ESPN2 has recently broadcast the 2005 World Domino Tournament from the Las Vegas Hilton. The Tournament originally took place on November 18-20, 2005. The ESPN telecast features the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals of the competition. Produced in a reality show format, the telecast includes seven one-hour shows. ESPN’s veteran announcer Alvaro Martin is joined by actor/comedian Casper Martinez for commentary of the tournament, which was originally broadcast on ESPN Deportes in March, and on ESPN2 in June.

The 2005 World Domino Tournament featured more than 40 teams from the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean competing in a tournament that featured the most skilled professional players, competing for a cash prize.

The tournament rules do not describe what specific domino game variation is being played, although from the pictures and rules, I infer that they’re playing Latin Partnership Dominoes, as described in the books How to Play Latin Partnership Dominoes and How to Play Better Dominoes.

This appears to be a 4-handed variation of Block Dominoes, as described on Jose’s Page on Domino Games in Puerto Rico and Latin American Match Dominoes at Puremco.

This is not, strictly-speaking, a domino game, which is why I’m not going to list it on this site’s Dominoes Software section. But Mah-Jomino is certainly a game that may be of interest to domino fans, particularly those who also enjoy the game of Mah Jong Solitaire.

Mah-Jomino, as its name implies, is a mixture of dominoes and mah jong. Basically, it’s mah jong solitaire played with domino-like tiles rather than classic mah jong tiles. The object of the game is remove matching pairs of tiles from the layout, until the entire board is cleared.

What makes this game different than all the other mah jong solitaire games is not just the use of domino tiles, but the fact that a domino tile has two ends. This small change helps to make Mah-Jomino a truly unique game, and a rather interesting and enjoyable one as well. It’s worth checking out.

Gamezebo offers a list of Tips & Tricks for the game.

More information about Mah-Jomino
Download Mah-Jomino (16.13MB)

ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network, and the International Domino Federation have reached an exclusive agreement for the network to televise the World Domino Championships through 2011.

“Our commitment in bringing the widely popular game of dominoes to our viewers remains intact,” said Lino Garcia, general manager, ESPN Deportes. “This agreement with the International Domino Federation, one of the game’s most respected organizations, reinforces our pledge to bring to our viewers the best and most competitive domino tournaments in the world.”

“The International Domino Federation is extremely pleased with the agreement it has reached with ESPN Deportes,” said Eduard Petrenas, president, International Domino Federation. “Both parties have shown a strong commitment to make dominoes the next mainstream sport on television.”

The World Domino Championship is an annual international tournament. The 2005 tournament, which took place in Las Vegas, will be televised in English on ESPN2 beginning June 12; it has already been shown on ESPN Deportes. The 2005 tournament featured a field of more than 40 teams from the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean competing in a two-day tournament that featured the most skilled professional players.

The 2006 tournament will be held in October in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is home of the 2007 tournament, and Orlando, Florida will host the 2008 event.

See also: ESPN Deportes, Federación Internacional de Domino.

Reference: Business Wire.

Here’s something I never would have thought of, but it’s a great idea: Next time you’re having friends over for a domino party, how about serving them some domino-themed treats?

The rectangular shape and simple design of dominoes make it relatively easy to make cakes, cookies, and other snacks in the shape of dominoes. Here are some links to resources I found:

• Black and White Cookies Recipe from Texas Monthly
• Chocolate Domino Cookies from Country Living Magazine
• Cookie Dominos from CooksRecipes.com
• Domino Cookies Recipe from BellaOnline
• Domino Cake from Child Story Hour
• Double Down Domino Cakes from Global Gourmet (pictured)
• French Chocolate Domino Cookies from Tali’s Cakes
• Juice Box Dominoes from VeryBestKids.com

Image courtesy of Global Gourmet.

Domino-Games.com is now more than just one of the best collections of dominoes information on the web – it also offers one of the largest and most comprehensive selection of domino products available anywhere.

Domino-Games.com features dominoes (double-6, double=9, double-12, double-15, and double-18), domino accessories (such as domino hubs, domino racks, scorepads, etc.), and retail versions of some of the most popular domino games, including Chickenfoot, Mexican Train, Spinner, PIP, Wildfire, and Tri-Ominoes.

