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Pai gow (Chinese: 牌九; pinyin: pái jiǔ; Jyutping: paai4 gau2) is a Chinesegamblinggame, played with a set of 32 Chinese dominoes. It is played in major casinos in China (including Macau); the United States (including Boston, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada; Reno, Nevada; Connecticut; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Mississippi; and cardrooms in California); Canada (including Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta); Australia; and, New Zealand.

The name 'pai gow' is sometimes used to refer to a card game called pai gow poker (or “double-hand poker”), which is loosely based on pai gow.

Rules[edit]

The Dragon Hand The Dragon Hand is a side bet that allows you to play an additional hand, but only one player can play at a time. The button for the Dragon Hand rotates around the table so that way everyone has the option of having a turn. The wager for the Dragon Hand must be exactly the same amount as the player’s original Pai-Gow Poker bet.

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Starting[edit]

Tiles are shuffled on the table and are arranged into eight face-down stacks of four tiles each in an assembly known as the woodpile. Individual stacks or tiles may then be moved in specific ways to rearrange the woodpile, after which the players place their bets.

Next, each player (including the dealer) is given one stack of tiles and must use them to form two hands of two tiles each. The hand with the lower value is called the front hand, and the hand with the higher value is called the rear hand. If a player's front hand beats the dealer's front hand, and the player's rear hand beats the dealer's rear hand, then that player wins the bet. If a player's front and rear hands both lose to the dealer's respective hands, the player loses the bet. If one hand wins and the other loses, the player is said to push, and gets back only the money he or she bet. Generally seven players will play, and each player's hands are compared only against the dealer's hands; comparisons are always front-front and rear-rear, never one of each.

There are 35,960 possible ways to select 4 of the 32 tiles when the 32 tiles are considered distinguishable. However, there are 3,620 distinct sets of 4 tiles when the tiles of a pair are considered indistinguishable. There are 496 ways to select 2 of the 32 tiles when the 32 tiles are considered distinguishable. There are 136 distinct hands (pairs of tiles) when the tiles of a pair are considered indistinguishable.

Basic scoring[edit]

The name 'pai gow' is loosely translated as 'make nine' or 'card nine'. This reflects the fact that, with a few high-scoring exceptions, the maximum score for a hand is nine. If a hand consists of two tiles that do not form a pair, its value is determined by adding up the total number of pips on the tiles and dropping the tens digit (if any). Examples:

• 1–3 with 2-3: value 9 (nine pips altogether)
• 2–3 with 5-6: value 6 (16 pips; drop the 10)
• 5–5 with 4-6: value 0 (20 pips; ones digit is zero)

Gongs and Wongs[edit]

There are special ways in which a hand can score more than nine points. The double-one tiles and double-six tiles are known as the Day and Teen tiles, respectively. The combination of a Day or Teen with an eight results in a Gong, worth 10 points, while putting either of them with a nine creates a Wong, worth 11. However, when a Day or Teen is paired with any other tile, the standard scoring rules apply.

Gee Joon tiles[edit]

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The 1-2 and the 2-4 tiles are called Gee Joon tiles and act as limited wild cards. When used as part of a hand, these tiles may be scored as either 3 or 6, whichever results in a higher hand value. For example, a hand of 1-2 and 5-6 scores as seven rather than four.

Pairs[edit]

The 32 tiles in a Chinese dominoes set can be arranged into 16 pairs, as shown in the picture at the top of this article. Eleven of these pairs have identical tiles, and five of these pairs are made up of two tiles that score the same, but look different. (The latter group includes the Gee Joon tiles, which can score the same, whether as three or six.) Any hand consisting of a pair outscores a non-pair, regardless of the pip counts. (Pairs are often thought of as being worth 12 points each.)

When the player and dealer both have a pair, the higher-ranked pair wins. Ranking is determined not by the sum of the tiles' pips, but rather by aesthetics; the order must be memorized. The highest pairs are the Gee Joon tiles, the Teens, the Days, and the red eights. The lowest pairs are the mismatched nines, eights, sevens, and fives.

Ties[edit]

When the player and dealer display hands with the same score, the one with the highest-valued tile (based on the pair rankings described above) is the winner. For example, a player's hand of 3-4 and 2-2 and a dealer's hand of 5-6 and 5-5 would each score one point. However, since the dealer's 5-5 outranks the other three tiles, he would win the hand.

