Shuffle two double-six boxes together and every domino suddenly has a twin. The first copy played wins the tie, doubles can carry points of their own, and each game takes its name from whatever a hand adds up to.
The two-set deck
- Texas 84
- A version of 42 played with two double-six sets where every hand totals 84 points. It is played two main ways: by four players with the blanks removed (42 tiles, each double worth 2 points), or by six or eight players with all 56 tiles.
- 56-tile set (two full sets)
- Two complete double-six sets mixed together. It holds 14 doubles and 10 count dominoes worth 70 points, in seven suits (blanks through sixes) of 14 tiles each.
- 42-tile set (blanks removed)
- Two double-six sets with both copies of every tile carrying a blank (0-0 through 6-0) taken out. It leaves 12 doubles and 8 count dominoes worth 60 points (both 5-0s are gone), in six suits (ones through sixes) of 12 tiles each. Used in four-player 84, Seventy, 72, and Fosdick's 80.
- Twin (duplicate)
- The identical second copy of a tile. In a two-set game every tile in play has one.
- Identical or two-color sets
- Keith Mack calls for two identical sets, so nobody can tell the copies apart face down. The Sun City Texas club uses two sets of different colors instead, and each player draws a set number from each color: five and five with four players, five and four with six.
- Kitty (boneyard, blind, widow)
- The tiles left face down in the middle after the draw: 2 tiles with four players (4 times 10 plus 2 makes 42) or six players (6 times 9 plus 2 makes 56). Eight players draw 7 each, which uses all 56 tiles, so there is no kitty.
Seats and teams
- Alternating seats
- Two teams sit every other chair, so each player has an opponent playing just before and just after them: teams of two with four players, three with six, and four with eight.
- Four-player 84
- The version in the Sun City Texas club rules from Georgetown: 42 tiles with no blanks, 10 tiles each, a 2-tile kitty, bidding from 50, ten tricks that score nothing, and 2 points for every double taken.
- Six-player 84
- Two teams of three with all 56 tiles: 9 tiles each and a 2-tile kitty. Tricks score nothing and each of the 14 doubles scores a point. In Keith Mack's rules bids start at 60 and name trump; the Sun City rules open at 50.
- Eight-player 84
- Two teams of four with all 56 tiles and no kitty, 7 tiles each. Mack scores 2 points a trick and gives a point per double as the alternative; Evelyn Walton's version on Pagat scores the doubles.
- Shaker
- The player who mixes the tiles and draws last. In Mack's rules everyone draws one tile to pick the first shaker, and the most pips wins. The shake passes one seat to the left after every hand.
Bidding and the kitty
- Open-trump bid (number and suit)
- In six- and eight-player 84 and in Texas 88, every bid states a number and a trump suit, such as "64 in sixes." With two or three teammates listening, an early bid tells your side where your strength is.
- Suit-holding rule
- In an open-trump auction you must hold at least one tile of the suit you name (Mack; Puremco's 88 rules; Pagat).
- Silent trump
- Bidding a number only and naming trump after the kitty, as in 42. Keith Mack's four-player Seventy works this way.
- Bid steps
- How much each bid must rise. Mack says at least 2 points; Puremco's 88 rules allow even numbers only (60, 62, 64 and up). Wikipedia describes 84 and 88 bids rising by 1, and LaNell Ressmann's 74 allows odd bids.
- All-tricks bid
- Pagat's general rule: a bid equal to the hand total (84 in 84, 88 in 88) promises to win every trick, and later players can only raise to the next multiple (168 or 252 in 84; 176, 264, or 352 in 88).
- Mark bids (four-player 84)
- In the Sun City rules, bids above 84 are made in marks. The first mark bid can be one or two marks, later players raise one mark at a time, and the bidding team must take all ten tricks.
- Kitty exchange
- The high bidder picks up the kitty without showing it, then puts back the same number of tiles face down, which may include tiles just picked up. The Sun City rules make the two-tile discard mandatory: skipping it forfeits the bid.
- Count replacement
- The six-player rule in Mack's 84 and 88 and in Puremco's 88: any count domino in the kitty must be kept, and a non-count tile from hand goes back in its place. Pagat allows count to be discarded only when the bid is to win every trick.
- Discarded count
- What happens to points put in the kitty differs by game. In Mack's four-player Seventy, count and trump may not be discarded unless there is no other choice; a discarded trump is turned face up and discarded count goes to the opponents. In Jay Long's West Texas 80, count may be discarded and still counts for the bidder, but on bids under 80 its value is added to the bid.
Trumps and contracts
- 12-tile and 14-tile trump suits
- With every tile doubled, a trump suit holds 14 tiles in the 56-tile set (both copies of the double and of six other tiles) and 12 in the 42-tile set, where the blanks are gone.
- Follow Me (no trump)
- Allowed in the Sun City rules and in Talbott's and Long's versions of 80. The higher end of the led tile sets the suit and doubles rank highest. In Long's 46-tile game, Pagat points out, a 0-0 can only win a trick when it is led.
- Pistol
- Wikipedia says that in eight-player 84, the bid called nello in 42 (a promise to lose every trick) is called "pistol." It cites no source, and we have not found the word elsewhere.
- Low
- A bid in the Sun City rules worth at least one mark. The bidder "must play the lowest domino in order to keep the lead"; if an opponent plays a lower domino, the mark goes to the opponents.
