News, ConnieTalk.

Bendomino offers a new twist on the classic game of dominoes – literally!

Bendominoes play just like regular dominoes but their innovative, curved design gives players more control over the game. In this twisting game, a new bendomino in play needs to match by number to either end of the chain, but also has to fit! This adds an intriguing new element of strategy to a familiar game.

Each game of Bendominoes is unique, with a new pattern being created each time you play, with pieces twirling around the table.

Bendomino was created by Thierry Denoual and is published by Blue Orange Games. The Bendomino set includes 28 curved dominoes (a double-six set), and is intended for 2 to 4 players. Most standard domino games can be adapted for Bendominoes, once you account for the unusual shape of the tiles.

A Junior version of Bendomino is also available, which uses pictures instead of pips.

Learn more about Bendomino