The Basics of Domino

Domino is a tile game with a variety of rules that allows players to build chains of tiles. The games can be as simple or as complex as the player chooses. They can form straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures, or 3D structures such as towers. The most common domino sets have 28 or 55 tiles. Each domino features a number or blank on one face, and an arrangement of dots, or “pips,” on the other face. Each domino is a member of two suits—one suit for each of the numbers (a double-six belongs to both), and a suit for blanks or zero, which are called the 0 suit. The first player to reach a specified total wins the round.

Like playing cards, dominoes are shuffled before a hand or game begins. The set is then arranged in a layout where each player can see their own tiles, but not the values of other players’ tiles. This layout is called the boneyard, or, if there is no boneyard, a domino table. The first player, selected either by drawing of lots or by which player holds the heaviest hand, then places a tile on the table. The tile must touch a previously placed tile in such a way that the pips on both ends of the domino match, or are blank (a 6-6 is a heaviest piece).

Once the tiles have been arranged, additional tiles can be added to form a chain. Each time a new tile is played, the open end of the chain increases in length. The rules of a given domino game may specify which sides of a tile are open for play, but in general, only the side of the tile facing up is available to receive another tile. If a tile is played to a double, it must be placed cross-ways to the tile that created the double, so that the tiles straddle one another, or “touch” at their center points.

In political theory, the domino effect refers to the idea that a small change in one country can prompt a series of events that eventually lead to a large change in the whole world. For example, some neoconservatives believe that the United States invasion of Iraq will have a domino effect by helping to spread both democracy and liberal capitalism across the Middle East.

Domino’s is a food company that has had its share of PR issues, but a 2009 campaign showed the company was willing to take risks and be self-deprecating in an attempt to turn around its image. This type of honest, unflinching advertising is rare for any company, especially one that sells fast-food. The campaign was a success, and the company has continued to try to embrace this type of marketing in recent years. In addition to experimenting with delivery by drones and robots, Domino’s has introduced a line of pizza-themed merchandise that includes hats and T-shirts. The company is also promoting a healthier version of its classic pie, the Domino’s Vegetarian.

The Basics of Horse Race Betting

Horse race is one of the oldest of all sports, and though it has evolved into a modern spectacle involving large fields of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money, its basic concept remains unchanged: the horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner. Yet despite its vast popularity as a form of public entertainment, horse racing continues to ignore the concerns of animal rights activists and the larger public about the horrific conditions under which horses are forced to run.

While the sport’s aficionados show off their fancy outfits, sip mint juleps, and watch the beautiful horses parade across the track, behind this romanticized facade lies a world of broken bones, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. These horses are running for their lives, subjected to the exorbitant physical stress of racing and training while being plied with cocktails of legal and illegal drugs meant to mask injuries and artificially enhance performance. Many bleed from the lungs as a result of this pressure and are known as “bleeders.”

Before a horse race begins, stewards make sure all participating horses are properly positioned in their starting stalls or in front of a gate and then announce a start time. Then, the horses begin to run, and jockeys help guide them around the course, leaping any hurdles (if present) and crossing the finish line before any other competing horse and rider. Prize money is awarded to the winner, second, and third place finishers. If two or more horses cross the finish line simultaneously, a photo finish is declared and stewards examine a snapshot of the race to determine who won.

In addition to placing bets on who will win a particular race, fans can also bet on accumulator bets in which they try to predict the winners of several races. This type of betting is available at most major racetracks worldwide.

Betting on horse races began as private bets between friends, but the practice grew in popularity and eventually became more formalized in the 19th century with a system called pari-mutuel betting. This involves pooling bets and sharing the total amount of money bet minus a management fee. This is the model currently used in horse racing throughout the world.