All domino products are offered at competitive prices, assembled from the web’s top online retailers. You’re unlikely to find a wider variety of the top dominoes and domino games.

Buy Dominoes at Domino-Games.com

In an article in the Richmond, Va Times-Dispatch (Central Virginians Are Already Hip To Dominoes), Daniel Neman discusses some of the background of dominoes, some of the many domino variations, and how it’s played in his area of the world. The articles includes quotes from a retired couple, as well as a 21-year-old immigrant from Mexico, both of which enjoy playing the game with their friends and families.

Read the full article.

There’s an article in the Houston Chronicle (Are Dominoes Next Big Thing?) about the recent Professional Domino Association tournament in that city. The event attracted more than 40 players hoping for a share of the $30,000 in prize money. The the winner was Jerome Wooten of Kansas City, Mo., who took home the $10,000 first prize.

The next tournament is April 22nd in Dallas, with six additional qualifiers before the final championship tournament on August 19th in Las Vegas.

Read The Article
PDA Tournament Schedule

An article in the New York Times (After Luck With Poker, ESPN Bets on New York Dominoes) discusses ESPN’s coverage of dominoes. The network currently shows dominoes on its Spanish-language sports channel ESPN Deportes. Hoping it will be popular with English-speaking viewers, network officials plan to show similar programming on ESPN2 starting in June.

The ESPN sports network has declared dominoes the next big spectator sport and is promoting it as both a colorful cultural touchstone and a highly competitive game, complete with rankings, formal tournaments, celebrity events and sponsors.

“We think it will be the next cool thing,” said Lino Garcia, the general manager of ESPN Deportes. “We’re connecting with the best places dominoes is played, so naturally we’re going to start in uptown Manhattan and the Bronx, the places where it really happens.”

The remainder of the article discusses the local dominoes scene in New York: “New York’s neighborhoods are filled with characters who come together to play on Spanish Harlem sidewalks, Bronx parks and in basement and backroom clubs in Washington Heights.” An example is a dominoes club in the Bronx called Hijos y Amigos de Altamira.

Read the entire article …

ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network, has announced that it will bring dominoes to the television screen with its telecast of the 2005 World Domino Tournament, which took place November 18 – 20, in Las Vegas. ESPN Deportes’ telecast will focus on the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals of the competition. The 2005 World Domino Tournament will be aired on ESPN Deportes beginning March 21 at 10 p.m., ET. In addition, to the delight of English-speaking domino fans, the 2005 World Domino Tournament will be aired on ESPN2 June 2006.

“ESPN Deportes is once again pushing the envelope providing innovative programming,” said Lino Garcia, general manager, ESPN Deportes. “Dominoes is one of the most popular games among Latinos and it has also proven to have a strong following among English-speaking fans. Our goal is to make dominoes the next mainstream sport on television.”

“Dominoes is part of the Latino lifestyle and in Las Vegas we felt the passion that comes with this game. By having ESPN televise the 2005 World Domino Tournament, it takes dominoes to its proper place”, said Ralph Paniagua, President of R. Paniagua Inc, organizer of The 2005 World Domino Tournament.

The telecast, produced in a reality show format, will include seven one-hour shows. ESPN’s veteran announcer Alvaro Martin will be joined by actor/comedian Casper Martinez for commentary of the tournament on ESPN Deportes and ESPN2.

The 2005 World Domino Tournament featured more than 40 teams from the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean competing in a two-day tournament that featured the most skilled professional players. Coverage will include various compelling features that will air within the shows and on SportsCenter the week leading up to the launch of the series.

Note: This post was originally published in the Dominoes forum.

The Florida legislature is considering legalizing domino games at state-licensed cardrooms. Currently only the game of poker is allowed in the cardrooms.

If enacted, Florida Statute 849.086, which authorizes the operation of cardrooms at licensed pari-mutuel facilities in the state, would be amended to also allow wagering on games of dominoes at licensed cardrooms in pari-mutuel facilities.

There are two pieces of legislation moving forward. House Bill 579, sponsored by State Representative Edward Bullard, and Senate Bill 1422, sponsored by State Senator Larcenia Bullard.

Domino-Games.com is cited as a reference in a staff analysis of the house bill.

Note: This post was originally published in the Dominoes forum.