Matador

Players and equipment

Two to four players and a double-six set of 28 dominoes: every pairing of the numbers blank to six. The spots on a tile are its pips and its two halves are its ends. Two players draw seven tiles each, three or four draw five, and the rest are the boneyard. Also called Russian Dominoes, and sometimes All Sevens, after its one rule: tiles do not match, they add up. Keep something to score on.

The deal

Shuffle the tiles face down and draw. Stand yours on their edges so that only you can see them. Whoever holds the double six leads it, or failing that the highest double anybody holds; if nobody holds a double, the heaviest tile leads. The line runs out from there in both directions. Doubles lie along the line in Matador rather than across it and mean nothing special: a double at an end is simply an end showing that number.

Play

Turns pass to the left. Matador matches by addition rather than by equality: a tile may join an end only if the two touching halves add up to seven. A five goes against a two, a six against a one, a four against a three, and nothing whatever goes against a blank. The half that is not touching faces out and becomes the new end.

Which is where the four tiles the game is named for come in:

The matadors

Play on any end

6-1, 5-2, 4-3 and 0-0

A blank end

Only a matador can follow

Nothing adds to seven with a blank

A matador is wild. Lay it crosswise at any open end, either way round, and the half you leave sticking out is the new end — so 6-1 played against a four leaves either a one or a six, and choosing which is most of the skill in the game. The double blank is a matador too, and playing it shuts that end down for everybody except the next matador. A matador can also be played the ordinary way: the 6-1 adds to seven against a one or a six like any other tile.

Unable to play, draw from the boneyard until you can. When it is empty, pass. You may not pass while you hold a tile that fits.

Scoring

A hand ends when somebody plays their last tile, or when nobody can play at all.

Going out

Sum

The pips left in every other hand

Blocked

Difference

The lightest hand, less its own pips

A tie on the lightest hand

0

Nobody scores

Count every tile at its full pips, doubles included: the 6-6 is twelve, the 4-3 is seven, and the double blank, matador though it is, is nothing at all. In a blocked hand the lightest hand wins, adds up the pips in every other hand, takes off its own, and scores the difference.

A worked hand

Two players, seven tiles each, playing to 100. Alice holds the double six and leads it.

Alice leads 6-6

Both ends show a six

The highest double, laid along the line

Ben plays 1-4 against a six

The ends read six and four

One and six make seven

Ben plays 5-0 against a two

Only a matador can follow

Five and two make seven, a blank faces out

Ben plays 4-3 on the blank

The ends read three and six

A matador, laid across, the three left facing out

Alice plays 5-6, her last tile

Alice goes out

Five against a two

Ben is left holding 5-5

Alice scores 10

Ten pips

Alice leads the double six, so both ends show a six and any tile with a one can follow. Ben plays 1-4 at one end, the four facing out. Alice answers with the 3-3 against the four, the double lying along the line and leaving a three. Ben plays 4-5 against it, and Alice plays 1-2 at the far end against the six, so the ends read two and five. Ben now plays 5-0 against the two and the blank faces out: that end is dead until a matador arrives. Alice plays 2-6 against the five, and Ben, with no one to put against the six, lays the 4-3 across the blank end rather than draw. He may leave either number showing and leaves the three, because he holds the 4-4 and wants it to fit next turn. Alice plays 5-1 against the six, Ben plays 4-4 against the three, and Alice plays 3-5 against the four, so both ends read five. Ben plays 2-2 against one of them and is down to the 5-5, which fits nowhere with a five and a two showing. Alice has the 5-6: five against the two, and it was her last tile. Ben is left with ten pips on the double five, and Alice scores ten. The boneyard was never touched.

The totals build over the hands. Alice had 23 from the first hand and Ben 31 when the hand above began; after it Alice leads 33 to 31. In the third hand the line blocks with Alice holding nine pips and Ben four, so Ben scores the difference, five, and leads 36 to 33 — a long way from 100.

