Counting the Open Ends
📋 What it is
To score in the "fives" family you first ADD the numbers showing at all the open ends of the layout.
🗣️ Coach says
Scoring games reward math. First find the open-end total: look at every free tip and add the pips. Two open ends of 5 and 3 make 8; a three-armed layout might make 5 + 2 + 6 = 13. Getting this sum right, fast, is the single most important skill in scoring dominoes.
🧠 Memory hook
Add EVERY open end. That running total is what all the fives-and-threes scoring is checked against.
😂 Giggle
What did the boneyard say to the empty-handed player?
"Come on, draw closer!"
😲 Whoa!
Top players keep the open-end total in their head after every move, so they always know if the next tile scores.
✅ Quick check: Open ends show 6, 3, and 1. What is the open-end total?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
10 (6 + 3 + 1).
You add the pips at every open end, not just two of them.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Set up any 3-arm layout and add the open ends out loud. Re-add after you change one end.