-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Mexican Train is a favourite of ours. We started playing it at the cottage
with a few drinks. Now I play it almost everyday during lunch with my
coworkers.
I have left out a lot of the response, only piping in where I have
something
to add.
>> Is double blank 50?
>
> No. There are some other similar games that have this rule. I think
> Chicken Foot has this rule just to make things interesting.
I have seen this variation for Mexican Train, though we don't use it.
>> Other rules I have found allow the person to the players left to
> offer a
>> tile to play when the player doesn't have one.
>
> I guess that's OK if you want to play nice. We don't use that rule.
> It kind of messes with the strategy.
I agree. For us the game is all about being nasty and trying to make it so
others can't play. And then the shaking of the fist when they do it to
you! :)
>>Some say you play the sound when you
>> start a net train, others when you win.
>
> You play the sound when you play to the Mexican Train. The Mexican
> Train gets special treatment because they named the game after it. The
> idea is that you want to know when the open end of the Mexican Train
> has changed because it is very important to the strategy of the game
> since it's always open to everyone.
We found the silly sound thing annoying, and took the batteries out before
we were done our first round. As well, we sometimes play with the very
simple plastic template that has no such fancy features.
>> Some rules have you start with the largest double drawn, others have
> you
>> keep drawing until a double 12 is drawn.
>
> With a 12-12 set you play 13 rounds starting with the 12-12 in the
> middle, then the 11-11, and so on down to the 0-0.
>
> You deal out the right number of tiles, then you ask, "OK, who's got
> the double-12?" If someone has it, they play it to the center, then
> they get to go again because they just played a double. Like any
> double it must be completed. If they can't complete it, in other words
> if they can't start their train, they go to the boneyard. If they can
> now complete it, they start their train. If not, they are blocked.
> They place a token on their train and play passes to the next player.
> If no one has the starting tile, everyone draws one tile and you ask
> the same question, etc.
>
> You start the next hand by asking, "OK, who's got the double-11?" You
> work your way down to 0-0 or some previously agreed upon number.
>
> A double-9 set works well for 4 or less players.
We actually pull out the double 12 before the first round and set it in
the
station. Then we choose who will go first. (we are civil) Then after each
round during the counting, we simply put aside the next double needed. The
player that went out in the previous round is given the honour of going
first in the upcoming round.
>> I found this strategy from the web:
>> "My father & I are very good at playing 'cut throat'; i.e. Placing a
> double
>> domino down (On the Mexican Train) and then not satisfying it.
> Therefore,
>> making the next player satisfy the double from the middle of their
> train".
>>
>> Huh? How does one satisfy a double from the middle of his train?
>
> A person might be lucky enough to get a hand of tiles that all match
> end to end so that he could go out without having to go to the
> boneyard. He might have already played half his tiles and now has to
> complete a double which forces him to use one of the tiles he was
> hoping to use to complete his train without having to go to the
> boneyard. He had to pull a tile out of the "middle" of his incomplete
> train. He will have to change his entire strategy because he might now
> be missing a vital link.
This is the core "screw you" move in the game. It doesn't even have to
make
him pull from the centre of his train to get him.
Our favourite is placing the double on the Mexican which matches your left
hand player's empty train end. This means that unless they have 2 of the
given value, you have just cut their train off right there.
As well, if the player can't play on the open double the they will have to
draw from the boneyard. At this point either they can play it, and you
have
simply made them waste a turn meaning one more turn before they can go
out,
or they can't play it, and you have stuck them with another domino,more
pips and most important, an open personal train! At this point, once the
double is satisfied, everyone else to the right of the poor sap, has a
chance at playing on his train and thus destroying his carefully laid
plans.
- --
contact me at jcdietrich (at gmail dot com) not the above spam trap
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux)
iD8DBQFBtRJ74+4bF8AtgmoRAlvfAJ0f70JVjFduSlTC9Udp5j9bdfnAhACcCDSV
qtDXqE3keYVMn3jA3pYyKoE=
=WJT4
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
