Counting-Out and Rounding
📋 What it is
At the end, players add the leftover pips in their hands; some scoring rounds this total to the NEAREST 5.
🗣️ Coach says
The endgame is pure arithmetic. When play stops, each player totals the pips still in hand — low is good. In some fives scoring, the winner also collects the losers’ leftover pips ROUNDED to the nearest multiple of 5 (13 rounds to 15, 12 rounds to 10). Knowing your "nearest 5" fast protects your lead.
🧠 Memory hook
Add leftover pips; round to the NEAREST 5 (…, 10, 15, 20). Halfway (like 12.5) is rare — most totals are whole.
😂 Giggle
What's the most dramatic tile in the set?
The double-six — it always makes a big entrance!
😲 Whoa!
Rounding to the nearest 5 is the same skill cashiers use to give change quickly — dominoes is sneaky real-world math.
✅ Quick check: A losing hand has 13 pips left. Rounded to the nearest 5, that is…?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
15 (13 is closer to 15 than to 10).
13 is 2 away from 15 and 3 away from 10, so it rounds up to 15.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Round 7, 12, 13, 18 and 22 to the nearest 5. Say each answer before checking.