How to Keep Score in Dominican Domino

Before the first tile is dealt, both teams agree on the target. Dominican players almost always count to 100, 'hasta un ciento', writes the linguist Roberto Guzmán in Acento; some tables play to 200, depending on the table. The Dominican tournaments we found that name a target play to 200.

Agree on it before the first hand and keep it for the whole game. This is also when you agree on whose tiles count, the tranque rule, and what capicúa pays.

When a player places their last tile, their team wins the hand. In everyday play you count the pips left in the two losers' hands and add them together; that sum goes to the winning team. Some tables also count the partner's tiles, so agree on it first. FichaFlow counts every tile left by default, the partner's included; a table can switch to the losers' tiles only in its rules.

Example: Team A wins the hand. Rival 1 has tiles worth 8 pips, rival 2 has 11, and the winner's partner has 6. Counting only the losers' tiles, Team A scores 8 + 11 = 19. A table that also counts the partner's 6, as FichaFlow does by default, scores 25.

A tranque happens when nobody can play; trancar is closing the game so the tantos get counted, as Guzmán explains in Acento. Published Dominican rules do it 'con el de abajo': the blocker compares his pips with the player on his right. A 2019 Santiago tournament, a 2025 La Guáyiga tournament and a DR1 guide all put it that way.

FichaFlow does the same by default: fewer points wins, a tie goes to the player who blocked, and the winning team scores every pip left in all four hands; a table can choose team totals in its rules, and set a tied tranque to 'Nobody scores'. Other tables compare each pair's total, and the pair with fewer points wins, according to The Bronx Journal and Wikipedia's account of Dominican domino. In tournament play (FID rules), pair totals are compared too. Confirm which rule applies before you start.

Capicúa is going out on a last tile that fits both open ends at once. It is a celebrated moment at the table.

It usually pays 25 or 30, depending on the table; at some tables it is worth double, writes Aníbal de Castro in Diario Libre. Many tables do not count a double as a capicúa, and FichaFlow scores it only on a non-double tile. Confirm the value before starting.

Score comes from the pips still held when the hand ends, so heavy tiles left in your hand count for the rivals if they win. A low count in your hand limits what they can score.

Passes tell you something too. A player passes only when no tile fits, so a pass shows which numbers that player is missing.

FichaFlow starts capicúa, pase de salida and pase redondo (o corrido) at 25. At the table they pay 25 or 30, depending on the table. Chuchazo is a Puerto Rican finish and pollona a Cuban word; both start at 0 in FichaFlow. The Tranque bonus also starts at 0 extra.

Many tables do not count a double as a capicúa, and FichaFlow scores capicúa only on a non-double last tile that fits both open ends.