If you’d rather learn 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 can play at.
It may be easier to play with a small group when you’re first starting out.
If you’re playing with poker chips, give everyone the same number of chips to start so you can easily determine who won the most at the end of the game! The number of chips you should give each player depends on how long you want to play for. Ten chips might only last someone a few rounds, whereas 50 chips could be a good choice if you’re up for a long game.
You can also alternate being the dealer. For example, you could be the dealer in the first round and then pass the deal to the player to your left for the next round.
For example, a tile with 3 spots on it will be played differently than a tile with 10 spots on it.
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.
For example, if a tile has 1 spot on top and 2 spots on bottom, the value of the tile wouldn’t change if you rotated it so it had 2 spots on top and 1 on bottom.
Eleven of the 16 pairs of tiles are identical in appearance. Five of the 16 pairs of tiles are not identical in appearance. One of the 16 pairs does not have the same number of spots on each tile.
Gee Joon: 1 on top and 2 on bottom/2 on top and 2 on bottom. Teen: Both tiles have 6 on top and 6 on bottom. Day: Both tiles have 1 on top and 1 on bottom. Yun: Both tiles have 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Gor: Both tiles have 1 on top and 3 on bottom. Mooy: Both tiles have 5 on top and 5 on bottom. Chong: Both tiles have 3 on top and 3 on bottom. Bon: Both tiles have 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Foo: Both tiles have 5 on top and 6 on bottom. Ping: Both tiles have 4 on top and 6 on bottom. Tit: Both tiles have 1 on top and 6 on bottom. Look: Both tiles have 1 on top and 5 on bottom. Chop Gow: 3 on top and 6 on bottom/4 on top and 5 on bottom. Chop Bot: 2 on top and 6 on bottom/3 on top and 5 on bottom. Chop Chit: 2 on top and 5 on bottom/3 on top and 4 on bottom. Chop Ng: 1 on top and 4 on bottom/2 on top and 3 on bottom.
Gee Joon (1), Teen (2), Day (3), Yun (4), Gor (5), Mooy (6), Chong (7), Bon (8), Foo (9), Ping (10), Tit (11), Look (12), Chop Gow (13), Chop Bot (14), Chop Chit (15), Chop Ng (16). Using the red spots on the tile is a helpful way to memorize the names and ranks of the tiles. For example, a pair of Gee Joon consists of 1 red spot on one tile and 4 red spots on the other tile. If you remember that a pair of Gee Joon has that configuration of red spots, it will be easier to recognize it when you’re dealt it during the game.
Pairs: Pairs are valued based on their ranking. The lower the pair’s ranking number, the higher its value. For example, if you 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 9. Non-pairs: If 2 tiles in a hand don’t make a pair, add up the number of spots on each tile to determine the hand’s value. For example, if you had one tile with 2 spots and another tile with 5 spots, the value of that hand would be 7. The higher the number, the more valuable the hand is. If a non-pair hand adds up to more than 9, the number in the tens place is dropped. For example, if the 2 tiles in one of your hands add up to 15, you would drop the 1 and the value of that hand would become 5. A pair is always more valuable than a non-pair, regardless of the pair’s rank.
When you’re first starting out, you may want to bet low until you get the hang of how to play.
If you have 2 tiles that make a pair, it’s a good idea to put them together to make a hand since pairs are the most valuable hands. If you don’t have any pairs, you want to divide up your tiles so that the tiles in each hand add up to the highest value possible.
Differentiate between your 2 hands by positioning one vertically and one horizontally.
If your high hand beats the dealer’s high hand but your low hand doesn’t, or vice versa, you don’t win the bet. You need to beat both of the dealer’s hands. Every player should compare their high and low hands to the dealer’s hands. Players shouldn’t compare their hands with anyone but the dealer. If the value of your hands is tied with the dealer’s hands, the dealer wins. For example, 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 hand), you wouldn’t beat the dealer because, even though your low hand beats their low hand, the dealer’s high hand beats your high hand. But, if you were to have a pair of Mooy (your high hand) and a pair of Look (your low hand) and the dealer has a non-pair of Bon and Gor (which adds up to 8 and is their high hand) and a non-pair of Bon and Foo (which adds up to 5 and is there low hand), you would win because both your high hand and low hand beat the dealer’s high and low hands.
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 as much as you bet at the beginning of the round. Push: If you beat one of the dealer’s hands but not the other, you push and don’t collect or pay any money. Instead, you can hold onto your bet for the next round. Pay: If both of the dealer’s hands were more valuable than your hands, or if both were tied, pay the dealer all of the money you bet at the beginning of the round.
There’s no limit to how many rounds of pai gow you can play, unless you’re playing with real money and you start to run low. Don’t worry if the first few rounds are a little confusing. Keep playing and eventually you’ll get the hang of it!
