Hungarian Dominoes

• Introduction
• Hungarian Block Dominó
  • Players and Equipment
  • Deal
  • Play
  • Scoring
  • Buying In
  • Variants
• Hungarian Draw Dominó
  • Players and Equipment
  • Deal
  • Play
  • Scoring
  • Variants
• Hungarian References
• West European 'Hungarian Dominoes'
  • The Deal
  • The Play
  • Scoring
  • Comments & Strategy

Introduction

In Hungary (as in Austria) domino games have traditionally used a double-8 set of 45 tiles. The individual tiles are known as kő or kocka, which means stone or cube. The layout (kirakás) is similar to that used in Austrian games with the tiles in a double row rather than end to end (see illustration). Logically this is equivalent to the end to end layout used in West European games, and the matching rule as usual is that the inward end of each tile must match the outward end of the previous tile in the line, but the double row uses less table space. The doubles are placed in the same way as the other tiles - they have no special effect and do not cause branching of the layout in Hungarian games.

The free ends can easily be seen because they stick out of each end of the double line - in the illustration the free ends are 4 and 7. The double row of dominoes can be made to turn a corner by placing the next tile at right angles to the row, like the double 7 in the figure. The next tile at this end will be placed vertically, to the right of the 7-7 with the 7-end touching the 7 and the 8 and the free end pointing downwards.

Note that the spots on the Hungarian 7's are traditionally arranged in a U-shape, rather than the H-shape with a spot in the middle that is typically West European and American double-9 and larger sets. It is of course entirely possible to play these games with a double-9 set from which the 10 tiles of the 9's suit have been removed.

There are two main types of Hungarian game, a block game and a draw game. The descriptions of these games below are based on research by Róbert Kovács.

At the end of the page, we have retained a description contributed by Joe Celko of a double-6 game that has appeared in several German and English books under the name 'Hungarian Dominoes', though it is not clear that it is or ever was played in Hungary.

Hungarian Block Dominó

Because of the small number of tiles out of play, this game has a fair amount of scope for skill. By paying attention to when players are forced to pass, it is possible to deduce the locations of certain tiles and put this information to use in the later stages of play.

Players

Two, three or four players can take part in a game. The usual direction of play is anticlockwise.

If playing for money they should also agree on the stakes: the reward for winning the game and a stake per tally mark scored. We suggest 10 units for the game plus 1 unit per tally mark.

Deal

After shuffling the tiles thoroughly face down, players draw their hands: 21 tiles each for two players, 14 each for three and 10 each for four players. The remaining three or five tiles are left in a face down stack on the table and not used in the play of the hand.

Play

For the first hand the the play is begun by whoever holds the highest double (double eight, double seven if the 8-8 is in the undealt stack, and so on) and the holder must begin by playing this double. Subsequent hands are started by the winner of the previous hand, and the starting player may begin with any tile.

If the previous hand was a blocked game with no winner (there was a tie between two or more players for the lowest number of spots) then once again the holder of the highest double dealt must start the next hand by playing that double.

Each player in turn must play add a tile to an end of the layout if able to do so. A player who has no tile that matches either free end passes and misses their turn. This continues until either one player wins by playing their last tile or all players pass in succession (the game is "blocked").

Scoring

The score is in two parts - tally marks recording the wins and penalty points recording the number of spots a loser has on their unplayed tiles. The overall objective is to score as many tally marks as possible since these are the basis of the payments at the end of the game. Players also try to limit the number of penalty points they accumulate so as to stay in the game with the opportunity to score more marks.

If a player manages to play their last tile they score two tally marks for winning the hand outright. Each of the other counts the spots on their remaining tiles and adds the number to their cumulative total of penalty points.

If the game is blocked, the winner is the player with fewest spots on their unplayed tiles. This player scores one tally mark for winning a blocked game and gets no penalty points.

If the game is blocked and there is a tie for fewest unplayed spots, then no one scores a tally mark, the players with fewest spots score no penalty points, and the other players add their total unplayed spots to their penalty point totals.

Any player whose penalty point total reaches 100 points or more is eliminated from the game, and if more than one player remains the game continues with the remaining players.

The game ends when there is only one player remaining. This last surviving player will be the winner of the last hand, since the winner of a hand scores no penalty points. This player collects a fixed stake from each of the other players for winning the game

In addition each pair of players then settles up according to the number of tally marks they have scored.

Example. C is the last surviving player and the final tally marks are A:4, B:8, C:11, D:11. With a stake of 10 units for the game and 1 per mark, all the others pay C 10 units for the game, and for the marks A pays 4 units to B and 5 each to C and D, B pays 3 units each to C and D, no payment between C and D. Net result: A:-24, B:-12, C:+38, D:-2.

Buying In (beszállás)

The above rules correspond to the early 20th century game described in the 1911 source below. Later accounts describe a version in which players whose penalty points reach 100 or more can 'buy in' to stay in the game. This works as follows.

