Transcript As we've talked in other videos in this series, you can bank in Pai Gow tiles when you're playing against other players. A lot of times in the East. Transcript As we've talked in other videos in this series, you can bank in Pai Gow tiles when you're playing against other players. A lot of times in the East. Pai Gow is a game of Chinese dominoes. It originated in ancient China and is played in most Asian countries. Translated into English, Pai Gow means “to make nine.” It is played with 32 dominoes (also referred to as tiles)—11 of which are identical pairs. It is a ancient Chinese gambling game that is played with the Chinese dominoes tile set. Pai Gow is played in most Chinese communities. Today, it is played openly in major casinos in the world. This set is a great addition for anyone looking for a Pai Gow Set from an actual casino. Great for any casino item collector as well. Adultd Entartainment Gambling Fun Toy Set- Chinese Pai Gow Paigow Tiles Set. $35.06 previous price $35.06.

• House Way Strategies
• Player Strategies
• Miscellaneous

Introduction

Pai gow is the oldest of the casino games. It easily pre-dates roulette and baccarat. How such a complicated game ever got started, I have always wondered. Indeed, pai gow is a difficult game to learn. The concept is the same as pai gow poker, where both player and banker make high and low hands, and then compare against each other. What makes pai gow difficult is there is order of hands and tiles seems largely random, and is difficult to memorize.

What I love about pai gow is that for bankroll preservation, there is nothing that beats it. The pace is slow at about 30 hands per hour, and 41% of hands result in a push. If you are a pale-face, like me, you'll impress the dealer and some other players that you even understand it. However, some Asians immediately leave the table when I sit down, as if I'm unlucky. Don't be scared to try the game, even if you know nothing about the rules. You can always ask the dealer to set your hands according to the 'house way.' Better yet, keep reading to learn more about the game.

Rules

Following are the primary rules when it comes to pai gow. Each casino may have some its own fine points when it comes to player banking and prepaying the 5% commission.

1. Pai gow is played with a set of 32 dominoes displayed below.
2. Each player and dealer will be given four tiles.
3. The player will separate his tiles into low and high hands. The player does not need to specify which is higher, as this will be obvious.
4. Each pair of tiles will have a ranking order as follows:
   • Pair: There are 16 pairs, as shown in the image above. The tiles are pictures in rank order, starting at the upper left, and reading like a page to the bottom right.
   • Wong: This is a 2 or 12 tile with any 9 tile.
   • Gong: This is a 2 or 12 tile with any 8 tile.
   • 9 to 0 points (the more the better): For all other 2-tile hands, the total number of dots will be taken, and the terminal digit is used to determine the number of points (as in baccarat). For example, a 10 and 9 tile is worth 9 points; a 4 and 7 tile is worth 1 point.
5. An exception to the above rule is that the two tiles in the highest ranking 'Gee Joon' pair are semi-wild and are worth either 3 or 6 points, whichever results in a higher total. For example, when combined with a 4-point tile, a Gee Joon tile counts as 3 points to make a 7-point hand, instead of counting as 6 points to make a 0-point hand.
6. The player's high hand will be compared to the dealer's high hand, and the player's low hand compared to the dealer's low hand (as in pai gow poker).
7. If both player and dealer have a Wong, Gong, or 1 to 9 points, the tie will be broken according to which hand has the higher-ranked high tile.
8. If the high tile does not break the tie then the win will go to the banker.
9. A 0-0 tie always goes to the banker.
10. When using high tiles to break a tie, the rank order is the same as the pair order (see picture above), except the two tiles in the highest 'gee joon' pair are ranked lowest individually and will therefore never be a hand's high tile.
11. If the player wins both hands he will win even money, less a 5% commission. If the player wins one and loses one then his wager will push. If the dealer wins both then the player will lose his wager.
12. At most casinos, the turn to be banker rotates around the table. At some casinos, such as Foxwoods, the turn to be banker zig-zags between the player(s) and dealer, meaning that the dealer must bank at least every other hand.
13. The player may invoke his turn to bank whenever it is his turn, although most players decline.
14. The banker plays against every other player at the table and the dealer. The dealer will wager the same amount the player wagered the last time the dealer was the banker. More often than not, other players will sit out the hand when another player is banking, letting him or her take on the dealer alone.

