Pernambuco dominoes rules
Pernambuco dominoes, from northeastern Brazil, is played in teams of two, with 28 tiles and 6 in each hand. Going out with a lá e lô or a cruzada scores more, and winning 6–0 is a buchuda. These are the rules Lá e Lô uses, the way they play in Pernambuco.
Partnership dominoes, the way they play in Pernambuco, Brazil. The first team to reach 6 points wins.
The table
- Four players in two teams: your partner sits across from you.
- There are 28 tiles. Each player takes 6, and the 4 left over go to the boneyard, face down: nobody draws them and nobody sees them.
- Play goes clockwise: after you, the player on your left plays.
Who starts
- In the first hand, and after a tie, whoever has the highest double starts, opening with it. In Pernambuco, a double is called a carroça.
- In the other hands, the winner of the previous hand chooses whether they or their partner start, and any tile can open.
On your turn
- Play a tile that matches one of the ends. If it fits both, tap the side you want.
- With no tile that fits, tap Pass. You can only pass when you can’t play.
- Tiles that don’t fit are dimmed. To play without this help, turn it off in Settings.
How a hand ends
- Domino: whoever plays the last tile in their hand wins the hand for their team.
- Blocked: if nobody can play, the player with the lowest count, adding up the tiles in hand, wins.
- A tie on the count between the two teams: nobody scores and the next hand counts double. Tie again, triple, and so on.
Scoring
Plain domino1Domino with a double2Lá e lôeach side of the last tile matches one end: the 3|6 with ends 3 and 63Cruzadaa double with both ends on its number: the 6|6 with ends 6 and 64Won on the count1
Equal ends with a regular tile (the 1|6 with ends 1 and 1) is a plain domino. A hand counting double multiplies everything: a cruzada counting double is worth 8.
Buchuda
- Winning 6–0 is a buchuda: you win by buchuda, or lose by buchuda.
- A buchuda de ré is when the team leading 5–0 ends up losing.
Table talk
In Pernambuco, each number has a name:
brancopiuduqueternoquadraquinasena
When you play, you call out the end you opened: Two! If both ends match, All fives. With a double, Double six. In Pernambuco they say Duque!, Tudo é quina and Carroça de sena.
Online table
- Create a table and send the invite to your friends, or share the table code. Empty seats are played by bots.
- If someone disappears mid-game, the others can put a bot in their seat. When they come back, they get their seat back.
Championship
- Sign in with your Google account, pick a nickname and choose Yes to join. While you wait, play with the bots.
- With 32 in the queue, the Cruzada de Ouro (Gold) starts right away. With fewer, after a few minutes of waiting: with 16, the Lá-e-Lô de Prata (Silver); with 8, the Carroça de Bronze (Bronze Double).
- Teams are drawn at random, and everyone becomes an animal from Pernambuco. Who’s who is only revealed when the team is knocked out or wins.
- Lose a game and the team drops to the losers’ bracket; lose two and it’s out. In the final, the team coming from the losers’ bracket has to win twice.
- Each move has 15 seconds (3 when there’s only one tile or you have to pass). If time runs out, the heaviest tile is played.
- Last place is worth 1 point, and each place above is worth double: winning the Cruzada de Ouro gives 128; the Lá-e-Lô de Prata, 32; the Carroça de Bronze, 8. The leaderboard adds up the whole week and restarts on Monday.