WHEN IS YOUR WEDDING?
Several ways are mentioned in this book of finding out which month is to bring you some particular portion of luck, and here it is proposed to describe a game of dominoes that tells you the month in which you are to be married. Nothing is told you about the year of your nuptials—merely the month, and it is an amusing game for unmarried people only.
Get out the dominoes and ask an unmarried friend to take a hand with you. When you have played to the finish, the result will provide one of you with the name of your marriage month, whichever was previously decided on. Then, it is usual to play a second game, so that the second of you may receive enlightenment on the same point.
The game is played in practically the ordinary way that one takes a hand at dominoes. All the cards from double-six to double-blank are shot on the table, pips down, and shuffled. Then, each player selects five cards at random and examines them. The player who is seeking information lays down any card he or she chooses and then the game consists in matching the two ends with other cards bearing a number that will match. This is done by the two players in turn.
If at any point in the game one of the players while still holding a card cannot match at either end, he or she must draw cards, one by one, from the heap on the table, until it is possible to match, but one card must always be left in the heap.
The game ceases when one player has disposed of all his or her cards, or when the game is shut (i.e., there are no more cards available that will match seeing that they have all been used) or when neither player can "go" and there is only one card left in the heap.
As soon as the game is finished, the pips at the two ends of the formation are added together, and, whatever the addition happens to be, stands for the number of the month. Thus, if there is a five at one end and a two at the other, this gives an addition of seven, and the seventh month is July. It should be remembered that when a "double" card figures at one end, only the single number is reckoned; thus the total can never exceed twelve, as two sixes, one at either end, is the highest possible score.
It will be very quickly appreciated that the thing to avoid is to stop the game with a blank at both ends. What this means will be perceived by all players.