How To Play Pai Gow Tiles

The game of Pai Gow Tiles originated in Ancient China.

How To Play Pai Gow Tiles

Rules of the Game

The game is played with 32 dominoes, referred to as ‘tiles.’ Each round, the dealer will shuffle the tiles and place them in eight stacks of four each. Three dice are rolled to determine who gets the first stack of tiles. The dealer and up to six players are each dealt one stack (four tiles). Each player will set the tiles into a front hand and a back hand (two tiles per hand) for the best ranking combination. The best hand is referred to as the ‘high hand’ and the other hand is called the ‘low hand.’ The dealer will then reveal their tiles and set them into a high and low hand according to the ‘House Way.’ If the player’s high hand beats the dealer’s high hand, and the player’s low hand is also higher than the dealer’s low hand, then the player wins. Winning wagers are charged 5% commission, or vigorish. If the player’s high hand is lower than the dealer’s high hand, and the player’s low hand is also lower than the dealer’s low hand, then the player loses the wager. In the event that only one of the player’s hands is higher than the dealer’s and the other is lower, then the wager pushes (ties). If the player and dealer have two hands totaling the same number, then the hand with the higher ‘single ranking tile’ is the winner. When the dealer and player have exactly the same hands, then the player loses the wager.

Rankings

The below chart ranks each tile into Bo (pairs), Wongs, Gongs, and High Nines, followed by individual rankings guides. The color of the pips (spots) does not have any bearing on the outcome of the game.

Pairs Ranking Chart
Gee Joon 1^st	Teen 2^nd	Day 3rd	Yun 4th
Gor 5^th	Mooy 6^th	Chong 7^th	Bon 8^th
Foo 9^th	Ping 10^th	Tit 11^th	Look 12^th
Chop Gow 13^th	Chop Bot 14^th	Chop Chit 15^th	Chop Ng 16^th

Wong, Gong and High Nine (Gow)
Teen Wong 17^th	Day Wong 18^th
Teen Gong 19^th	Day Gong 20^th
Teen High Nine (Gow) 21^st
Day High Nine (Gow) 22^nd

Single Tile Ranking Chart
Teen 1^st	Day 2^nd	Yun 3^rd	Gor 4^th
Mooy 5^th	Ghong 6^th	Bon 7^th	Foo 8^th
Ping 9^th	Tit 10^th	Look 11^th	Chop Gow 12^th
Chop Bot 13^th		Chop Chit 14^th
Look Six (Luk) 15^th		Chop Ng 16^th
Three (Saam) 17^th