Shoot the Moon

I am among the Texans who introduced the domino game Moon to the boys up north, including those in Pennsylvania. Basically, Moon is played by three men who divide up 28 dominoes, taking seven apiece and leaving seven on the table in a cluster known as the boneyard. Bidding begins, with the perfect hand being a total of seven. For example, you can have a plurality of fives, plus some doubles. If you control the fives and if you have enough doubles then you have a winning hand. Suppose you have enough strength to bid six. Then, if no one contests you, you can draw one domino from the boneyard to complete your hand. If this draw does not help you then you can fight it out for the last trick. As a gambling game, you can play for $5 a game and $l a hickey. A hickey is when you get set and have to pay the winner $l. If you draw a winner from the boneyard then you can Shoot the Moon. Set a goal for the game at 250 points. All you need is a set of dominoes. During wartime soldiers can be easily amused.