Cigars and Games: What Cigar Smokers Play Around the World
A good cigar is not meant to be rushed. A Toro can burn for an hour or more, and the best way to spend that hour is with a game in front of you. Around the world, cigar smokers have always gathered around a board, a deck of cards or a set of tiles, and the games they choose say a lot about where they come from.
This is a tour of 15 of those games: the tactical ones, the mental ones and the ones that are mostly about good company. Some are thousands of years old. Each has a picture and a short explanation, so you can pick one up the next time you light a cigar.
Games in the Caribbean
Dominoes
Strategy, memory and table talk
Few games belong to a cigar table the way dominoes does. In Cuba it is often called the national pastime, played at home, on porches, in parks and on the street by people of every age. It is usually played by four people in two partnerships, and in Havana the sets run to double-nine tiles, with the first team to reach 100 points winning the game. Family tradition runs deep: fathers are often a child’s first teacher, and in Miami’s Little Havana, players still gather daily at Domino Park.
Dominoes grew out of Chinese tiles and took its modern form in Europe before it spread through the Caribbean. Today it is a tradition across the islands, including Hispaniola, the island that gives our company its name. Winning takes more than luck: you count the tiles that have been played, read what your partner is signaling, and work out what your opponents are holding. A long, slow smoke and a long, slow game suit each other.
Pairs well with a long afternoon and a Toro that burns 60 to 90 minutes.
Games in China
Mahjong
Memory, pattern and patience
Mahjong is a tile game from China, usually played by four people. The tiles carry characters, circles and bamboo, and the wind and dragon tiles add their own symbols. On each turn you draw a tile and discard one, working toward a complete hand of matching sets. It is generally traced to 19th-century China, and it is now played around the world in many regional versions with different rules and scoring.
Mahjong rewards memory and pattern recognition. You track what has been discarded, guess what the table needs, and decide when to hold back. The pace is relaxed and social, and the clatter of shuffling tiles is half of the enjoyment, which is why it is easy to picture beside a slow smoke.
A medium-bodied cigar lets you keep your focus on the tiles.
Xiangqi (Chinese Chess)
Tactical
Xiangqi is Chinese chess. The pieces are round discs marked with characters and are played on the intersections of the lines. A river runs across the middle of the board, and each side’s general is confined to a small palace. Some pieces move differently from their Western counterparts: the cannon has to jump over another piece in order to capture.
It is a tactical game of attack, defense and sacrifice, and you can see a whole game turn in a few moves. It is hugely popular in China and in Chinese communities around the world, where you will often see it played in parks and tea houses.
A quick, sharp game for the first third of a cigar.
Games in Asia
Go (Weiqi / Baduk)
Tactical and mental
Go began in ancient China, possibly more than 2,000 years ago, and it is known there as weiqi. It reached Korea, where it is called baduk, and Japan, where it became a favorite at the imperial court. In China it was one of the four cultivated arts of the scholar, and rulers believed that skill at the game could carry over to military command.
The rules are simple. Two players take turns placing black and white stones on a grid, trying to surround more territory than the other side. The strategy is deep, and a standard board is 19 by 19 lines. Go is the game for the player who likes to think slowly and plan far ahead.
A game of patience, made for the last, calm half of a Toro.
Shogi (Japanese Chess)
Tactical
Shogi is Japanese chess, played on a 9 by 9 board with flat, wedge-shaped wooden pieces whose characters name each piece. Its most famous feature is the drop: when you capture an opponent’s piece, you can later place it back on the board as your own.
That one rule changes the whole game. Material is never really lost, attacks can come from anywhere, and you have to keep checking what your opponent could drop next. It is a game for sharp, tactical thinkers.
Best with your full attention and a cigar you do not have to think about.
Games in Europe
Chess
Tactical and mental
Chess is the best-known strategy game in the world. It started in India as a game called chaturanga, passed to Persia and the Islamic world, and then reached Europe, where its rules took the form we know today. Two players, sixty-four squares, and sixteen pieces each: everything else is thought.
Chess is a tactical and mental game in its purest form. You plan, you anticipate, and you learn to read what your opponent intends. Russia has a special place in its story: chess is a national passion there, taught to children and played in parks and clubs, and Soviet and Russian masters such as Botvinnik, Tal, Karpov and Kasparov shaped the modern game. Smoking a cigar over a chessboard is one of the classic images of a good evening, and a game that can last as long as the cigar suits it well.
A smooth, medium-bodied smoke lets the game stay the center of attention.
Backgammon
Dice and strategy
Backgammon is a race game for two, played with dice and fifteen checkers per side. It is thousands of years old and is often described as the oldest known recorded board game, with roots in the ancient Middle East. It goes by many names: tavla in Turkey, tavli in Greece, and shesh besh across much of the Middle East. In the Gulf it is known as tawla, a fixture of coffee houses and family gatherings in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates.
The dice decide how far you can move, but you decide how to use the roll. Good players balance risk and safety, and they know when to play the doubling cube. It has the pace of a conversation, which is why it belongs in cafes, lounges and on a patio with a cigar.
A conversation game: pour something good and let the dice talk.
Pétanque (Boules)
Precision and outdoor strategy
Pétanque comes from the south of France, where it took shape in the early 20th century. Players toss heavy steel boules as close as they can to a small wooden target called the cochonnet, or jack. You can bump an opponent’s boule away or knock it out of position, so each throw is a decision about risk.
