Pai Gow is
an ancient Chinese betting game played with Chinese dominoes also called
tiles. It has been played throughout Asia for centuries. It can be found in
many casinos throughout the
United States.
The object of the game is to beat the Banker. The Banker can be any Player or
the Dealer. Any Player who wishes to bank must accept responsibility for all
wagers made during that round of play. The banking option will be offered to
each Player, in turn, rotating in a counterclockwise direction. The banking
Player must have enough chips to cover all wagers placed in that round and
must have wagered in the previous round that the Dealer acted as Banker. No
Player will be required to accept the bank and the Dealer will act as Banker
when all Players decline.
Pai Gow is played with a set of 32 Chinese tiles which form 16 permissible
pairs. A hand with any permissible pair is ranked higher than a hand which
does not contain a pair.
The highest ranking hand is the Supreme Pair, followed by Matched Pairs and
Unmatched or Mixed Pairs. The next highest ranking hands are special
combinations known as Wongs and Gongs. Hands consisting of Wongs or Gongs are
ranked lower than Pairs.
Wongs are formed with the highest ranking single tile, 12, and either 9 (Teen
Wong) or the second highest tile, 2, and either 9. Please refer to the Single
Tile Ranking Chart.
Gongs are formed with the highest ranking single tile, 12, and any 8 (Teen
Gong) or the second highest tile, 2, and any 8 (Day Gong.)
The next highest ranking hands are numeric value hands, the highest of which
is 9. Hands that do not contain pairs have numeric values. Each tile has a
numeric value and a symbolic ranking.
To find the numeric value, add the spots on each tile. The total will never be
higher than nine because only the last digit in the total number of spots is
used.
To find the ranking of each tile and each permissible pair, refer to the
ranking charts.
Two tiles will combine to form a hand.
Add the total number of Spots contained on the two tiles.
If the numeric total of the spots is a two digit number, the left digit is
discarded and the right digit is the value of the hand.
When two hands have the same numeric value, the ranking will determine the
winner. To determine which hand is higher, find the highest ranked tile in
each hand and compare them.
When two hands have the same numeric value and identical high tiles, it is
called a "Copy" hand. The bank wins all "Copy" hands.
When two hands have the numeric value of zero, they are considered equally
bad, regardless of the high tile and the bank will win all zero ties.
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