I was starving when I sat down to play and desperate for a beer, but I refused to pull myself away, afraid to lose the special vibe. The endless rhythm of the game (see video below) combined with the bustle of the old city all around is infectious, lively and nearly impossible to leave behind. Other than that, you keep your head down and play… and play… and play. Small talk is reserved mainly for the brief periods between hands. The only thing is, when they’re playing, they REALLY focus on the game. These guys were actually quite friendly and open to discussing a wide range of topics, from politics to history, the economy you name it. It didn’t take long before I realized that the perceived gruffness from before was not borne our of any disdain for me, or anyone else who happened by for that matter. The three remaining men warmly invited me to sit down and play – I was in!
Two hands later, with me still nervously hovering around snapping photos, one of the men had to leave… and the tenor of the moment changed. I tested the waters by asking them if I could take a few photos of them playing. The men barely looked up when nodding their approval with a grunt or two thrown in for good measure. Would they welcome me, or laugh me off the plaza adding insult to my already tainted trip? Game nearly done | SBPR Croix and continue to play with Caribbean friends here in South Florida, but I’d never had the time nor the chutzpah to get in a game with the San Juan locals. This time, I thought, I would try to join them. Every time I’ve visited this particular area, no matter the time of day or night, I’ve always seen a few guys slammin’ bones. The game of dominoes is huge in the Caribbean, and especially so in Puerto Rico where it’s not uncommon to see men and women playing well into the wee hours of the morning in outdoor settings like this all over Old San Juan and elsewhere throughout the island. Paseo de la Princesa in Old San Juan | SBPR That’s when I happened upon the four guys pictured above playing dominoes in a little plaza just east of el Paseo de la Princesa. I hit the streets, walking aimlessly all over the old city looking for something, anything that would erase the memory of the flight from my mind. Upon escaping the plane and arriving at my hotel, I knew I had to do something quickly to cleanse my Old San Juan travel experience, lest it be defined forever by the almost certain illness I was about to incur. No, I’ve never held my breath for quite that long. Yes, he narrated in my general direction the whole way down. Kleenex… Not bueno.Īs we began to descend for landing in San Juan, my loud, germ-filled friend asked if he could lean further into my space (I had the window seat) so he could film the city below for his Mom back in New York. My seat-mate was also battling a cold and runny nose without the aid of our good friend, Mr.
Sometimes, as outlined in this hilarious post on Vagabondish, the travel experience is less than peachy.Ĭase in point: my flight to Puerto Rico last month, during which I endured the first of Vagabondish’s extended Murphy’s Laws of Air Travel – The loudest, most obnoxious (and often smelliest) person will be seated next to you on the plane. The first player to score 100 points wins the game.įor more information on this game and complete set of rules, refer to know we make it sound easy, but all this Uncommon Caribbean travel is not all wine and roses (or in our case, rum and roti) all the time. If both player have same pips count at the end of the round, the round is considered drawn and no points are added to their score for that round.
The round also ends in case none of the players have a matching tile to play and there was no tile to draw from the boneyard.Īfter end of the round all tiles are moved to the boneyard and shuffled and then 7 tiles are again dealt to each player.Īt the end of each round, pips are counted for remaining tiles (if any) for each player and player with lower remaining pips count wins the round and difference of the two pips counts are added to the winner's score.
The round ends as soon as a player has played all his tiles. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ends.Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called pips or dots) or is blank.The backs of the tiles in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. If there is no tile left in the boneyard to draw, turn is passed to the next player. Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. That tile must be immediately played and turn should be passed to the next player. The player is required to keep drawing tiles from the boneyard until he finds a tile which can be played. If player can not play a matching tile, he must draw a tile from the boneyard. Player plays the tile by aligning the matching end of his tile to the matching end of the tile sequence in the play area. Next player can play a tile only if he has a tile which matches either of the two ends of the tile sequence in the play area. The player with the highest tile (sum of both ends in the tile) plays the first tile in the center.