Must be a native to get ‘Texas  Forty-Two’

Features

September 6, 2008

Answers-To-Go

By Susan Smith The San Marcos Record Sat Sep 06, 2008, 12:24 PM CDT

Each week hundreds of people call or visit the San Marcos Public Library to find information. "Answers•To•Go" highlights recently received questions.

Please visit the library at 625 East Hopkins, call 393-8200 for information over the phone, or e-mail us through our web-page at www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/library.htm.

Q. We’ve been invited to join a group playing dominoes, specifically Texas Forty-Two. It’s been a long time since we’ve played. Do you have a book that explains the rules and winning strategies?

A. Sure do, but I think you might have to have to be a native-born Texan to figure it out.

As an Ohio gal, I found my 25 years in Texas didn’t bring me close to deciphering this game. In Ohio, dominoes was a game for kids. It doesn’t look like that’s true in Texas!

Jennifer A. Kelley’s “Great Book of Domino Games” provides some background on Forty-Two: “Forty-Two is an adaptation of Auction Pitch. It was invented by W. A. Thomas during his boyhood in Garner, Parker County, Texas, about 1885; then it spread across the Southwest.

“Forty-two is very different from those games categorized as ‘blocking’ and ‘scoring’ games. Tiles are not matched on the table to form a layout.

“Instead they are ranked by suit; trumps are named; tricks are taken; and players bid on their hand.

“In Forty-Two, if a team collects each of the 7 tricks (1 point per trick) and each of the 5-count dominoes (2 tiles worth 10 points each and 3 tiles worth 5 points each, for a total of 35 points) in the course of one hand, he will have a total of 42 points (7 plus 35 equals 42). Thus, the name of the game. The object of the game is to be the first team to reach 250 points.”

Kelley provides detailed instructions on bidding and play. Reiner F. Muller’s “Dominoes: Basic Rules and Variations” is another good resource. He puts Forty-Two in the chapter on “Games for Experts.”

Q. Can you help me locate a place where low-income people can get free medical assistance?

A. The Hays County Personal Health Department at 401 Broadway here in San Marcos offers health-related services for the indigent.

These include physician, hospital, lab and x-ray services, skilled nursing facility care and three prescription medicines a month. You may call 393-5520 for details.

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