How To Play Pai Gow Tiles

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Pai gow is a Chinese betting game that uses tiles instead of cards, and it'southward popular in casinos around the earth. Pai gow can also exist played at dwelling house using a set of particularly-designed tiles. While the rules of pai gow can seem a little overwhelming at first, in one case you acquire how the tiles work, you'll be making hands and placing bets in no time.

Things You Should Know

• Place your bet earlier you receive your tiles. And then, the dealer gives 4 tiles to each player.
• Split your tiles into 2 hands with 2 tiles per paw. Your best manus is your high paw, and the other is your low hand.
• Each histrion flips over their tiles. Compare your high and low hands to the dealer's hands. If yours are more valuable, y'all win the bet.

1. i

   Play with a prepare of 32 pai gow tiles. You'll demand specially-designed tiles to play pai gow with. While pai gow tiles look similar to dominoes, they're non the same, and a prepare of regular dominoes won't work for the game. Fortunately, you tin hands observe a set of pai gow tiles online or possibly at a local game shop.^[i]

   • If y'all'd rather acquire the game without investing in your own set of tiles, download a pai gow app or play online instead. You can also check if your local casino has pai gow tables you lot can play at.

2. 2

   Find two-viii people to play with. Y'all demand at to the lowest degree 2 players (including yourself) to play pai gow, and y'all can't play with more than eight people.^[2]

   • Information technology may be easier to play with a small-scale group when y'all're first starting out.

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3. 3

   Laissez passer out poker fries to each player if you won't be betting real money. Pai gow is a betting game, and then you'll need something to bet with—fifty-fifty if it's just chips instead of actual money—so you can place bets at the beginning of your turn.^[three]

   • If you're playing with poker chips, requite everyone the same number of chips to commencement so you can easily decide who won the most at the stop of the game!
   • The number of chips you should give each histrion depends on how long you lot want to play for. X chips might only last someone a few rounds, whereas 50 fries could exist a good choice if you're up for a long game.

4. four

   Choose ane player to be the dealer. Like in Blackjack, you're always playing against the dealer in pai gow. You can choose the dealer randomly, or a player tin volunteer.^[4]

   • You can also alternate existence the dealer. For example, you could be the dealer in the outset round so pass the deal to the player to your left for the next round.

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1. 1

   Notice that every pai gow tile has between 2 and 12 spots on it. The number of spots on a pai gow tile is important because it determines that tile's name and rank. Only one side of each tile volition take spots on it so that other players tin't tell what tiles you lot have.^[5]

   • For example, a tile with 3 spots on information technology will be played differently than a tile with ten spots on information technology.

2. 2

   Pay attention to the patterns of the spots on the tiles. The spots on pai gow tiles are arranged in dissimilar patterns, and these patterns can make a departure in how the tiles are played. Try non to confuse the tiles with each other by paying close attending to the different spot arrangements.^[6]

   • For example, if you come across 2 tiles that each have 4 spots on them, but the spots are arranged in a different pattern on each tile, those tiles would not be a pair and they could end up having different values.

3. three

   Don't worry about the color or orientation of the tiles. You'll notice that some tiles have both red spots and white spots. The difference in color between the spots is simply to make it easier for y'all to tell which tiles you've been dealt, and it in no manner affects how the tiles are used. Also, information technology doesn't make a difference which fashion you orient your tiles on the table—you tin can position them however you'd similar.^[seven]

   • For example, if a tile has 1 spot on superlative and 2 spots on bottom, the value of the tile wouldn't change if you lot rotated information technology so it had two spots on top and 1 on lesser.

4. 4

   Know that every tile is office of a pair. Since there are 32 tiles in pai gow, there are sixteen pairs of tiles in total. These pairs are the same in every set of pai gow tiles. All of the pairs except for 1 have the same number of spots on each tile in the pair. Too, not all of the pairs contain tiles that are identical in appearance. Some pairs have tiles with the same number of spots, simply the spots are bundled in a different blueprint.^[viii]

   • 11 of the 16 pairs of tiles are identical in appearance.
   • Five of the xvi pairs of tiles are not identical in advent.
   • One of the 16 pairs does not accept the same number of spots on each tile.

