Domino Rally

We have been delivering goodies to our friend over the Bank Holiday, one cooker, one double memory foam mattress, 2 sets of unused bed linens, a DVD player and a pair of tree loppers to be precise.
He is very pleased and offered to give us something for them, but we were adamant that it was the least we could do after all he has done for us.
When we get together, the TV is ignored (we have totally different tastes anyway though we shouted in unison at the telly over the World Cup recently) and we play dominoes instead.
Not your normal set of 6s, but 9s.
It is quite something to have so many spots , and 5s and 7s especially are confusing at times.
We usually sit in the same places and have about 10 games in an evening.
There are 55 pieces, so we have 18 each and whoever starts with the double 9 picks up the last one.
I rarely win by the way, so last night I suddenly found myself 3 games up to the lads NIL, and our friend was convinced that we had some secret sign language or code going on and suggested we changed places.
Hubs and I were in fits as it was just the luck of the draw, but we decided to play it up a little with the occasional wink, nudge, or footsie under the table, all of which were far from discreet just to tease him.
I lost the next game and Hubby won the one after, and before long it was 3 games each.
We enjoy our games, and it’s one thing our friend misses when we’ve gone as he lives alone and the dog hasn’t quite got the hang of it yet.