Dominoes Scoring Rules
Dominoes scoring rests on the pips left in your opponents' hands. Whoever runs out first collects everything still standing on the other side of the table.
How a round ends
- A player lays their last tile — they "domino" and score the sum of all remaining tiles.
- Or the game blocks: nobody can play. The lowest hand wins and scores the difference against every other hand.
Block versus draw
In the block game you pass when you cannot play. In the draw game you must take tiles from the boneyard until you can play or it is empty. Draw games block far less often, which makes them longer and more about hand management.
Common targets
The usual finish is first to 100 losing, or first to 250 winning depending on the variant played. With the double-six set the maximum any single hand can hold is 168 pips, so a 100-point target keeps rounds meaningful.
Frequently asked questions
Traditionally the holder of the highest double — the double six if it was dealt. In later rounds, the winner of the previous round usually opens.
No — a double six counts 12 pips, the same as its face. Some variants place doubles crosswise for readability, but the value is unchanged.