5. 5

   Larn the names of all the tiles. Every tile in pai gow has a name, and information technology shares that name with the other tile in its pair. For example, the 2 tiles that accept 4 spots (2 spots on top and two on the bottom) make a pair and are each called "Bon." If you had both of these tiles, you would say that you lot accept a "pair of Bon." Eventually, you'll want to memorize these names and so y'all can easily refer to unlike tiles and pairs. The names of all the tiles and their corresponding pairs are:^[9]

   • Gee Joon: 1 on height and two on bottom/2 on elevation and 2 on bottom.
   • Teen: Both tiles take 6 on top and six on bottom.
   • Day: Both tiles have 1 on top and ane on lesser.
   • Yun: Both tiles have iv on pinnacle and 4 on bottom.
   • Gor: Both tiles have 1 on top and 3 on bottom.
   • Mooy: Both tiles have 5 on pinnacle and five on lesser.
   • Chong: Both tiles take 3 on top and 3 on bottom.
   • Bon: Both tiles have 2 on tiptop and 2 on lesser.
   • Foo: Both tiles take v on top and 6 on lesser.
   • Ping: Both tiles accept 4 on top and 6 on lesser.
   • Tit: Both tiles accept 1 on top and vi on bottom.
   • Look: Both tiles have ane on peak and 5 on bottom.
   • Chop Gow: iii on top and vi on bottom/4 on top and v on bottom.
   • Chop Bot: ii on top and 6 on bottom/3 on top and v on bottom.
   • Chop Chit: two on top and 5 on bottom/three on top and four on bottom.
   • Chop Ng: 1 on top and 4 on lesser/2 on top and 3 on lesser.

6. 6

   Memorize the ranks of the dissimilar pairs of tiles. Every pair of tiles has a rank in pai gow, and the lower the rank number, the more valuable the pair is. The pairs are ranked 1-xvi, with ane being the most valuable and 16 existence the least valuable. Since the pairs are ranked in lodge, you can easily remember their ranks by memorizing the names of the pairs in the correct order. The tiles are ranked and ordered equally follows:^[x]

   • Gee Joon (one), Teen (two), Mean solar day (3), Yun (4), Gor (5), Mooy (6), Chong (7), Bon (8), Foo (ix), Ping (ten), Tit (11), Look (12), Chop Gow (xiii), Chop Bot (14), Chop Chit (15), Chop Ng (xvi).
   • Using the red spots on the tile is a helpful fashion to memorize the names and ranks of the tiles. For case, a pair of Gee Joon consists of 1 ruby spot on one tile and iv red spots on the other tile. If you remember that a pair of Gee Joon has that configuration of red spots, information technology will be easier to recognize it when you lot're dealt information technology during the game.

7. vii

   Acquire how the tiles are valued during the game. In pai gow, the goal is to have the near valuable tiles. In social club to play strategically, y'all'll need to understand how the tiles are valued so you can make the best "hands" with your tiles. During the game, you'll be making hands that consist of two tiles. These 2-tile hands are scored as follows:^[xi]

   • Pairs: Pairs are valued based on their ranking. The lower the pair'due south ranking number, the higher its value. For case, if you lot have a pair of Teen, it would be more valuable than a pair of Foo since a pair of Teen has a ranking of 2 and a pair of Foo has a ranking of ix.
   • Not-pairs: If 2 tiles in a hand don't make a pair, add upwardly the number of spots on each tile to determine the hand'southward value. For example, if you had 1 tile with 2 spots and another tile with 5 spots, the value of that hand would exist 7. The higher the number, the more than valuable the hand is.
   • If a non-pair hand adds up to more than nine, the number in the tens identify is dropped. For example, if the 2 tiles in one of your hands add up to xv, yous would drib the 1 and the value of that hand would become five.
   • A pair is always more valuable than a non-pair, regardless of the pair'due south rank.

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1. 1

   Place your bet before you receive your tiles. Like in Blackjack, you'll need to make a bet before you know how practiced your hand (or set of tiles) is. Proceed in mind that once you lot receive your tiles, yous won't be able to change your bet.^[12]

   • When you lot're first starting out, you may want to bet low until yous become the hang of how to play.

2. ii

   Have the dealer hand out 4 face-down tiles to every player. The dealer should give themselves 4 tiles besides. You can look at your tiles at this signal, but be careful you don't show them to whatsoever of the other players.^[xiii]

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3. 3

   Decide how you'll split up your tiles for that round. One time you lot're dealt your tiles, yous'll need to split them up into 2 "hands." Each mitt will have ii tiles in information technology. The goal is to create the most valuable easily possible with the tiles yous've been dealt. Your most valuable hand volition exist known as your high hand, and your other hand will be chosen your low hand.^[14]

   • If yous accept 2 tiles that make a pair, it's a expert idea to put them together to make a manus since pairs are the most valuable hands.
   • If yous don't accept any pairs, yous want to split up your tiles so that the tiles in each hand add together up to the highest value possible.

