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Pai Gow Poker is a game created in California to get around gambling laws played with a deck of regular cards and very elaborate rules. Pai Gow means 'make nine' and it is the original version of Baccarat or Chemin de Fer. The Woodpile. The woodpile is four tiles high and eight tiles long. The first hand is determined by throwing three dice. Each player is dealt a stack of four tiles from the woodpile. The house starts the game as the bank, but then can pass the bank to other players, as in. Basic Rules: The Pai Gow Poker deck will consist of 53 cards which includes a Joker. The Joker is wild when used in straights, flushes and straight flushes. If used alone the Joker becomes an Ace. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals seven hands of seven cards each, face down in front of the dealer's tray. Pai Gow Tiles is played with 32 Chinese dominoes or ‘tiles’, which form 16 possible pairs. Tile Values The value of a hand is based on both the numeric and symbolic ranking of the tiles. To find the numeric value of a tile, count the total of the dots on each tile. Use only the right hand digit value if the total is over 9. The pips on a Pai Gow tile can be either red or white, and these colorations do matter when applying an often complex scoring system. Players place their wager after these shuffles are completed, and each player is dealt four tiles, along with the house dealer. At the Pai Gow table may place a wager at the game. Once a Player places a wager and receives tiles, he/she must remain seated until the completion of the round of play. Pai Gow Tiles – single tile Ranking Chart Pai Gow Tiles – pairs Ranking Chart. Chop gow 2nd teen 6th. Pai Gow Poker is the American version of Pai Gow, a traditional Asian game played with tiles that resemble dominoes. To make it easy, Pai Gow was introduced in the American market using standard 52-card deck and joker. As outlined in the rules of Pai Gow Poker, you can use the joker as an Ace or as a wild card to complete a Flush, a Straight, or a Straight Flush.
A set of Chinese dominoes. The top double-row of tiles lists the eleven matching pairs, in descending value from left to right. Below them are five non-matching pairs, worth less than the matching pairs, and also in descending value from left to right. The Gee Joon tiles, lower right, are the highest pair of all.
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.
- 1Rules
Rules[edit]
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 3620 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.
Evaluations of three basic hands
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)
A Day tile (left) and a Teen tile (right)
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]
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 matching pair of eights (left) is worth more than the non-matching pair of eights (right). If a hand contained one of the tiles on the left and one of the tiles on the right, these would not form a pair at all, since the tiles that make pairs are defined by tradition.
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.) If a hand is made up of a pair, it always scores higher than a non-pair, no matter what the value of the pips are. (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.
There are three ways to arrange these tiles into 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)
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Pai Gow Poker (pronounced pi gow) combines the elements of the ancient Chinese game of Pai Gow and the American game of poker. A relatively slow-paced game, Pai Gow Poker is played with a traditional deck of 52 playing cards, plus one joker. The joker can be used only as an ace, or to complete a straight, or a flush.
![Pai Gow Tiles Rules Pai Gow Tiles Rules](/uploads/1/2/5/1/125165512/338419726.jpg)
Each player at the table is dealt seven (7) cards which they will use to construct two (2) separate hands of two (2) cards and five (5) cards.
The five-card hand must be higher than the two-card hand (for example, if the two-card hand is a pair of sevens, the five-card hand must contain at least a pair of eights or higher).
The object of the game is for both of the player's two-card hand and five-card hand to rank higher than both of the Banker's two hands. Should one hand rank exactly the same as the Banker's hand, this is a tie and the Banker wins all tie hands.
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If the player wins one hand, but loses the other, this is considered a 'push' and no money exchanges hands. Winning hands are paid even money, less a five percent commission. Losing hands lose the money wagered.
Normal poker rankings will be used. Any exact copy hand (tie) will be given to the banker. Exact copy hands occur when both the player and the banker's cards (in either the two-card hand or five-card hand) are the same value.
How to Play Pai Gow Poker in Las Vegas
Basic Rules: The Pai Gow Poker deck will consist of 53 cards which includes a Joker. The Joker is wild when used in straights, flushes and straight flushes. If used alone the Joker becomes an Ace.
The dealer shuffles the cards and deals seven hands of seven cards each, face down in front of the dealer's tray. The dealer checks that exactly four cards are left over, then places those cards in the discard holder.
A dice cup containing three dice is shaken by the Banker to determine who receives the first hand. Before the dice are uncovered, all bets must be in the betting circle. In Pai Gow Poker, the Banker's position is always 1,8 or 15. The dealer counts from the Banker's position. The cards will then be placed by the dealer in front of each player-including the dealer-in a clockwise rotation from the starting ping indicated by the dice.
Each player arrange the seven cards dealt to them into the two hands, one hand will contain five cards and is known as the high hand; the other hand will contain two cards and is the second highest hand. The house dealer does not look at the cards until all players and player/Banker have set their hands in the designated space face down. The house dealer then turns his cards over and sets his hand in front of the tray face up. The player/Banker's hand is compared to the house dealer's hand first.
Winning hands are left lying face up next to the betting circle. For losing hands, the wager is picked up by the dealer and the cards are placed in the discard holder. Losing wagers are set in the center of the layout. If the player wins one hand and loses the other, this is considered a push and no money exchanges hands. Tis is the part that makes Pai Gow Poker slower than other games of chance. There are frequent rounds (up to 40% of rounds, in fact) in which no one wins and playing time is simply extended.
Note: If a player touches his hand after the banker has exposed his hand, that player's hand is considered a loser. Any hand 'Set Foul' (if the two-card hand is higher in ranking than the five-card hand, or if the two-card hand contains more or less than two cards) is also considered a loser.
Pai Gow Poker Tips & Strategy
Here's a great tip from expert player Matt Villano to avoid losing in a streak:
Every casino table game can get streaky; pai gow is no exception. Because the push rate is so high (again, north of 41 percent), it's a good rule to leave the table if you lose three hands in a row.Strategy-wise, you should generally try to create the highest two-card hand that you can. Most times, your remaining cards will still form a higher five-card hand.
Every casino table game can get streaky; pai gow is no exception. Because the push rate is so high (again, north of 41 percent), it's a good rule to leave the table if you lose three hands in a row.Strategy-wise, you should generally try to create the highest two-card hand that you can. Most times, your remaining cards will still form a higher five-card hand.
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