So that the game will not continue indefinitely players should agree a target number of tally marks. We suggest a target of 10 marks. The game will end when any player has scored 10 or more marks or when there is only one surviving player, whichever happens first.

As usual there will be a stake for winning the game (reaching 10+ marks or being the last survivor) and a stake per tally mark. In addition players may wish to agree on a fixed price for buying in, which will be collected by the eventual winner: for example 1 unit per mark, 10 units per player to the winner, 10 extra units to the winner for buying in.

When a player's penalty point total reaches 100 or more, they must choose whether to drop out of the game or buy in. If a player buys in their penalty point score is reduced to be equal to the highest score of any other player who has fewer than 100 penalty points. In addition all the players who had a penalty point score below 100 score 1 bonus tally mark.

Example.

Player D has just scored a 7th mark for winning a blocked game. Player C had 14 unplayed spots taking C's penalty points to 100+. C must now choose whether to drop out of the game or to buy in. If C decides to buy in, C's penalty point score will be reduced to 86 (the highest penalty point score of those who are below 100) and everyone else will score a mark, as follows:

If two or more players score penalty points taking their score over 100 on the same deal, they must decide in anticlockwise order beginning to the right of the winner whether or not to buy in. If a player buys in, only players whose penalty point score was below 100 before the buying in started score the bonus mark. If two players buy in they will score no bonus marks while the other active players score two marks. If three players buy in because they all reached 100+, the fourth player, who won the hand, will score 3 tally marks while the others score none and all four players will have equal penalty point scores at the start of the next hand.

At the end of the game the winner, the player who has 10+ marks or is the last survivor, collects the agreed stake (say 10 units) from each opponent and an additional payment (say 10 units) for each buy-in from the players who bought in. In addition, players settle up according to the differences between the marks they have scored as usual.

As a result of buy-ins it is possible for one or more players to reach or exceed the target of 10 marks, ending the game. In this case the winners share equally between them the prize for winning the game. A convenient way to manage this is for everyone to pay the agreeed stake for winning (say 10 units) into a pool at the start of the game, and for each player who buys in to add the buy-in cost (maybe also 10 units) to that pool. At the end of the game the winner collects the pool, or if there is more than one winner they share it equally.

Variants

This game was sometimes played with a set of just 36 tiles, made by removing the 9 doubles from the full 45-tile set. In this case four players each draw 8 tiles leaving four out of play.

Hungarian Draw Dominó

This type of game, which seems to have become popular only after World War II, has a greater luck component than the block game and works well for a larger number of players, up to six or maybe even more. It has a couple of rules that make it unlike draw domino games from other countries: a player cannot go out until the boneyard is empty, and when there are no tiles in the boneyard a player who cannot play must draw tiles from the end of the layout.

Players and Equipment

This game is for two to six or possibly even more players, using a double-8 set of 45 tiles. As in most Hungarian games the normal direction of play is anticlockwise.

Deal

The tiles are shuffled face down and each player draws five for their hand. The rest of the tiles remain face down in the centre of the table, forming a 'boneyard' from which tiles are drawn as needed.

Play

The player who holds the highest double starts the play and must play that double. If no player has a double, everyone must draw one more tile from the boneyard to add to their hand, and this is repeated until a double is drawn.

Each player in turn must if possible add one matching tile to one end of the layout. The form of the layout is the usual Hungarian double row, as explained in the introduction to this page. In this draw game the double row is normally built so as to eventually form a rectangle around the boneyard, which remains in the middle of the playing area.

A player who has no tile that matches either end of the row must draw tiles from the boneyard and add them to their hand. The player continues drawing tiles one at a time until a playable tile is found, and must immediately play that tile.

If the boneyard is empty a player in turn who has no playable tile must take a tile from one the end of the layout and add it to their hand, and must then pass. This situation can arise in two ways.

1. A player with no playable tile who draws all the remaining tiles from the boneyard without finding a playable tile must then take one from the layout and pass.
2. If the boneyard is empty at the start of a player's turn and they have a hand with no playable tile they must take a tile from the boneyard and pass.

If a player in turn has no tiles in their hand and the boneyard is empty, that player drops out of the play. The first player to whom this happens is the winner of the hand. The others continue playing, skipping the turns of any player who is out, until only one player remains in the game. That player is the loser.

Note that a player who has no tiles in their hand does not win if there are still tiles in the boneyard. When this players's turn comes, being unable to play they must draw tiles from the boneyard until they find a playable tile, and if they don't find one they must take a tile from an end of the layout and pass.

Scoring

This is a social game which is not normally played for stakes. Players may like to record the winner and the loser of each game, to keep track of how many games each player has won or lost. (If you really want to play for stakes then the loser of each game should pay one stake to the winner.)

Variants

No Deal

Sometimes the game is begun without a deal: all 45 tiles are in the boneyard. For the first hand a starting player is selected by some random method. This player draws a tile from the boneyard and plays it. The play then continues using the same rules as above, but since all the hands begin empty, on their first turn each player has to draw from the boneyard until they find a playable tile. In subsequent hands the turn to play the first tile from the boneyard rotates anticlockwise.

