Setting the Hands in Pai Gow Tiles
The primary goal is the make the best combination of two strong hands. Remember that you have to beat both of the dealer hands to win. Try to get both the low hand and high hand as close to 9 as possible, but to make the game even more confusing, there are quite a few exception hands which outrank a 9! The new player is taught to line up the four tiles in numerical order. It helps with identifying the tiles and determine what types of hands are possible.
These are all of the pairs in rank order. The individual tile ranking order almost follows the pair ranking order with the exception of the first set – called Gee-Joon (Supreme). Together, these two tiles are the #1 pair and the player with this pair cannot lose if they keep these two tiles together to make their high hand. However, separately, the tiles are the lowest ranking of the entire set, even below the 5’s.
Besides the individual tile rankings, there are also hand type rankings. Pairs are at the top, then Wongs, Gongs, then lastly individual numbers counts.
Summary
- Arrange your four tiles in numerical order
- Look for Pairs, Wongs, or Gongs
- Try to arrange the tiles to add up to 9
- Take the high-low and then the two middle tiles to make your hands
What is a Pair in Pai Gow Tiles?
A pair (or Bo in Chinese) is a set of two tiles that are physically identical or one of the “mixed” pairs of 5, 7, 8, 9 at the bottom of the set. A mixed pair tile cannot match a regular pair tile for a set. Pairs beat everything, and the pairs have ranking making the pairs at the top higher than the pairs at the bottom.
What is a Wong in Pai Gow Tiles?
A Wong is the 12 or 2 tile with a 9.
What is a Gong in Pai Gow Tiles?
The Gong is the 12 or 2 tile with an 8.
I don’t have a Pair, Wong, or Gong. Now what?
When there is no pair, Wong, or Gong in a hand, the next step is to try to get as close to 9 as possible. If there are a couple of small tiles (under 5) in the hand, chances are good that they can go together to form an 8 or 9.
When there are no small tiles that appear to fit together, it’s time to pair the smallest with the longest, and then the two medium tiles together to form the hand. Typically this will results in a low-medium hand of 4-6 or so.
Do I need to play House Way?
No. You can play your hand however you like! Remember that the casino needs to beat seven people, but you only need to beat one. The house way rules are designed to be more conservative and come out ahead against seven hands. In some cases, you may have a better option as a player. Especially if you can place the Teen or Dey tiles in player hands! For instance, if you know that a Teen and a Day are in player hands, the likelihood of the dealer having a Teen or Dey drops significantly. You can play your hand differently to increase your low hand in anticipation of a weak dealer high hand.