Pai Gow is a game played with Chinese dominoes. It originated in ancient China and is often played in Asian countries. It is one of the oldest casino games, it existed before Roulette and Baccarat. Pai Gow means ‘make nine’ and it is played with 32 dominoes, also called tiles, of which 11 are identical pairs.
We know the game mainly in the form of Pai Gow Poker, a card game that is played according to the rules of Poker. If this is your first time getting to know Pai Gow Chinese Game, you’ve come to the right place. At first, the game may seem a little confusing and overwhelming, but with a little practice, it could become your new favorite casino bola online game.
Playing Pai Gow Chinese Game
The object of Pai Gow Chinese Game is to make two ranking hands with four dominoes or two dominoes per hand. The two hands consist of the high hand and the low hand. To win, the player’s position in both hands must be higher than the bank’s.
The bank wins if its ranking is higher than that of the players. If the banker wins one hand and the players win the other, it’s a push. If the bank and the players have the same hand and their highest individual dominoes are also the same, then the bank wins.
The dominoes are shuffled by the dealer and then placed in eight piles of four. Then the players place their bets. The dealer finishes placing the bets by saying “no more bets” before shaking the Pai Gow Shaker with three dice and at least three times.
Rankings in Pai Gow Chinese Game
It is necessary to understand the ranking of the dominoes in Pai Gow Chinese Game. The rankings do not follow a sequence of numbers, but with Chinese symbols. For example, the highest ranking domino is twelve, and the second highest is two.
Each Pai Gow tile has between two and twelve spheres. The number of dots on a tile is important because it determines the name and rank of that tile. Only one side of each tile has dots so the other players can’t see which tiles you have.
You will see that some dominoes have both red and white dots. The difference in color is just to make it easier for you. It does not affect how the tiles are used.
The Hands in Pai Gow Chinese Game
The highest hand in Pai Gow Chinese Game is a combination of domino six (white 2 and red 4) – domino three (white 2 and red 1). This pair is called ‘Supreme’ or Gee Joon. The hands from two to twelve are the ‘Matched Pairs’ and the hands from thirteen to sixteen are the ‘Mixed Pairs’ (Chop Bo).
These pairs are in the same order as the individual dominoes. The ‘Wongs’ are in 17th and 18th place in the ranking. A Wong is a domino with a value of 12 and any domino with a value of nine, or a domino with a value of two and any domino with a value of nine.
Gongs are the next dominoes in the ranking in 19th and 20th place. A gong is a domino with a value of twelve and any domino with a value of eight or a domino with a value of two and any domino with a value of eight.
If no combinations of the above rankings can be made, the hands are formed by ranking the dominoes from nine to zero.
Types of Pai Gow Chinese Game
In Europe, most individuals know Pai Gow Chinese Game from the mini game of poker. The Chinese version with the dominoes is slightly less popular here. There are several versions of Pai Gow below.
1. Pai Gow Poker
The object of Pai Gow Poker is to beat the dealer. To do this you need to make two separate hands that are both stronger than the dealer’s two hands. This card game is played with a standard 52-card deck and a joker. The joker is a semi-wild in the game because it can be used to complete all straights or flushes. In all other cases, the joker is counted as an ace.
A hand of Pai Gow Poker begins when all players place an ante bet. After that, everyone, including the dealer, is dealt seven face-down cards. The standard poker hand rankings are used to determine the winner.
2. Fortune Pai Gow Chinese Game
Fortune Pai Gow Chinese Game is played in the same way as Pai Gow Poker. The aim is to create two winning poker hands, a two-card hand and a five-card hand. To win, both of your hands must beat the banker’s corresponding poker hands. Each game is played with a deck of 52 cards, plus a joker.
The difference with Pai Gow Poker is the optional ‘fortune bonus’. This is a side bet that pays out when a combination of your seven cards creates a poker hand that appears on the paytable, regardless of how you place your hands in the base game.
3. Face Up Pai Gow Chinese Game
Face Up Pai Gow is played with a fully visible dealer hand. This makes the game a little more exciting to play. Face Up Pai Gow Chinese Game has no commission on winning hands as all main bets push when the dealer has an ace high ‘Pai Gow’ hand.
The player is given the option to place an additional bonus bet that pays out up to 30:1 if the dealer and player’s hand both have a ‘Pai Gow’ hand.
In this game, the players are allowed to set their hand after the dealer has revealed his cards and can place his hand.
Conclusion
Pai Gow Chinese Game is not as complicated as it seems. In the beginning it can be difficult to remember the order of the hands and the combinations. However, once you play it you will find that it is quite easy. The good news is that you don’t even need to go to a casino to play Pai Gow as there are both free to play and real money options online. / Dy
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