1 of 5

Kenneth “Tree” Green thinks about his next move during a game of dominoes Sunday on Minor Street in Natchez. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Players shuffle dominoes before the next round on Minor Street on Sunday. In dominoes, each player competes to win 150 points. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kenneth “Tree” Green looks at his hand while thinking about his next move during a game of dominoes Sunday on Minor Street in Natchez. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kenneth “Tree” Green enjoys some friendly banter while playing a game of dominoes Sunday on Minor Street in Natchez. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

Kenneth “Tree” Green faces his opponent in a game of dominoes Sunday on Minor Street in Natchez. (Nicole Hester, The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — Kenneth “Tree” Green has been playing dominoes all his life, and for 30 of those years he has been shuffling and drawing tiles on Minor Street where The Dart landed recently.

“It’s relaxing,” Green said. “It’s fun (with) a certain competition about it and especially when you get to beat your opponent.”

Each battle Green plays starts with the tiles face down, and then they are shuffled and each player draws his or her dominoes.

Green said the better you know your opponent, the greater your chances are at winning.

Green, who lives near St. Catherine Street, said he goes over to Minor Street three or four times a day to play dominoes.

He said when playing dominoes a player must put some thought behind their moves, not to just hastily stack up tiles and smack talk their opponents.

“You wouldn’t think we were friends or even family,” Green said, “but that’s part of the game.”

Green said people who like to play dominoes are a tight-knit group and anywhere people are playing they will let you take part in their game.

“Most people that play it love the game,” he said. “It’s about the competition and you have to have a strategy when you play.”

Green said he has even made a living off of his love of competition. For three years Green played professional basketball, traveling across Belgium, and working in West Virginia and Florida.

In all the places he lived, he said he found dominoes games to be a part of and that players love the company and friendly competition.

After living in Belgium, Green said he moved to Reno, Nevada, where he worked at a casino. Green said he stayed in Reno for approximately 25 years before moving back to Natchez, and it didn’t take long for him to find his way to Minor Street to reunite with familiar faces and play the game he took with him during his travels.

“Probably as soon as I got back I started playing dominos with old friends,” Green said, “It has been rewarding and been a lot of fun.”

More News

FEEDBACK: Needs assessment group recommends 200-plus bed jail for Adams County

Bright Future: Natchez Early College student joins esteemed honor society

‘41 students homeless’: Natchez-Adams School District identifies challenges

VPD ‘power patrol’ yields drug busts