4. iv

   Have each player flip over their tiles to reveal their two hands. Everyone should turn upward their tiles at the same time. Double cheque that everyone is finished dividing up their tiles earlier you flip your tiles over.^[15]

   • Differentiate betwixt your 2 easily by positioning one vertically and i horizontally.

5. five

   Compare your high and low hands to the dealer'south hands. In social club to shell the dealer, y'all want your hands, or tiles, to be more valuable than their hands. First, compare your high manus to the dealer's high hand. Then, compare your low hand to the dealer'south depression manus. If both your loftier mitt and low hand beats their high paw and depression mitt, you win the bet!^[16]

   • If your high manus beats the dealer'southward high mitt but your low hand doesn't, or vice versa, you don't win the bet. You demand to beat out both of the dealer'south hands.
   • Every player should compare their high and low easily to the dealer's hands. Players shouldn't compare their easily with anyone but the dealer.
   • If the value of your hands is tied with the dealer'due south hands, the dealer wins.
   • For case, if the dealer has a pair of Gee Joon (their high hand) and a non-pair of Yun and Day (which adds up to 0 and is their low hand) and you have a pair of Teen (your high hand) and a pair of Ping (your low paw), y'all wouldn't beat out the dealer because, even though your depression mitt beats their low hand, the dealer'south high mitt beats your high hand.
   • But, if you were to have a pair of Mooy (your high hand) and a pair of Wait (your low hand) and the dealer has a not-pair of Bon and Gor (which adds upwardly to viii and is their high hand) and a non-pair of Bon and Foo (which adds up to 5 and is there low mitt), you would win because both your loftier hand and low mitt beat the dealer'south high and low hands.

6. 6

   Have each player collect, push, or pay. At the terminate of the each round, you'll need to make up one's mind whether yous or the dealer owes money. Whether you collect, push, or pay volition depend on if you won or lost the bet.^[17]

   • Collect: If you won the bet by beating both of the dealer's hands, collect your payment from the dealer. The dealer should give you twice equally much as you bet at the commencement of the circular.
   • Push: If you beat one of the dealer's hands just not the other, you push button and don't collect or pay any money. Instead, you lot can concord onto your bet for the adjacent round.
   • Pay: If both of the dealer's easily were more than valuable than your easily, or if both were tied, pay the dealer all of the money you bet at the starting time of the round.

7. 7

   Shuffle the tiles and start a new circular. Choose a new dealer if you'd like and so identify your bet. Then, have the dealer pass out iv new tiles to all of the players and start the circular.

   • There's no limit to how many rounds of pai gow you tin can play, unless yous're playing with real money and y'all offset to run low.
   • Don't worry if the outset few rounds are a little confusing. Keep playing and somewhen you'll get the hang of information technology!

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Things You'll Need

• Pai gow tiles (set of 32)
• Money or poker fries for betting
• 2-8 players

About This Article

Article Summary X

Pai gow is a fun Chinese betting game for 2-8 players played with 32 specially-designed pai gow tiles. The object of the game is to create the nigh valuable hands possible with the tiles you've been dealt then that yous beat the dealer's hands. Players can bet with money or, if you're just playing for fun, poker chips. Distribute an equal corporeality of poker fries to each role player to become started. Choose i role player to be the dealer and have the dealer manus out iv confront-downwardly tiles to every actor. Each role player then places their bet before looking at their tiles to begin the game. So, the players await at their own tiles and split them upwardly into 2 "hands." Each manus consists of two tiles. Your most valuable paw is your high hand, and the other is your low paw. If you have 2 tiles that make a pair, put them together since pairs are the about valuable hands. If you don't have any pairs, divide upward your tiles then the tiles in each hand add up to the highest value possible. Then, all of the players flip over their tiles to reveal both of their easily to everyone at the table simultaneously. Players compare their high and low hands to the dealer'due south hands. If both your loftier paw and depression manus beats the dealer's high mitt and low paw, you win the bet. If your loftier mitt beats the dealer's loftier hand but your depression hand doesn't, or vice versa, you don't win the bet. If the value of your hands is tied with the dealer's hands, the dealer wins. If y'all won the bet, collect your payment from the dealer. The dealer should give you twice as much as you bet at the beginning of the circular. If you trounce ane of the dealer's hands only non the other, y'all don't collect or pay any coin. Instead, y'all hold onto your bet for the next round. If both of the dealer's easily were more valuable than your easily, or if both were tied, pay the dealer all of the coin y'all bet at the get-go of the round. The commencement circular ends once all of the bets are properly distributed. To continue the game, choose a new dealer, shuffle the tiles, and place new bets. In that location's no limit to how many rounds of pai gow you tin can play, and then keep going for as long every bit you'd like! For more tips, including how to pair tiles, read on!

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