Pai Gow Gameplay

A game of Pai Gow proceeds as follows:

Play begins with all players making a wager.

The dealer shuffles the dominoes and stacks them in 8 sets of 4, face down. He then rolls three dice to determine which player receives the first set of dominoes. The total of the dice is counted out starting with the bank in a counter clockwise direction.

One stack of four dominoes is then passed to each player, to the dealer and also to each vacant player position on the table. After the dice are exposed the player may not change his bet.

Each player creates two hands with the four dominoes: a high hand and a second high hand.

The object of the game is to create two hands that are both higher in rank than the bank hand. If both hands are higher than the bank hands, the player wins. If one hand is higher and the other is lower, it is a tie. If both of the player's hands are lower then the bank hands, the player loses. Both the dealer and the players take turns being the bank. The bank is rotated after each round of play, though players have the option of refusing the deal if they so wish.

Whoever has the bank keeps a marker called a "Chung" in front of his place on the table. The bets are settled against the banker one player at a time, with the money being racked into the center of the table. In the casino game, the house provides a dealer and the bank calls out which cut he wishes to use.

Each pair of dominos has a ranking. The player must decide how to arrange his dominos into the strongest possible pairs, to give himself the best possible chance of beating the dealer with one or both of them. Sometimes the choice is obvious but often a decision must be made whether to have a strong hand and a weak hand or two more balanced hands. At most there will be three possible and viable ways to play the hand.

After a decision is reached the player should lay the dominos face down with the higher pair laying horizontally and the lower pair vertically. Only after all players have set their hands can the banker examine and set his dominos.

On request, the house dealer will explain the rankings and assist you in arranging your hands, but is not responsible for wins or losses. Payoffs are even money, and the house collects a 5% commission on all winning wagers.