Strategy

My assistant and I have spent lots of time studying and developing pai gow strategy. Here are the strategies we have come up with so far:

• Wizard Basic Strategy (added Oct. 25, 2017)

A reader known as Charlie combined various parts of these strategies to create a nearly optimal strategy he could fit on a sheet of paper. He was nice enough to share it with us.

For a graphic version, click the image above for a larger version. I also have a PDF version (149K).

We also have the following strategy charts showing the correct play for every possible combination under three banking scenarios:

The next table shows the possible outcomes and house edge under various strategies, banking or not banking, and whether prepaying the commission. The table assumes the player is playing against the Foxwoods house way and a 5% commission. If the player prepays the commission, which is sometimes allowed, the house edge is reduced by 0.07%.

Pai Gow House Edge

Your Strategy	Banking?	Prob. Win	Prob. Loss	Prob. Push	House Edge
House Way	No	29.21%	30.18%	40.61%	2.44%
House Way	Yes	30.18%	29.21%	40.61%	0.53%
Wizard Basic Strategy	No	?	?	?	1.98%
Wizard Basic Strategy	Yes	?	?	?	0.08%
Wizard Way	No	29.07%	29.5%	41.43%	1.88%
Wizard Way	Yes	30.03%	28.55%	41.42%	0.02%
J.B. Simple	No	29.29%	29.72%	41.00%	1.90%
J.B. Simple	Yes	30.18%	28.76%	41.06%	0.10%
J.B. Advanced Strategy without exceptions	No	29.37%	29.74%	40.89%	1.84%
J.B. Advanced Strategy without exceptions	Yes	30.26%	28.77%	40.97%	0.03%
Optimal	No	29.42%	29.60%	40.98%	1.66%
Optimal	Yes	30.21%	28.52%	41.27%	-0.20%

Inefficiencies in the standard casino house way cost the casino about 0.75% compared to optimal house strategy. If both player and dealer played optimal strategy, the house edge to the player when banking would be 0.54%, and when not banking 2.38%. For more on this topic see JB's optimal house strategy comparison table (24K). To see an enormous document on the actual optimal house strategies see JB's optimal house strategy charts (735K). I'm quite sure this is the first time it has ever been put in writing.

Prepaying the Commission

Some casinos let the player prepay the 5% commission. For example, betting $105 to win $100. This lowers the overall commission to 1/21, or 4.76%. The effect on the house edge is a reduction of 0.07%. This is an option the player should always invoke when available, yet many don't.

Betting 10% Extra as Banker

Some casinos let the player bet up to 10% more than he wagered against the dealer the last time the dealer was the banker. Assuming the player is banking every other hand, this lowers the combined house edge between banking and not banking by 0.07%.

Play Pai Gow Tiles

Co-Banking

The player may make a back wager on the player acting as banker up to the amount he bet against the dealer the last time the dealer was banking. However, the player will forfeit his own turn to bank if he invokes this option. This rule will not have an effect on the overall house edge if the player is trying to maximize his action as banker (which he should), but can make the game more enjoyable if playing with friends. Rather than sitting out a hand where your friend is banking you can co-bank with him, so you're always in the game.

Calculator

My pai gow calculator will tell you the expected value and/or strategy for any hand, with lots of other features including the effect of tiles known to be held by other players or your opponent.

Power Ratings

The following table shows the power ratings for each hand. There are four columns of power ratings, according to whether the hand is high or low, and whether the player is acting as banker or not. The power ratings are on a 0 to 100 scale, which represents the probability an opponent playing the Foxwoods house way will beat that hand.

A practical application of this table is to add the two power ratings for the three ways to set a hand, and set it the way with the highest power rating sum.