- Doubles trump (two sets)
- All the doubles as one trump suit, ranked 6-6 down to 0-0. Jay Long's West Texas 80 offers it with 14 doubles. The Sun City rules for four-player 84 list only suits and Follow Me; there, the 12 doubles would carry 44 of the 84 points on their own.
- Solo (360)
- The top bid in Jay Long's West Texas 80. It is always worth 360 and ends the auction: the bidder's partner lays their tiles face down, and the bidder tries to win every trick alone.
- Special contracts (in 88)
- Evelyn Walton reports on Pagat that some groups let a player who bids 88 or more play Follow Me, Nello, or Sevens instead of naming trump. Puremco's 88 rules allow no Nello, Plunge, or forced bid.
Twin tiles and tricks
- First played wins
- The tie rule every two-set game shares: when both copies of the same tile fall on one trick and nothing beats them, the copy played first wins. It settles twin trumps, two players trumping in with the same tile, and twin top tiles on a trick with no trump.
- One copy or both
- Holding both copies of the top trump means two sure winners. Holding one means a winner only if you play it before the other copy appears, because a twin led ahead of yours beats it.
- Ten, nine, or seven tricks
- A hand lasts as many tricks as each player has tiles: 10 with four players, 9 with six, and 7 with eight.
- Bid code (Talbott's signals)
- Suggested bid meanings Joyce Talbott shared on Pagat for her four-player 80: 50 is a long suit with no double, 54 one double and three trumps, 55 one double and four trumps, 60 two doubles, 63 two doubles and three trumps, and 59 "partner go marks." In a Follow Me bid the second digit names the double held: 55 Follow Me shows one 5-5, 65 shows both.
Points and marks
- Count (two sets)
- The same count dominoes as 42 (5-5, 6-4, 5-0, 4-1, 3-2), two of each: 70 points in the 56-tile set and 60 in the 42-tile set, where the 5-0s are gone.
- Two-point tricks
- Each trick scores 2 points: 9 tricks plus 70 count makes 88; 7 tricks plus 70 makes eight-player 84; 10 tricks plus 60 makes four-player 80; 7 tricks plus 60 makes six-player 74.
- One-point tricks
- Each trick scores 1 point, as in 42: six-player 79 (70 plus 9), Mack's four-player Seventy (60 plus 10), and Jay Long's West Texas 80 (70 plus 10).
- Double points
- Tricks score nothing and each double taken scores instead: 2 points per double in four-player 84 (60 count plus 12 doubles times 2), 1 point per double in six-player 84 and in the eight-player alternative (70 count plus 14).
- 12-point 5-5
- When doubles score, the 5-5 is worth its 10 count plus the double's points: 12 points a copy in four-player 84 (24 for the pair) and 11 with six or eight players.
- 84 (in 42 and in Texas 84)
- In 42, "84" is a bid of two marks. In Texas 84 it is the total of one hand, and a bid of 84 is worth one mark.
- Marks
- The usual score. A made bid earns one mark (or the number of marks bid), a set gives the marks to the opponents, and the first team to 7 marks wins, tallied in strokes that spell ALL.
- 500 points
- Points scoring as Pagat describes it: on a made point bid both teams score what they took; on a set, the opponents score their points plus the bid. Puremco's 88 and Long's 80 play to 500.
- Bags
- From Jay Long's West Texas 80: points taken beyond the bid. Ten bags cost a team 100 points, a penalty Pagat calls "almost certainly borrowed" from the card game Spades.
The two-set family
- Texas 88
- The six-player game in Puremco's rules: two teams of three in alternating seats, 9 tiles each and a 2-tile kitty, bids from 60 in even numbers that name trump, and 70 count plus nine 2-point tricks for 88 points. Game is 500 points or 7 marks.
- 80
- A four-player game with three documented versions: Howard Fosdick's (42 tiles with no blanks, a 2-tile kitty, 2-point tricks, bids from 60), Joyce Talbott's (44 tiles, a 4-tile kitty, 2-point tricks, bids from 50), and Jay Long's West Texas 80 (46 tiles keeping the 0-0s and 5-0s, a 4-tile kitty and 2 unused tiles, 1-point tricks, bids from 60).
- 79
- Six players with all 56 tiles, 9 each and a 2-tile kitty, scoring a point a trick (70 plus 9), with bids from 50. From Howard Fosdick's table.
- 74
- LaNell Ressmann's six-player game: all blanks removed except the two 0-0s (44 tiles), 7 each and a 2-tile kitty, 2-point tricks plus 60 count. Bids start at 45, odd bids are allowed, and Follow Me is the only special contract.
- Seventy and 72
- Four-player games with the blanks removed: 10 tiles each, two left over for the high bidder, and bidding from 40. Keith Mack's Seventy names trump after the discard and scores 60 count plus a point a trick for 70. Wikipedia describes the same deal and discard rules under the name 72 without breaking down the points.
- 92 (Amarillo)
- A five-player game from Amarillo reported on texas42.net: two full sets, 11 tiles each and 1 in the kitty, 70 count plus eleven 2-point tricks for 92, with bidding from 65. The high bidder finds a partner by asking for a domino ("I need double six"), and whoever holds it joins the bidder for that hand.