Objective: The objective of Texas 42 is to be the first team to reach a pre-determined number of points, usually 250.

Equipment:

• A standard double-six domino set (28 tiles)
  

Setup:

1. Players:

   • Texas 42 is played by four players, divided into two teams. Teammates sit opposite each other.

2. Shuffling and Drawing:

   • Shuffle the dominoes face down.

   • Each player draws 7 tiles.
     

Gameplay:

1. Bidding:

   • The player to the left of the dealer starts the bidding. Bids represent the number of points a team believes it can score in that hand, starting from 30 and going up to 42 in increments of one.

   • Players can either bid a higher number or pass.

   • Bidding continues until three players pass consecutively. The highest bidder names the trump suit (suit with the highest value in that round).

2. Naming Trump:

   • The highest bidder declares a suit (e.g., 5s, 3s) as trump. All dominoes containing the trump number are considered trump tiles.

   • The highest bidder leads the first trick.

3. Playing Tricks:

   • The player leading the trick places a domino in the center of the table.

   • The other players must follow suit if they can (play a tile with the same number as the leading tile).

   • If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any domino.

   • The highest trump tile wins the trick if any are played. If no trump is played, the highest tile of the lead suit wins the trick.

   • The winner of the trick leads the next trick.

4. Scoring:

   • Each trick is worth 1 point.

   • Additionally, there are five special tiles worth extra points:

     • 0-5 (worth 5 points)

     • 1-4 (worth 5 points)

     • 2-3 (worth 5 points)

     • 3-2 (worth 5 points)

     • 4-1 (worth 5 points)

     • 5-0 (worth 5 points)

   • A team needs to win tricks and collect these special tiles to meet their bid.

5. Winning the Hand:

   • If the bidding team meets or exceeds their bid, they score the amount of their bid.

   • If the bidding team fails to meet their bid, they lose the amount of their bid.

   • The non-bidding team scores the number of points they won in tricks.
     

Winning the Game:

• The game continues until one team reaches or exceeds the predetermined winning score (commonly 250 points).
  

Additional Rules:

• Reneging: A player must follow suit if they can. Failing to do so (reneging) results in losing the hand.

• Doubling: In some variations, players can double the stakes after the highest bid by declaring "double."