Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2002)
psaidaltlx. •he letters i an will be] at is best s. kh ofusl 0 °h an oil I F interesiil •InencedbiJ current s mer studer: ^hen it all; have to right tsity. • ink it's; care ei® land wri foncerns That ml how Aggie i THE BATTALION Wednesday, April 24, 2002 domino laid is a domino played Igies spend time, earn money playing in domino tournaments By Jesse Wright THE BATTALION ach Bimslager, a sophomore philosophy major at llimi College, rests his elbows on the initial-covered Kce of one of the tables at the Dixie Chicken. He Ises his dominoes to his eyes then sets them face unneces- fc wn on ^ table. and noise^ £° tf> ree marks plunge,” Bimslager says with a "■ght face. student M he other three P la y ers at t,le tab le fall silent, and ftnm th '- ■ iext bidder nervously examines his hand. ^E^aBitnslager then laughs, breaking the silence. [neethreat® m kl ' lllin .-- ” Bimslager says. Hhe other players chuckle, and the next bidder lets put a sigh of relief and quickly outbids Bimslager I” 153111 ' frith 35. [Although this string of words and numbers such as |at a fpiunge” anc i “34" ma y no t make much sense to most, t> tliose who are part of the domino subculture, it is —R>nd nature. | It is Monday night at the Dixie Chicken and ligislager, along with dozens of other domino tnthusiasts, have packed the bar to participate in the veekly domino tournament. Usually between 20 and Mleams of two that enter the tournament and pay a >10 entry fee per team. Winners of the tournament ^akt home the pot, which can be more than $200. '■‘On Monday, the Chicken is the Mecca of domi- ■s," said Katie Campbell, an avid domino player and 1 senior management major. ■Campbell said she plays in at least three tournaments a week, jBnning the week at the Dixie Chicken. She has been playing 'Pnnnoes for two years and has somewhere between 10 and 15 ^■nament wins under her belt. impt; ampbell still vividly recalls the first tournament she ever won. |M‘There were a lot of people in the tournament, so my partner jind ( ended up playing until something like three in the morn- RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION Frequent domino players at the Dixie Chicken, clockwise: Colin Smith, a sophomore finance major, Justin Kleeman, a junior marketing major, Ryan Tuggle, a senior psychology major and Nick Waltz, a senior construction science major. ing,” Campbell said. “The good thing is, we won the tournament. The bad thing is, I had a test the next morning that I hadn’t even studied for.” Campbell said winning one’s first tournament is a huge mile stone to becoming part of the elite domino crowd. Campbell is now part of a group of 10 to 12 people who play every week. Morgan Pyle, a fonner student at A&M, said he has won hundreds of tournaments and placed second in the state tour nament last year in Hallettsville, Texas. “I’d say there is a group of about 10 of us that win 80 percent of the tournaments,” Pyle said. Making $100 a night playing dominoes is nice work if you can get it. And players like Pyle get it often. “At most tournaments, the winning team splits between $200 and $250, but I’ve won the $1,000 tournament at the Texas Hall of Fame three times now,” Pyle said. Many domino players have the opportunity to make money even after they are out of the tour nament. “You can find a money game whenever you want to,” said Eric Alzafari, a senior history major. Alzafari said many domino players will play for $5 a game after they are out of tournaments or even while they are waiting for the next round. Although the money is an obvious perk, it is not the main reason most die-hard domino players play week in and week out. “I probably play five nights a week or more,” Campbell said. “We all know each other, those of us who play a lot. We have each other’s phone numbers, and we always call each other just to play.” Alzafari agreed that the main reason he plays dominoes is for fun. “We had a party at my house a few weeks ago. It basically consisted of three games of dominoes going on at once,” Alzafari said. Alzafari said he has gone so far as to get trophies made to hand out to winners of tournaments at his house. Although most may not be as enthusiastic, Campbell urges any one interested in dominoes to get a taste of the game. “It’s a lot of fun, and we encourage new faces to come out and give it a shot,” Campbell said. :elini EMENI h monej] a tax & )me even] lelp ;omingto| savings! a Friday, J4prif 26, 9pm to lam in tfte iMSC Mi vSTUO t - A ^Featuring. . . ill- notist mes ^ performing in the \ flagroom <§> 9pm St 11pm A free showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Rudder Theater @ 9:30pm AA AcAIc J BiXJIiV (Pfus... Domino Tournament starting @ 10pm Free Dance Dance Revolution all night Free Pancake 6t Egg breakfast in 12th Man @ midnight cation i :hip ore ,ld “ 1 ' Tall'S call845 n°5 ReedMcD il o5p.n>^ 1 > 78 - art of tw? exas f- The $250 give-Away at TMicCnight Free Bowling and Billiards in the basement all night $20 Gift Certificates Door Prizes tSoiSCCRUCiR** 4 Atomic t Arts a Crafts in the basement all night Must Show y KD at C he c hjin J4 cross from the JLFM in Main Foyer For more information caCC845-1515