About Texas42.net

When my youngest son got married, my daughter-in-law (from New Mexico) wanted to learn to play 42, so I posted a web page with instructions for her in February 1997.  Surprisingly, there were others in cyberspace who wanted to learn the game, too.  Thus began the evolution and growth of my 42 web site.

Back in those days, there were only four other 42 web sites I found online:

• www.pagat.com/pointtrk/42.html (McLeod, ©1995, still active) • www.earth.com/dominoes-42 (Sanders, ©1996, no longer active) • members.aol.com/DominoPage (Cameron, ©1997, moved, still active) • www.cs.utah.edu/~willrich/42/42g.html (Richardson, no longer active) (Dennis Roberson's book, Winning 42, was published in 1997.)

Today, there are more than seven times that many 42 sites.  Now you can play 42 online, join 42 clubs, and share information with other 42 players worldwide.  Associations have been formed to bring 42 players together for organized competition, to define tournament rules and regulations, and to track performance of the best 42 players in their memberships.  All this, thanks to the internet and some highly motivated 42 enthusiasts.

My first 42 web page was hosted at Homepage.com.  It had few graphics and no scripted features.  During the next ten years, the number of 42-related web pages grew at their new home, Proft.50megs.com.  The current Texas42.net domain, a gift from my son, was activated in late November 2006.  Since then, I have upgraded my hosting account twice to get more server disk space and bandwidth.

Most of my pages are found by search machines and referrals from other 42 web sites.  My Q&A page generated a lot of interest.  Questions revealed the concept of trump dominos was the most difficult for beginners to fully comprehend.  Experienced players also visited the site and made noteworthy contributions toward expanding and improving informational content.  Special thanks go to Beerdaddy42, Dennis Roberson, David Roberts, Tanzenmaus (Ed), Billy Johnson, Jerry Whitney, and other notable contributors.

I quickly learned that there are three types of 42 players: pure 42 players (straight 42 with no variations), variation players, and those who do both.  The practice of indicating was a sore spot with some players, but that seems now to be a non-issue as long as the signals are intuitive and commonly recognized.  Many purists, however, still frown on indicating and game variations. (My house rules are for straight 42, allow Nel-O as a forced bid option, and describe the 30-bid as a possible helping hand indication.)

Visitor stats and polling show more than half to almost three-fourths of 42 players reside in Texas, mostly south of Houston north to the Oklahoma border, and San Antonio east to the Louisiana border.  The highest density of 42 respondents was in the central Texas polling area, and most central Texas visitors were from counties along the I-35 corridor, including the cities of Georgetown, Round Rock, Austin, Kyle, San Marcos, and New Braunfels. Dallas County, along I-35E, is a "hot spot" of 42 activity, as is Harris County in East Texas. And, of course, Brazos County, home of Texas A&M, also boasts a long tradition of playing 42.

The game is played by all ages (most over 40) and both genders (mostly males).  The majority play game variations and indulge in indicating styles.  Most (58-60%) learned the game from family relatives.  About one in ten players has played in formal 42 tournaments.  (The demographics page has polling results and a link to a visitor stat map.)

It is no surprise that most of the visitors to this site in 2007 used Internet Explorer (78%) and Firefox (16%) browsers.  Ninety-four perccent (94%) had Windows operating systems, mostly XP (87%).  The most popular screen resolution was 1024x768 (47%).  Approximately 80% used a broadband connection (cable, DSL, or corporate). The counter at the bottom of each page shows the number of unique visitors.

These pages were tested in modern versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers.  If you find any inacuracies, ambiguities, or other deficiencies in content or functionality while browsing this site, please send so I can fix it.  If you have a suggestion or info contribution regarding 42, please send that, too.

Paul Proft, webmaster,
Texas42.net