How to Score Mexican Train Dominoes

Scoring, doubles, and the fastest way to tally each hand.

Mexican Train is one of the most popular domino games in the world, and like most domino games it's scored by counting the pips left in players' hands. The goal is simple: the lowest total score after all rounds wins.

How Mexican Train scoring works

A game is a series of rounds, typically starting with the double-twelve (12-12) and counting down each round to the double-blank (0-0) — that's 13 rounds with a double-twelve set. A round ends when a player plays their last tile ("goes out"), or when the game is blocked.

At that point, every other player counts the pips on the tiles still in their hand, and that number is added to their running score. The player who went out scores 0 for the round. After the final round, the player with the lowest cumulative score is the winner.

What the tiles are worth

• Each tile is worth the sum of its pips (a 9-4 = 13).
• Doubles count their full value (12-12 = 24 against you).
• The double-blank is commonly worth 0, though some groups score it as 50 — decide in advance.

Why counting is the slow part

With a double-twelve set, hands can hold a lot of high tiles, so end-of-round counting is tedious and easy to get wrong. Adding up 60–80+ pips by hand, for several players, every round, adds up to a lot of arithmetic — and disagreements.

Fastest way to tally each round

1. At round's end, have each player lay their remaining tiles flat.
2. Snap one photo per hand — see how to count domino pips.
3. Assign the total to that player; the scoreboard keeps the running totals and shows who's winning.

FAQ

How many rounds are in Mexican Train?

With a double-twelve set, 13 rounds (12-12 down to 0-0). A double-nine set gives 10 rounds.

Does the lowest or highest score win?

Lowest. You're counting the pips you're stuck with, so fewer points is better.