Fives and Threes rules

How Fives and Threes (5s and 3s) is played in British pubs and on PlayElephant: double-six dominoes, points for fives and threes at the ends of the line, and a game to exactly 61.

1. The set and the line

• A double-six set: 28 dominoes, from 00 up to 66. Each end of a domino shows 0 to 6 spots.
• The dominoes are played in one line. A new domino is added to either end, and the touching halves must show the same number of spots.
• A double (such as 33) is laid across the line. While it stands at the end, both of its halves count in the total. Once another domino is added to it, it is no longer an end.
• There is no spinner: a double does not open a new branch. The line always has exactly two ends.
• The score is traditionally kept on a cribbage board. Here it is counted for you.

2. Players, sides and seats

• Play goes clockwise: the next player is always the one on your left.
• In pairs, the two partners share one score. Partners sit opposite, so the order of play is one side, the other side, one side, the other side.
• You may not talk about your dominoes with your partner. Every move must be made on your own judgement.

3. The deal

• Before each hand the server shuffles all 28 dominoes fairly and deals the hands from the table above.
• The dominoes that are left over are called the back (they are "sleeping"). They stay face down, you cannot draw them, and nobody looks at them during the hand. There is no boneyard.
• Because some dominoes are out of play, you cannot be sure which numbers the others hold. This is part of the game.

4. The down

• The player who starts the hand puts down any domino. This first domino is called the down (some leagues say "drop").
• The first player of the first hand is chosen by chance. After that the right to go first passes clockwise every hand, whoever won the last one. With two players it simply alternates.
• The down scores like any other move. For a double laid as the first domino, count it once with both halves: 66 makes 12, which is 4 points. For any other domino, add its two halves: 63 makes 9, which is 3 points.
• One restriction: you cannot win the game with your own down (see section 8).

5. Your turn and knocking

• If you have a domino that fits either end, you must play one. You choose which domino, and which end.
• Choose the end carefully. When both ends show the same number, or when one end is a double, the same domino can give a different total on each side (see example 3).
• If no domino in your hand fits, you knock: you pass. A knock is visible to everyone. Online, the server knocks for you when you have no move.
• You cannot knock if you have a move. In a live game this is a "false knock" and is penalised. Online it simply cannot happen.
• In pairs, a player who has played all their dominoes is skipped without knocking, while their partner carries on.

6. Scoring fives and threes

This is the heart of the game, and it is simpler than it looks.

1. After a domino is played, add up the two ends of the line. A double standing at an end counts with both halves.
2. Ask: how many threes are in this total, if it divides by 3? That many points.
3. Ask: how many fives are in it, if it divides by 5? That many points.
4. Add the two answers. A total that divides by neither scores nothing.

• The points go to the side of the player who has just moved. In pairs, they go to the pair's shared score.
• You never lose points for the line itself. A move that scores nothing simply scores nothing.
• Points are counted only for dominoes played. By default there is no extra point for going out, and none for the lowest hand at a block.

7. End of a hand

Going out

• With one, three, or four players on their own, the hand ends as soon as one player plays their last domino. That move scores in the usual way.
• In pairs, the hand ends when both partners of one pair have played all their dominoes. The partner who went out first is skipped until then.

A block

• The hand is also over when it is blocked: nobody who still has dominoes can play any of them. Some dominoes are always out of play, so a block can happen with any numbers at the ends.
• By default a block scores nothing for anyone.

After the hand

• The remaining dominoes of all players are turned face up. The dominoes in the back are not shown.
• If no side has won the game, the next hand is dealt and the next player clockwise goes first.

8. Winning the game: exactly 61

• The game is played to exactly 61. Pub players call it "dying in the hole": you must land on 61, not pass it.
• The game ends the moment a side reaches 61, even in the middle of a hand. The dominoes still in hand do not matter.
• Going over. If a move would take you above 61, none of the points for that move count, and your score stays as it was. Near the end of the game you often want a small score, not a big one.
• The down. If the points of your own down would make exactly 61, they do not count and you do not win. This stops anyone winning without a single move from the opponent. Points that would take you over 61 are lost in the usual way.
• You can, however, win with any later domino, including your last one.

9. Mistakes and penalties

• In live pub play, the usual mistakes are a false knock (passing with a playable domino), playing a domino that does not fit, and pegging the wrong score. Leagues punish these differently: the offender may lose 5 or 8 points, or in some knockout events even the game.
• On PlayElephant these mistakes are not possible. The server offers only legal moves, knocks for you and counts every score. There is nothing to protest.

10. Variants

There is no single official rule book, and leagues differ in small ways. The table shows the common ones. Our default is the first column.

11. Worked examples

12. Glossary

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