Power Ratings in Pai Gow

Hand	Low Hand Not Banking	High Hand Not Banking	Low Hand Banking	High Hand Banking
Gee joon	100	99	100	100
6/6 pair	100	98	100	99
1/1 pair	100	97	100	98
4/4 pair	100	96	100	97
1/3 pair	100	95	100	96
5/5 pair	100	94	100	95
3/3 pair	100	93	100	94
2/2 pair	100	92	100	93
5/6 pair	100	90	100	92
4/6 pair	100	89	100	90
1/6 pair	100	88	100	89
1/5 pair	100	87	100	88
Mixed 9 pair	100	86	100	87
Mixed 8 pair	100	85	100	86
Mixed 7 pair	100	84	100	85
Mixed 5 pair	100	83	100	84
Wong with 6/6	100	80	100	83
Wong with 1/1	99	78	100	80
Gong with 6/6	99	73	99	78
Gong with 1/1	99	67	99	73
9 with 6/6	98	61	99	67
9 with 1/1	97	54	98	61
9 with 4/4	97	53	97	54
9 with 1/3	96	50	97	53
9 with 5/5	96	49	96	50
9 with 3/3	95	47	96	49
9 with 2/2	94	45	95	47
9 with 5/6	94	44	94	45
9 with 4/6	93	43	94	44
9 with 1/5	92	42	93	43
8 with 6/6	90	40	92	42
8 with 1/1	89	39	90	40
8 with 4/4	88	38	89	39
8 with 1/3	87	35	88	38
8 with 5/5	86	35	87	35
8 with 5/6	84	33	86	35
8 with 4/6	84	32	84	33
8 with 2/3	82	31	84	32
7 with 6/6	82	31	82	31
7 with 1/1	81	30	82	31
7 with 4/4	81	29	81	30
7 with 1/2	79	28	81	29
7 with 5/5	78	26	79	28
7 with 3/3	76	25	78	26
7 with 2/2	75	24	76	25
7 with 5/6	72	22	75	24
7 with 4/6	71	21	72	22
7 with 3/6	69	20	71	21
6 with 6/6	68	19	69	20
6 with 1/1	67	18	68	19
6 with 4/4	66	17	67	18
6 with 5/5	61	15	66	17
6 with 3/3	60	15	61	15
6 with 5/6	59	14	60	15
6 with 4/6	56	13	59	14
6 with 1/6	55	12	56	13
6 with 3/6	54	12	55	12
5 with 4/4	52	11	54	12
5 with 1/3	51	10	52	11
5 with 5/5	49	10	51	10
5 with 3/3	48	9	49	10
5 with 2/2	47	8	48	9
5 with 4/6	45	8	47	8
5 with 1/6	44	7	45	8
5 with 1/5	43	7	44	7
5 with 3/6	42	7	43	7
5 with 2/6	40	6	42	7
4 with 6/6	40	6	40	6
4 with 4/4	37	5	40	6
4 with 1/3	33	5	37	5
4 with 5/5	31	4	33	5
4 with 3/3	30	4	31	4
4 with 2/2	29	4	30	4
4 with 1/6	27	3	29	4
4 with 1/5	26	3	27	3
4 with 3/6	25	3	26	3
4 with 2/6	24	3	25	3
3 with 6/6	24	3	24	3
3 with 1/1	23	2	24	3
3 with 4/4	22	2	23	2
3 with 1/3	21	2	22	2
3 with 3/3	20	1	21	2
3 with 2/2	19	1	20	1
3 with 1/6	18	1	19	1
3 with 1/5	18	1	18	1
3 with 2/6	17	1	18	1
3 with 3/4	17	1	17	1
2 with 6/6	16	0	17	1
2 with 1/1	16	0	16	0
2 with 4/4	14	0	16	0
2 with 1/3	14	0	14	0
2 with 3/3	12	0	14	0
2 with 2/2	12	0	12	0
2 with 1/6	11	0	12	0
2 with 3/4	11	0	11	0
1 with 1/3	10	0	11	0
1 with 5/5	9	0	10	0
1 with 3/3	8	0	9	0
1 with 2/2	7	0	8	0
1 with 5/6	6	0	7	0
1 with 1/5	5	0	6	0
Zero	0	0	5	0

The following graph shows how often the House Way will make each type of hand out of all 35960 combinations.

Pai Gow Felt

The House Way

I'm proud to provide the following pai gow house ways. Most of them were rewritten into my own words. The one from the MGM is taken directly from their own rules and procedures on the game:

• MGM Grand (PDF -- 1,180 K)
• Marina Bay Sands (Singapore) (PDF -- 483K)

Where to Play

The following is a list of games I am aware of in the U.S.. I'm sure there are some I don't know about. Feel free to tell me if you are aware of others.

