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

Dominoes will take center stage in the Big Apple, when over 400 of the best players will meet to celebrate their passion for the game of Dominoes. Players from as far away as Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia and Spain will travel to New York to compete with players from the U.S. to determine who is “El # Uno” in the sport.

The NYC Domino Tournament, Sun April 29, 2007 12-7pm at Latin Quarter is the first of a Series of events that will be hosted in the New York area by worlddominotournaments.com, a site published by R. Paniagua Inc., a company based in New York that has focused on multi-cultural programming for the past 25 years.

The format of the Tournament will be Double Six with no elimination. Instead each two-man team will play five 200-point games with a 40-minute time limit per game, and then the top teams will vie in the sixth game for the title. The Final eight teams will be filmed to broadcast in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and other key markets of interest.

Upcoming events include the Puerto Rican Parade Tournaments on June 9th and the Dominican Day Parade Tournament on August 5th, two huge weekend events in New York. These will culminate with a multi-city event that concludes in Las Vegas in the Fall of 2007.

For more information, visit worlddominotournaments.com.

I’m always surprised at the fun, interesting, and endlessly creative uses people can find for dominoes in the world of arts and crafts. Our Domino Art page is one of our most popular pages here, so others must agree.

Here are a few new domino projects I’ve come across recently:

How To Make Domino Thumbtacks

How To Make a Domino Bracelet

How To Make a Domino Diary Pendant

How To Make Domino Ornaments

Online video site VideoJug has produced an excellent introduction to the game of draw dominoes. The video includes everything from basic information about the dominoes themselves, to rules and variations for playing Draw Dominoes. Even if you’ve never played the game before, this video explains the rules in a simple and straightforward manner that will have you up and going in no time.

If you’re absolutely new to the game, you should probably be aware that the rules provided in the video are a bit non-standard, particularly in terms of their use of blanks as wildcards. Refer to our Draw Domino Rules for the rules you’re likely to find in most references and Draw Domino games.

Read more about the How To Play Dominoes Video and VideoJug.

Paul Smith of Naples, Florida is an 85-year-old woodworker who’s been making domino sets for about 18 years. He makes them as a hobby, but sells them through word of mouth to people from around the world.

In an article in the Naples Daily News (The man who fell for dominoes), staff writer Liam Dillon reports that Smith makes his dominoes out of thick cabinet-grade plywood, and uses large numerals instead of dots, to make them easy to read for everyone from children to adults. The dominoes are sealed with polyurethane to create a smooth and long-lasting surface. Smith makes double-twelve sets consisting of 91 tiles. He sells a completed set for $40 plus shipping, and says they’re very popular both in his local community and with “snowbirds” who winter in southern Florida.

He estimates that it takes him about nineteen hours to make one set from start to finish, using his garage-based woodworking shop, and he’s had to enlist the help of his wife of 61 years, Ches, to help keep up with production. “He used to do all of the work himself, but since he’s gotten so many orders, he needed help,” she said. He advertises his game as “Turkey Foot”, which Ches said is a little more challenging than Chicken Foot.

The full article includes much more information about Paul and Ches, as well as some additional photos and a short video.

Interesting stuff.

This video is really interesting. It combines domino-toppling and the game of billiards. It’s amazing that they could be so precise not just with the domino toppling, but with the pool balls, and even transfers from one pool table to another.

It really is incredible.

Zigiz Dominos is an interesting new online game. The game is played solitaire-style, and it’s actually more a puzzle than a traditional dominoes game. Your goal is to play all of the stones onto the board, earning bonuses based on your speed and skill.

The flash-based gaming environment is quite rich, with great graphics and sound. The game is also easy to use, with a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Zigiz is a European skill gaming company, and offers a large number of great games, including card games, puzzle games, and arcade games, all of which can be played for free as long as you like, or played for a chance to win great cash prizes.

In addition to the Dominos game, Zigiz also offers Klondike Solitaire, Pyramid Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Mahjong Solitaire, a Yahtzee-style game, a Bejeweled-style game, and many more, all of which are very nicely done.

Although some may find it hard to believe, there comes a day when playing dominoes becomes more entertaining than having sex.

Playboy king Hugh Hefner says he knows he’s not getting any younger and doesn’t have the stamina and drive for the bedroom that he once did in his early years. He admits that he now prefers playing the classic family game rather than getting naughty under the covers.

“I’m bored of the hanky-panky. I’m still active, but it’s different – I like to play dominoes with my girlfriends,” he tells the London Sun.

When asked about his infamous wild nights at the Playboy mansion, the 80-year-old publisher who turned his men’s magazines business into a worldwide entertainment and fashion empire said, “I haven’t been to as many parties because I’m doing other things that are taking up my energy”.

In an article in the Sacremento Bee (Domino Effect), staff writer Alison apRoberts writes about a new board game based on dominoes.

ZingaMino was created by an engineer named Dahmane Dahmani and his 11 year old son Yanni. Together, they formed a company to take their form of family fun to market. The game is the product of more than 2 ½ years of quality father-son creative brainstorming and considerable investment in professional design and prototyping. They introduced their game at the American International Toy Fair in New York City in February. “Today, it’s possible for game lovers everywhere – including children — to participate in the market,” Dahmani says.

ZingaMino is a colorful twist on classic dominoes where you literally “play outside-of-the-box.” Taken from Swahili, the word “Zinga” means to turn in circles, and that’s just what you’ll do. Players race to fill four game circles that must connect sequentially. The luck of the draw can bring a Zinga!™ for extra points or even the win. What goes around comes around in a beautiful balance of strategy and chance.

The game is available for sale from the ZingaMino web site for $29.95.