GIVING A “SIX LOVE” in dominoes offers the winner the ultimate in bragging rights.
The opportunity to win six games in a row without reply – and with a whiff of humiliation to the loser – is what galvanises many to pick up the dotted tiles and slam a dom whether it be day or night in country or town.
“I play ’cause I like it and to waste time and to beat people bad,” said a boastful Wayne Dottin at a popular dominoes hang-out in Oistins. “The best thing I like is making people pass (unable to make the next play), so I happy all the time. I like it when me and another man playing and he come second. I give people nuff ‘six loves’, especially this man,” he said, referring to playing partner Edwin Williams.
In the fishing town, dominoes is pretty much a 24/7 affair. It is rare for anyone to visit the fishing village and not see a group of men intently trying to give each other the coveted “six love”.
“This is a morning to night recreational spot where dominoes is the main attraction,” one of the main organisers, the media shy “Everett”, told Street Beat. “We have clubs who come here to practice as they know the men will be here. Dominoes is popular because the game itself is a short one compared to draughts or cards but it is still a game where you have to think. Dominoes is versatile, there are many ways to play and it can be played by both men and women, against or mixed; as an individual or in a team and it goes from amateur to professional.”
With a note of pride, Everett said Barbados were the domino world champions following a tournament here which included regional and international players. However, he said this accomplishment was little known due to how the game was perceived.
“Dominoes is still seen as a recreational game so it won’t get that publicity but there are a lot of twists and turns to dominoes,” he said.
Everett said dominoes was the “number one” social activity as, no matter what other sport someone played, they always came back to playing dominoes to pass the time. Curtis Frederick said the area was also a great senior citizens spot where retirees could enjoy each other’s company while keeping their minds sharp playing dominoes.
He said he came almost every day just for the fun of it.
“I was on this spot from inception in 2001 and I will keep coming back. I like the challenge of opposing people and just having fun,” he said.
Further along, two men were in an intense shortened version of the game where they only used the 12 tiles they drew – six each.
One of them was Dottin. His quick-fire games with Williams lasted about a minute a hand with Dottin winning most of them though his partner quietly registered his own wins in the face of Dottin’s bravado. Even so, Dottin, a carpenter, admitted he only played when he was in between jobs as when he had a job “I don’t see dominoes”.
Over at Charles Rowe Bridge, St George, another group of men spoke to the team about why they play dominoes. “Maurice”, as he identified himself, said he just liked the fun of it, both winning and losing.
“I just like to play. I’ve been playing for 50 years,” he said.
At this point, Nan Brathwaite interjected with “and he still can’t play”, a point Maurice agreed with as he admitted he “does get nuff ‘six loves’ but I don’t worry ’bout that, it’s still fun”.
Maurice said dominoes was far from the deceptively simple game it appeared and was more than matching dots as “you have to be able to read the table”. He said the table was relatively empty now but near the end of the year when people were on holiday it would be a daily event to see people slamming dominoes from morning.
Ross Clarke said dominoes was a “nice sport” but said he no longer played competitively as it clashed with his work schedule. Still, he was not above a friendly match when he could.
“I play to see how much ‘six loves’ I share. The fun is in to ‘six love’ a man and if I can’t, then I give way to someone else,” he said.
However, not everyone is a fan of the game. Ken Blenman said it was too noisy so when the dominoes starting slamming, he headed home.
carlosatwell@nationnews.com