• Las Vegas: Aria, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Encore, Harrah's, Lucky Dragon, MGM Grand, Mirage, Palace Station, Palazzo, Paris, Rio, Venetian, and Wynn. The Treasure Island and Mandalay Bay don't staff a table on a regular basis any longer, but may open one if a whale requests it.
• Atlantic City: Most, if not all, casinos.
• Connecticut: Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods.
• Indiana: Hammond Horseshoe, Southern Indiana Horseshoe.
• Lake Tahoe: Harrah's.
• Maryland: Horseshoe Baltimore. (unconfirmed)
• Pennsylvania: Sands Bethlehem, Mount Airy Casino in Mt Pocono (unconfirmed), Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs near Scranton (unconfirmed), Sugar House Casino in Philadelphia (unconfirmed), Valley Forge Casino near King of Prussia, and Parx Casino near Bensalem (unconfirmed).
• Reno: Peppermill, Silver Legacy.

Play for Fun

Pai gow is a game that cries out for a way to practice before making a fool of yourself and blowing your money in a casino. For this reason please try my pai gow game.

Internal Links

• The Legend Behind Pai Gow — The story behind the game.
• Bonaza Pai Gow — Side bet seen at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.
• Pair Fortunes — Side bet seen at the Palace Station in Las Vegas.
• Pai Gow Game.
• Pai Gow Calculator.

External Links

• Pai Gow rules in Macau at WizardOfMacau.com.
• Where to play Pai Gow at Harrah's properties.

Acknowledgements

• Pai Gow Without Tears by Bill Zender. The author kindly gave me a copy of his booklet to help with my research on pai gow. If you are interested in the book it may be purchased from the Gambler's Book Club for $20.00.
• A Detailed Study of Pai Gow by Dr. John M.Gwynn, Jr. This study appears in the book Finding the Edge (Edited by Olaf Vancura, Judy A.Collins, and William R. Eadington).
• The many people who supplied me with house ways, which are not easy to get.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

Eventually, there comes a time when you’ve played just about everything in a casino. There’s also times when you want to play slowly, and just have some fun. You might try Pai Gow Poker, but unless you’re a newbie, it’s a totally brain-dead, boring game.

On the other hand, Pai Gow Tiles are really fun. You earn max casino “cred” points while you play the game. You earn double cred points if you’re lo-fan. You’ll find the game in a few casinos in Vegas (Aria, Mirage, Harrah’s, etc.). Before I learned the game, I would just stop by the usually empty table, stare at the tiles, and wonder what kind of game it was. Nowadays, people stop and watch me play.

The game is simple. If you know Pai Gow Poker, then you know the basic rules. Pai Gow Poker is a variant of the original tile game, with cards replacing tiles. The player and banker are each dealt the same number of cards/tiles, which they set into a low and high hand. The player wins if both his high and low hand beats the banker’s. The banker wins if both his hands beat or ties the player’s. Otherwise, the hand is a push.

You’re dealt 4 tiles, which you set into a 2-tile high hand, and a 2-tile low hand. Your high hand must beat your low hand. So, all you need to know are the 2-tile hand rankings, and the best way to balance the strength of your hand.

The Deck

There are 32 tiles in the deck. Here’s a nice diagram of the deck, from Steven Denenberg’s paigow.com. The 16 pairs are arranged in descending order (#1 Gee Joon thru #16 Ng):

The tiles are similar to double-six dominoes, and pretty much look like craps rolls. The only difference is the “hard-6” may look different (Chong). There are two tiles of any given type (rank). The names are useful, because there may be two different types (rank) with the same number of dots. For example, there are two types of tiles with 8 dots: the Yun (hard-8) and the Bot (easy-8). The Yun is ranked higher than the Bot. The individual tile rankings follow the pair rankings above, except the semi-wild Gee Joon tiles become the lowest, not the highest, ranked individual tiles.

Hand Rankings

The ranking of the 2-tile hands are as follows:

1. Pair
2. Wong (Teen or Day with any 9-point tile)
3. Gong (Teen or Day with any 8-point tile)
4. High-9 (Teen or Day with any 7-point tile)
5. Points (last digit of dot total)

Pairs

The identical pairs are easiest to spot in your hand, but you’ll learn to recognize the Gee Joon pair, and the mixed- 5,7,8,9 pairs (Ng, Chut, Bot, Gow pairs). It’ll come through practice (see my trainer below). I remember the Yun pair as a hard-8, and the Bot pair as easy-8. Then I remember the 7 pairs as Tit (Ace-Six) and Chut (the other ways). There’s no confusion on the Ng (5) and the Gow (9) pair. Note the mixed pairs are the lowest ranked.