Start Player

Even when hands are dealt, sometimes in the first deal the first player is selected at random and the turn to play first rotates to the right after each hand.

Drawing from the layout

Some play that when the talon is empty and a player with tiles has none they can play, the player must choose one end of the layout and draw a series of tiles from that end until one of the tiles in their hand becomes playable. They must then play that tile from their hand. The tiles drawn from the layout are stored in front of the player and only added to the player's hand after a tile has been played - it is not possible to play a tile in the same turn that you drew it from the layout.

References

The above rules are based on Róbert Kovács's interpretation of the following information sources.

• A magyar család aranykönyve : útmutató a családi élet minden ügyében / written by Bexheft Ármin [et al.]. - Budapest : Athenaeum, 1909-1911. Volume 2.
• Pápai Közlöny – Season XXIV– 1914. issue
• Délmagyarország 1916/04 issue
• A Rádió Ujság családi kis lexikona III. 1944. Sakk, halma, dominó section by Szöghy József
• Photos from the Hungarian National Archives between 1950s and 1960s and other photos as far back as the 1920s
• Contemporary Facebook posts

West European 'Hungarian Dominoes'

A game called 'Hungarian Dominoes' (Ungarisches Domino) is described in several late 20th century German and English language books. The earliest description that we know of is in Domino: für Denker und Verspielte by Reiner. F. Müller (ECON Taschenbuch Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1987). The description below with comments and strategy was contributed by Joe Celko.

This version of dominoes is not mentioned in any of the Hungarian sources we have seen, and we have no direct evidence that it is or was really played in Hungary.

It is a block game using a double-six set of 28 tiles which are played end to end, not in a Hungarian-style double row. A turn consists of playing not just one tile but as many as will fit on one end of the layout. The direction of play is clockwise.

The Deal

• For two players, each player draws twelve tiles and the four extra tiles are set aside and not used.
• For three players, each player draws eight tiles and the four extra tiles are set aside.
• For four players, each player draws six tiles and the four extra tiles are set aside.

The Play

The first player, who is determined by lot, makes a train of tiles in a single line, with matching ends touching, continuing until unable to add any further tiles.

After that each player's turn consists of adding a series of tiles to one end of the train. The player may play on either end, and continues to add tiles on the same end until unable to add any more. Then the turn passes to the next player in clockwise order. A player who cannot play on either end of the layout passes their turn.

The hand ends when nobody can play. The lead rotates to the left for the next hand. All the tiles are reshuffled, including the four which were set aside.

Scoring

The players score the total of the pips of unplayed tiles remaining in their hands. Whoever reaches 100 points first loses.

Comments & Strategy

The missing four tiles obviously have a strong effect on strategy. The game will block sooner than you might think because of not having those tiles in play.

Organize your hand into trains. As the tiles stand vertically in their tile rack, you can see matching pairs on the top and bottom rows. This lets your eye follow a "squared wave" pattern can to construct the longest possible train or trains.

If your hand has one train in it, then your best strategy is to domino immediately. This is not often possible; if it was, the game would be pretty dull.

If your hand has two or more trains, then try to play as many pips -- not necessarily tiles -- out of your hand as possible during each turn. This means counting the pips for each train and splitting them up in your hand the way that a card player organizes his hand into suits.

If a player cannot empty his or her hand, then they are holding tiles whose ends do not match either end of the train. This means that they are waiting for the other players to provide them with an opening. This tells everyone else what they are missing in their hands after their turn is finished. If you can leave the two ends of the train set to those numbers after your turn, then they will be unable to play. if you can make two trains that end in each of those suits, then you can domino.

Consider a sample two player game with the following hands:

Discards: [0-1], [2-2], [3-6], [5-6]

Player A: [0-0], [0-2], [0-3], [0-6], [1-2], [1-4], [1-6], [3-3], [3-5], [4-5], [4-6], [6-6]

Player B: [0-4], [0-5], [1-1], [1-3], [1-5], [2-3], [2-4], [2-5], [2-6], [3-4], [4-4], [5-5]

The first turn, player A makes the ten tile train:

[4-5], [5-3], [3-3], [3-0], [0-0], [0-6], [6-1], [1-4], [4-6], [6-6]

which leaves him holding:

[0-2], [1-2],

This leaves player B with openings for a 4 and a 6. With a little inspection, she can make an 11-tile train that ends in 6 and 5:

[6-2], [2-3], [3-1], [1-1], [1-5], [5-5], [5-0], [0-4], [4-4], [4-2], [2-5]

which leaves her holding:

[3-4],

The train now has 4 and 5 on the ends. Player A cannot play. Player B can play her [3-4] and then the game is over. Player A gets 5 points ([0-2] + [1-2]) and Player B gets 0 points (no tiles).