Ending

Play hands until somebody reaches 100 points. Keeping score on SquareScores, set the target when you launch the game and the app ends the match at the line.

Hold a matador

A matador is the one tile that always fits, so it is the tile that keeps you out of the boneyard. Play your ordinary tiles first and keep a matador back for the turn when nothing else adds to seven, or for a blank end nobody else can touch. The double blank is the one to hold longest: it closes the end it is played on, and it counts nothing against you at the end of a hand.

Play to block

Nothing adds to seven with a blank, so a blank at an end is a dead end until a matador arrives. If you hold a matador and the others are stuck, steer the line onto blanks and watch them draw. A blocked hand goes to the lightest hand, so block when your hand is light and the others look heavy; when it is the other way round, keep the ends open on plentiful numbers and play towards somebody going out.

Count the ends

Each end takes exactly one number, the one that makes seven with it: a five wants a two, a six wants a one. There are seven tiles carrying each number, and you can see the ones in your hand and on the table, so you always know how many are still out. If both ends show a five and six of the twos are already in view, only one tile in the set can be played there without a matador.

Which end to leave

A matador can be laid either way round, and the number you leave facing out is a choice. Leave the number your own hand adds to seven with and you have a play next turn; leave a number the others have passed on and they will still be passing. A blank left facing out is the strongest of all, because it takes nothing but another matador.

Shed the heavy tiles

Every pip left in your hand at the end of a hand is a point to somebody else. When you have a choice of plays, play the heavier tile, the double six and double five especially, since a double fits only one number.

Double-nine Matador

Also called Russian Matador. With a double-nine set of 55 tiles the touching ends add up to ten instead of seven, and the matadors are the tiles that add to ten — 1-9, 2-8, 3-7, 4-6 and 5-5 — together with the double blank. A blank end is as dead as ever.

Block Matador

The boneyard is never touched. A player who cannot play knocks and passes, and the hand blocks as soon as nobody can play. The matadors matter more, because they are the only way out of a hand that does not fit.

Drawing by choice

Some tables let a player draw from the boneyard even when they hold a tile that fits, to look for something better.

Leaving the last two

Many tables never draw the last two tiles of the boneyard. A player who cannot play draws until they can or until only two tiles remain, then passes, so a hand can block with two tiles still face down on the table.

A fixed number of hands

Rather than playing to 100, a quick game plays an agreed number of hands and takes the highest total.

How do you play Matador dominoes?

Matador is played with a double-six set and a single line, but the tiles do not match: a tile joins an end only if the two touching halves add up to seven, so a five goes against a two. Four tiles, the matadors, can be played on any end: the 6-1, 5-2 and 4-3, and the double blank. Whoever goes out, or holds the lightest hand when the line blocks, scores the pips left in the other hands, and the first to 100 wins.

What are the matadors in dominoes?

The matadors are the three tiles whose two halves add up to seven, the 6-1, 5-2 and 4-3, and the double blank. Each can be laid across any open end of the line, whatever number it shows, and the player chooses which half to leave facing out. They are also the only tiles that can be played against a blank.

Can you play on a blank in Matador?

Only with a matador. A tile joins an end by adding to seven, and no number adds to seven with a blank, so a blank at the end of the line takes nothing but one of the four matadors.

Do doubles go sideways in Matador?

No. In Matador a double lies along the line like any other tile and is not a spinner: nothing is played off its sides, and a double at an end is simply an end showing that number, which takes the number that adds to seven with it.

How do you score in Matador?

Only the winner of a hand scores. A player who goes out scores every pip left in the other hands. If the hand blocks, the player holding the fewest pips adds up the other hands, takes off their own, and scores the difference; if two players tie on the fewest, nobody scores. Every tile counts its full pips, including doubles, and play is to 100.

Is Matador the same as Russian Dominoes?

Yes. Matador is also called Russian Dominoes and sometimes All Sevens, for the rule that touching ends add to seven. A version played with a double-nine set, in which the ends add to ten, is sometimes called Russian Matador.