Wongs

The next highest hand following a pair is a Wong. The Wong hand consists of the Teen or Day (boxcars or snake-eyes) and any 9-dot tile (Gow).

Gongs

The next highest hand following a Wong is a Gong. The Gong hand consists of the Teen or Day (boxcars or snake-eyes) and any 8-dot tile (Bot or Yun).

High-9s

The High-9 is really a point total of 9 with a Teen or Day kicker.

Points

The lowest hands are the 0 thru 9 point total of the tile’s dots. If the dot total goes over 10, then just use the last digit. The Gee Joon tiles are semi-wild (3 or 6) when used in a point total.

Tie-Breaker (Kicker)

When comparing 2-tile hands with the same rank (e.g., Wong vs. Wong, or points vs. points), you go to the highest tile in the 2-tile hand as the tie-breaker. For example, a Wong with a Teen beats a Wong with a Day. Similarly, two Wongs are equal if they both have Teen, or both have Day. To use a poker term, when two hands are of equal rank, the comparison goes down to the kicker, the highest-ranked tile in the hand.

Simple Strategy

I use a simple strategy taken from the Wizard Of Odds. I’m copying it here for convenience, with some small fixes.

Play the first rule that applies:

One-Way Hand

If there is one play that is obviously the best, which will happen about 38% of the time, then play it. This happens when one play is superior to both alternatives in both the high and low.

Pairs

Pai Gow Tiles App

Split pairs as follows.

1. Gee Joon — Split only with 6-4, 6-5, 6-6
2. Pair of 2’s or 12’s — Split only with 9-11, or to make 6-8 or better
3. Pair of 5’s — Split to make 7/7
4. Pair of 6’s — Split to make 7/8 or better
5. Pair of 7’s — Split to make 7/7 or better
6. Pair of 8’s — Split to make 8/8 or better, and with 9-11
7. Pair of 9’s — Split to make 9/9 or better
8. Pair of 4’s, 10’s, 11’s — Never split

Wong, Gong, High-9

1. If you have both Teen and Day, play the best high hand
2. Play the best low hand if 6 or 7 points with Yun kicker or better
3. Play Wong or Gong instead of High Nine if the fourth tile is a 4 or 5
4. Play High Nine, Gong, or Wong, in that order of preference

Points Only

1. Play the best low hand if it is worth 5 or more points
2. Play the best low hand if the best high hand is worth 5 points or less
3. Play the best low hand if the best high hand is a low 6 points (Chong kicker)
4. Play the best high hand with all other combinations

Practice Trainer

Of course the easiest way to learn the game is with some interactive practice. I wrote a simple trainer to let you practice setting hands. Click on the screenshot to try it:

Pointers

When you first try to set a hand, you may be overwhelmed by the unfamiliar tiles in front of you. But, if you follow some simple steps, you’ll quickly get oriented. The easiest thing to see are identical pairs. Then look for your mixed pairs (5’s, 9’s, and 7’s and 8’s). If you have a pair, check if you should split it (see the table above; you’re looking for at least a 7/7 to split), else play it behind.

If you don’t have any pairs, then look for the Teen and Day tiles (boxcars and snake-eyes). If you have one, then check for 7-, 8-, and 9-spot tiles that make a High-9, Gong, and Wong, respectively. Follow the rules for setting hands with Wongs, Gongs, and High-9’s, but remember the idea is to balance the hand by playing the lowest of these hands behind.

Cached

If you only have point totals, check if you have the semi-wild (3 or 6) Gee Joon tiles. To get your bearings, find your best high hand. For example, say it’s a 5/9. Usually, you’ll have some other options, hands whose front and back add up to 5+9 = 14. Check for 7/7, since you’d play it (set highest front if 5 or more points). Also check for 6/8, else play the 5/9.

Tutorials

How To Play Pai Gow (with Pictures) - WikiHow

I’ve made some introductory videos that explain the game in more detail: