How to Play Casino Dominoes and Calculate Payouts

To play Casino Dominoes, place the base wager (the Doubles side bet is optional), receive three face-up cards plus a separate connector card, and match each of your cards with the connector: only connection totals of 5, 10 or 15 points count. Your total determines the payout under the paytable. There is no dealer hand to beat, so identical cards do not create a tie or push.

This guide covers the specific version in the official NGCB Casino Dominoes rules. That document includes several payout options, so the figures below do not automatically apply to another table. Current live-table availability has not been confirmed. This game uses special domino cards; it is neither ordinary dominoes nor Pai Gow Tiles.

How does a round work?

You place your wagers before the deal, then the dealer deals the cards and settles the two bets independently. There are no player decisions after betting in this version.

Casino Dominoes uses a shoe containing two complete 28-card double-six sets. Each set contains every unique domino value from 0-0 through 6-6: 56 cards in total, with two copies of each value.

The round follows this sequence:

1. Place the required base Casino Dominoes wager.
2. If you wish, place the optional Doubles side bet.
3. The dealer deals three face-up player cards and a separate connector card that each of your three cards is matched against.
4. Each player card is matched separately with the connector. Only qualifying results of 5, 10 or 15 score points.
5. Add the three scores. If the connector is 3-2, add five bonus points.
6. Settle the base wager using the total score, and settle Doubles using the doubles among all four cards, including the connector.

A double is a card with identical halves, such as 3-3. It describes a card, not an instruction to double your wager.

How do cards connect and score?

A connection scores only when matching halves can be joined and the exposed halves total 5, 10 or 15. No matching half, or any other total, means that player card scores zero.

Ordinary train

An ordinary train joins the matching halves and adds the two exposed halves.

• Connector 3-4 and player card 1-3 join at the threes. The exposed halves are 4 and 1: 4 + 1 = 5 points.
• Connector 3-4 and player card 2-3 also join at the threes, but 4 + 2 = 6. Six does not qualify, so the card scores 0 points.

That zero is the score for one connection. The base wager is settled only after all points have been added.

T-shaped match with a double

A T-shaped match counts both exposed halves of the double and the exposed half of the other card.

For example, connector 3-4 with player card 3-3 scores:

4 + 3 + 3 = 10 points.

The rules also specify a special case: 5-5 matched with 5-5 scores 15 points.

The 3-2 connector bonus

A 3-2 connector automatically adds five bonus points to the round's total. A 3-2 among the three player cards does not earn that bonus; it is scored by matching it with the connector as usual. With a 3-2 connector, none of the player's cards can score 5, 10 or 15 points, so the round total is always exactly 5 (the bonus) and pays 2:1.

What happens when cards are identical?

Identical cards are scored through the connection rules, not treated as a tie. There is no separate dealer hand to beat or compare with your cards.

When a non-double player card is identical to a non-double connector, such as 0-5 with 0-5, both halves match, and the NGCB rules do not say which side to join. This article assumes the orientation that gives a scoring total: 0-5 with 0-5 scores 10 (5 + 5), rather than 0 (0 + 0). By contrast, 1-4 with 1-4 gives 8 or 2 and scores 0 either way, because only 5, 10 and 15 count.

The house edge figures below rely on this assumption, and published independent outcome counts agree with it. If a table uses the non-scoring orientation instead, the base-wager house edge rises to about 8.1% instead of about 2.9%. Ask the dealer how a card identical to the connector is scored.

A player card of 5-5 with a 5-5 connector scores 15 points. Under this ruleset:

• Zero total points loses the base wager.
• One or zero doubles loses the Doubles side bet.

Equal card values do not trigger a push or return of the wager.

What do the two Paytable 1 options pay?

Base Paytable 1 pays according to total points, while Doubles Paytable 1 pays according to the doubles among all four cards. The tables below reproduce those specific options from the selected NGCB rules.

X:1 denotes profit odds: the original winning stake is returned separately. For a stake of S:

• Profit on the winning wager = S × X
• Total return, including the winning stake = S × (X + 1)

Base wager — Paytable 1

The base wager pays according to the final score, including any five-point bonus for a 3-2 connector.

Doubles — Paytable 1

Doubles counts all four cards, including the connector, independently of the base wager's point total.

