The Dominoes Champion

"Dominoes is the national pastime of Dominican Republic: it's as simple as that," said one club member, Louis Keyser, 72. "Over there, a little kid gets a bat and ball put in his hand as soon as he can walk, and from the moment he's tall enough to see the table, he learns how to play dominoes."

We arrived at the fiesta last night around 9pm... although it was late, it was still as hot as ever. Our friend David had invited us to meet his group of neighborhood friends who he's been trying to bring to church for the last few months, so there we were, the only "gringos" at the party. The scene was typical as to our experience so far in the DR... rum, burgers, tucked-in polo shirts, really loud laughter, techno music, more rum, sweaty people talking about how hot it is... and dominoes. I'm starting to wonder if it's possible to attend a party in the DR without Dominoes. And I think it might be illegal to not own a domino table.

Dominoes in the DR is played with four people around a table, seven pieces per person and you play to 200, and if you're not playing, you're watching and cheering for your friends... last night I was watching the game until David invited me to play with him so he could "teach me." I'm always up for a friendly game, especially at a party where I don't know anyone, so I was in.

The first game, everyone was nice and kept trying to explain the rules and strategy behind the game. We beat a dating couple, which allowed two tough Dominican guys to challenge us and I obviously thought we were dead. They threw down the pieces with attitude, high-fived when they made a good move and kept their eyes focused on the board. We won that game, too... so the competition kept getting stiffer. I just kept laughing b/c these guys play Dominoes multiple times a week, are serious about it... and here I was, the little American... but after FIVE GAMES STRAIGHT of winning, people just couldn't believe it. I guess it is just completely unheard of to win five games in a row (good to know, now!). I kept on saying, "David, we have to lose. I'm not going to have any friends here if we keep on winning!"

I think we're going to buy a Domino board now... especially since I'm such a champ.

For more information about the Dominoes craze and how it's the next big thing for ESPN, check out this NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/nyregion/02domino.html?ex=1301634000&en=90def15f0205f990&ei=5090