If the scores are tied, and if the player and dealer each have an identical highest-ranking tile, the hand is ruled a copy and the dealer wins. For example, if the player held 2-2 and 1–6, and the dealer held 2-2 and 3–4, the dealer would win since the scores (1 each) and the higher tiles (2-2) are the same. The lower-ranked tile in each hand is never used to break a tie.

There are two exceptions to the method described above. First, although the Gee Joon tiles form the highest-ranking pair, they are considered to have no value when evaluating ties. Second, any zero-zero tie is won by the dealer, regardless of the tiles in the two hands.

Strategy[edit]

The key element of pai gow strategy is to present the optimal front and rear hands based on the tiles dealt to the player. There are three ways to arrange four tiles into two hands when no two of them form a pair. However, if there is at least one pair among the tiles, there are only two distinct ways to form two hands.

Using the tiles shown at right, the following hands and scores are possible:

• A and B (0), C and D (0)
• A and C (5), B and D (5)
• A and D (3), B and C (7)

The player must decide which combination is most likely to give a set of front/rear hands that can beat the dealer, or at least break a tie in the player's favor. In some cases, a player with weaker tiles may deliberately attempt to attain a push so as to avoid losing the bet outright. Many players rely on superstition or tradition to choose tile pairings.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pai Gow.

• Pai gow lore at Wizard of Odds website (Michael Shackleford)

I've never seen the Bellagio house way, but I checked four of the house ways I do have, and three of them would have done as the Bellagio did and not split the pairs, because both pairs were sixes or less. According to my two pair strategy, splitting them would have been the better play.
The order of setting the hands doesn't matter mathematically. I don't see any legitimate dispute here.I noticed a similar weird thing too and posted about it regarding Baccarat, where the set rules for the dealer will mean making the Banco hand lose, taking another card, when it had already won. So it is just something that plays out in Casinos due to the need to have these House Ways, which I think I can see is necessary. The Wizard has to be right, technically there is no foul here.
In the case you cite, it would give a feeling of outrage to see it if you didnt understand the bit about House Way. You're right, maybe it makes to set the Dragon Hand first, especially for some folk who would become convinced they got screwed on purpose.
Did anyone 'lose it' over this?Although I play Pai Gow Poker, the Dragon hand is not something I've seen before. But, based on what I read here, I agree with the Wiz that it doesn't matter which is set first, since both are set 'House Way'.
HOWEVER, I agree with you that the Dragon hand should have been set before the dealer hand, and here's why:
If a player is unsure about their own hand, and wants the dealer to set the hand for them, it is done before exposing the dealer's cards.
The Dragon hand should be thought of as a player that needs help every time.

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Therefore, the sequence should be that players set their hands first, then the dealer helps any players that request it, then the Dragon hand, and LAST the dealer hand is set.
(The exception would be when a player needs help during a hand that another player is banking. Since the player/banker does NOT need to set his hand house way, the procedure is for him to set his hand before exposing the hand of the player that needs help. So in that case, the sequence is other players set their hands, the player/banker set his hand without exposing it, the dealer helps the players that need help, the Dragon hand is set, then the player/banker hand is exposed.)
The point is, there is a reason for the sequence, and that sequence should dictate that in the hand you describe, the hands were set out of order. But since both were House Way, no foul occurred.
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If you question whether the dealer set the Dragon hand, or their own hand, correctly, you should be able to ask to see the House Way rules. It probably won't be a take-away copy, but still something you can see.
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I, and one other at the table, set our hands and decided to buy the dragon hand.

Is that right?
You get to see your own cards before deciding to bet on the Dragon hand?
While I don't know how having the knowledge of one hand (or even several hands if playing multiple hands and/or peeking at neighbors) can help, it just seems counter-intuitive to be given that option after seeing your cards.
After all, when playing multiple hands, a player is required to set the hand with the biggest bet first. So although such knowledge seems irrelevant, it's not so irrelevant to the casino!I agree with ddloml that they should be setting the dragon hand first, even if for no other reason than to remove the appearance of impropriety when the dealer sets a two-pair hand so that the house wins, when splitting the pairs would have resulted in a house loss.

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Is that right?
You get to see your own cards before deciding to bet on the Dragon hand?

Yes, that is right.Papa -
Your two separate resolutions makes sense for the emotional aspect, but still seems to violate standard procedure.
It would make even more sense if they resolve the bets separately as well. Do they?
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I too like double downs dealt down.
About 8 years ago, I was at a table at Gold Coast where the dealer was taking a lot of liberties, including dealing double downs down. It was screwing with my head because it wasn't proper procedure, although I did enjoy it more. I.E. Emotionally it was better.