Seven-Toed Pete

This game is a member of the Fives family of games. It takes its name from a Poker variation, to which it has no resemblance at all.

Equipment
The game uses a double six domino set and four players. Chips are a good way to keep score.

The Deal
The size of the hand is 7 tiles each. There is no boneyard.

The Play
The first player in the first hand is determined by lot. In the following hands, the lead rotates. The lead player must place a double or a scoring tile ([0-5], [1-4], [2-3], [4-6], [5-5]); if the player does not have one in his hand, the lead passes to the next player.

The players must match the ends of the tiles on the table. Doubles are turned crosswise and count as the total of their pips for totaling purposes.

The first double, and only the first double, played is used as a spinner. The usual rules for placing tiles on a spinner apply. That is, the first and second tiles played against the spinner must be placed against a side, then the third and fourth tiles must be placed against the ends.

If a player cannot play a tile at all, he must pass his turn. When a player makes a scoring play, he takes another turn. When a player dominoes, the other players continue to play until the game is blocked or more players domino.

Scoring
Unlike other Fives Family games, the scores for multiples of five mean nothing. The object is to domino; each of the players who dominoes is a winner and takes one chip. If no one dominoes, the player who has the smallest number of pips on the tiles left in his hand when the game blocks is the winner and takes a chip. If two or more players have the same low score, then they each get a chip. The first player to reach a certain number of chips is the winner.

This rule was written by Joe Celko.
© Joe Celko, John McLeod 2001, 2004