It is played outdoors, in shaded squares and on gravel pitches, and it moves at a gentle pace. There is no better picture of a leisurely afternoon, which makes it a natural match for a backyard and a cigar.
A good game for a patio, a pitch of gravel and a Toro.
Cribbage
Counting and card strategy
Cribbage is a card game from England, traditionally credited to the 17th-century poet Sir John Suckling. Players score points for combinations such as fifteens, pairs and runs, and they move small pegs along a wooden board to keep track. Part of the fun is the discard to the “crib,” a hand that belongs to the dealer.
It is quick to learn and takes a lifetime to master, with plenty of counting and quiet table talk. It is a common game in pubs, clubs and living rooms, where it fits easily next to a drink and a cigar.
Small board, easy rules, and a good partner for a conversation.
Contract Bridge
Mental and tactical
Bridge grew out of the older English game of whist and took its modern contract form in the 1920s. Four players sit in two partnerships. Players bid how many tricks they expect to win, and then one partnership plays to make that contract while the other tries to defeat it.
Bridge is among the most mental of all card games. You have to remember every card played, signal to your partner within the rules, and plan the play before the first trick. It is the game for people who like to think together.
A long game for a cigar and a good partner.
Skat and Jass
Bidding, memory and card sense
Skat is often called Germany’s national card game. It was developed in the early 19th century in the town of Altenburg and is played by three people with a 32-card deck. Each player gets ten cards, and two are set aside face down as the “skat.” Players bid, the highest bidder picks up the skat and names the game, and then plays alone against the other two.
Jass is the name of a family of trick-taking card games that is deeply rooted in Switzerland, where it is played in homes, restaurants and clubs. Schieber, usually played in partnerships of two, is the best known, and it uses a 36-card deck. Both games reward memory, a feel for your partner or opponents, and good table talk. They are made for a long evening, a drink and a slow cigar.
A good match for a long evening, a glass of something good and a Toro.
Games in Africa
Mancala (Oware and Bao)
Counting and strategy
Mancala is the name for a large family of sowing games played across Africa and beyond. Oware is widely played in West Africa, and Bao is known across East Africa, especially among Swahili people in Tanzania and Kenya. Boards can be carved from wood, or even scooped out of the ground, and the counters are seeds or small stones.
On your turn you pick up the seeds from one pit and drop them one by one into the pits that follow. Depending on where the last seed lands, you may capture seeds from your opponent. It looks simple, but it is full of counting, planning and forcing moves several turns ahead.
Counting games like this suit a slow, steady smoke.
Games in the United States
Texas Hold’em Poker
Probability, psychology and nerve
Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker today. Each player gets two private cards, and five community cards are dealt face up in the middle. Players make the best five-card hand they can, and betting rounds in between reward judgment, patience and reading other people. It rose to fame through poker rooms in Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker.
Poker is more than luck. It is probability, psychology and nerve. Many cigar lounges and home game nights pair the two, and the smoke and the slow pace fit the game. Whatever you play for, keep it friendly and responsible.
Keep the stakes friendly and the ashtray away from the cards.
Blackjack
Probability and decision-making
Blackjack is a card game with one clear goal: get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Number cards count as their number, face cards count as 10, and an ace can count as 1 or 11. It traces back to the French game vingt-et-un and is now a staple of casinos and home games in the United States. It is just as familiar at the tables of Monaco, home of the famous Casino de Monte-Carlo, and in the casinos along the Adriatic coast of Montenegro.
Blackjack is a game of probability and decision-making. Knowing when to hit, stand or double comes down to the odds, not to a hunch. As with all games with money on the table, play for fun and play responsibly.
A fast game that suits the first stretch of a cigar.
Billiards
Precision and geometry
Billiards is the family of cue sports played with a cue and balls on a cloth-covered table. It began in Europe and became a fixture in American pool halls and lounges, where eight-ball and nine-ball are the best-known versions. A good player sees angles, controls speed and plans several shots in advance.
The slow rhythm, the quiet between shots and the chalk and felt are why billiards and cigars have kept company for so long. Many cigar lounges still have a table in the back.
A classic lounge pairing: a table, a cue and a Toro.
Tactical, Mental and Thinking Games
If you like to sort your games by what they ask of your mind, here is a quick guide.
- Tactical (plan ahead, attack and defend): chess, xiangqi, shogi and Go.
- Memory and pattern: mahjong, bridge, cribbage, Skat and Jass.
- Probability and nerve: Texas Hold’em, blackjack and backgammon.
- Counting and strategy: dominoes and mancala.
- Precision and touch: billiards and pétanque.
Pick a Game, Pick a Cigar
There are no rules here, only suggestions. Here is how we would match the games above with the five JR Tancrede lines.
- Dominoes and Mahjong: Ogou — rich, earthy and full bodied, for a long, social table.
- Chess, Go, Shogi, Bridge, Skat and Jass: Roi Christophe — smooth and royal, medium bodied, for a night of concentration.
- Poker and Blackjack: Baron Samedi — dark and mystic, medium to full, for a game of nerve.
- Billiards and Backgammon: PaPaDoc — peppery and bold, with San Andres leaf, for a lounge evening.
- A game you want to remember: Empereur Jacques 1er — a Toro to savor for a special night.
Whatever you play, keep it friendly and keep the ashtray away from the cards and the board. Games and cigars are for adults (21+), so enjoy both responsibly.
What do you play when you light up? Tell us on Instagram, and we may feature your game in our next post.