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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.
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