Winning example: $20 wagered, $90 returned

With a $10 base wager and a $10 Doubles side bet, this round produces a +$70 net result: the base wager wins and Doubles loses.

The connector is 3-4. The three player cards are 1-3, 3-3 and 2-3.

Winning Casino Dominoes round with a 3-4 connector and 15 total points

Original scoring diagram, not a casino interface: 15 points pay 8:1 profit under base Paytable 1. With two $10 wagers, the base wager returns $90, Doubles loses with one double, and the net result is +$70.

Here is the score for each card:

Total: 5 + 10 + 0 = 15 points. There is no bonus because the connector is not 3-2.

Under base Paytable 1, 15 points pay 8:1:

• Base-wager profit: $10 × 8 = $80
• Base-wager total return: $80 + $10 = $90

There is only one double among the four cards: 3-3. Doubles therefore loses and returns $0.

Total wagered: $20. Total return: $90. The round's net result is $90 − $20 = +$70. No rounding is needed; this calculation assumes the stated cards and both Paytable 1 options, and does not predict another round.

Losing example: $20 wagered, $0 returned

With the same two $10 wagers, both bets lose and the net result is −$20.

The connector is 0-4. The three player cards are 1-1, 2-3 and 2-4.

Losing Casino Dominoes round with a 0-4 connector, zero points and one double

Original scoring diagram, not a casino interface: zero points and one double lose both $10 wagers. Total return is $0 and the net result is −$20.

The scoring is:

Total: 0 + 0 + 0 = 0 points. The connector is not 3-2, so there is no bonus. The base wager loses.

There is only one double among all four cards: 1-1. Doubles also loses.

Total wagered: $20. Total return: $0. Net result: −$20. No rounding is needed; this is the settlement of the specified round under both Paytable 1 options, not a forecast of the next deal.

What is the house edge?

For these Paytable 1 options, the house edge is 2.89948% on the base wager and 7.79112% on Doubles. These are long-run mathematical averages, not the probability of losing a single round.

The calculation can be reproduced by complete enumeration of two copies of each of the 28 card values. Treat the physical copies as distinct cards and all eligible draws as equally likely; the enumeration assumes an identical non-double card is joined on the side that gives a scoring total (see the section on identical cards).

For the base wager, choose one of 56 cards as the connector, then an unordered group of three from the remaining 55:

56 × C(55, 3) = 1,469,160 outcomes

Here, C(n, k) is the number of ways to choose k cards from n without regard to order. For each outcome, score the three connections, add the 3-2 connector bonus where applicable, and apply base Paytable 1.

For Doubles, the connector's role does not affect the category. Enumerate C(56, 4) = 367,290 unordered four-card sets instead.

To calculate expected net return, assign each winning outcome its profit of X units and each losing outcome a result of −1 unit. Sum those results and divide by the number of outcomes. Reversing the sign gives the house edge.

For the base wager:

(1,101,756 − 227,466 × 2 − 111,958 × 3 − 22,772 × 8 − 4,148 × 12 − 796 × 25 − 250 × 50 − 10 × 200 − 4 × 500) / 1,469,160 × 100% = 2.89948%.

For Doubles:

(272,650 − 78,351 × 2 − 15,288 × 4 − 964 × 20 − 21 × 100 − 16 × 300) / 367,290 × 100% = 7.79112%.

These percentages are rounded to five decimal places. They describe the expected share of money wagered lost over the long run under these exact rules; they do not promise a particular session result. See how to interpret house edge for more on that distinction.

What should you check at another table?

Do not apply these payouts or house-edge figures to another table until the card composition, both payout tables and all scoring rules match.

Before wagering, check:

• Sets and card count: two 28-card sets, 56 cards total, with values from 0-0 through 6-6.
• Base payout table: specifically Paytable 1.
• Doubles payout table: also Paytable 1; matching the base table alone is not enough.
• 3-2 bonus: exactly five bonus points, only when 3-2 is the connector.
• Scoring a double in a match: a T-shaped match counts both exposed halves of the double and the exposed half of the other card; 5-5 with 5-5 scores 15. Also ask how a card identical to the connector is scored.
• Meaning of X:1: profit odds, with the original winning stake returned separately.

If anything differs or is unclear, ask the dealer to clarify before betting. Until every item matches, the calculations in this guide should not be treated as applicable to that table.