How To Play Pai Gow Tiles – Your Best Guide

By: Olena

Posted: September 13, 2022

Updated: September 13, 2022

If you are a fan of domino games, Pai Gow might be your next choice
This is a popular gambling game with its roots coming from China
Learn how to play Pai Gow Tiles, the oldest variation of the game

Image source: Flickr

If you are a fan of domino games, Pai Gow might be your next choice. Our ultimate guide will explain how to play Pai Gow Tiles, a gambling game with Chinese roots, multiple variations in casinos, and millions of fans around the world. Haven’t you heard about Pai Gow? This is an exciting game that comes from Asia and can be played at home, in land-based casinos, or at online gambling sites in Japan. Its rules are a bit tricky, but once you learn how to play Pai Gow Tiles, this game will instantly become your favorite.

About Pai Gow and its variations

Pai Gow is one of the most popular gambling games in the world. This is a game of chance that originated in China in the Song Dynasty era. It is quite difficult to say the exact date of the Pai Gow origination, however, it is often named one of the oldest Asian betting games. There are two popular variations of Pai Gow. Depending on the way the game is played, land-based and online casinos offer Pai Gow Tile and Pai Gow Poker. As it might be clear from its name, Pai Gow Tiles players use tiles or Chinese dominoes. At the same time, Pai Gow Poker is played with cards. The rules of both Pai Gow Tiles and Pai Gow Poker are pretty much the same, The objective of both games is to beat two dealer’s hands. One hand should contain tiles/cards with the lowest possible value, while the other - tiles/cards with the highest possible value. Read more about Pai Gow Poker, its rules, and winning tips. Meanwhile, we will go on with a guide on how to play Pai Gow Tiles because this variation of Pai Gow is much older than its counterpart.

How to play Pai Gow Tiles: rules and setup

Pai Gow Tile is a game played with 32 specially-designed tiles or Chinese dominoes. They look like common dominoes with some significant differences. For example, Chinese dominoes have their own ranking of pieces, unique arrangement of dots, and some other peculiarities. Therefore, one cannot play Pai Gow with classic dominoes. To start the Pai Gow Tiles game, there must be at least two players. In most casinos, players usually compete against dealers one-on-one. The same relates to online casinos with Live Pai Gow, such as 888casino. Speaking of a maximum number of players, there cannot be more than 8 people at the Pai Gow table. The setup for Pai Gow Tiles is almost ready! Below are just a few important tips to remember before taking part in the game.

In Pai Gow, players place bets before receiving tiles. As soon as the betting round is over, the dealer gives four tiles to each player.

Players split their tiles into two hands with 2 tiles in each. There is the strongest hand which is called the high hand, and the low hand. Both hands participate in the game.

Then, all players flip over their tiles. Three outcomes are possible in Pai Gow Tiles: the dealer’s win, the player’s win, and a tie.

It is important to learn the ranking of all Chinese dominoes in Pai Gow Tiles before playing the game.

Pai Gow Tiles winner determination

As we have mentioned above, there are three possible outcomes in the game. Regardless of the number of players at the table, all bets are against the player-dealer. If there is no dealer in the game, one of the players becomes the dealer and takes his responsibilities. However, Live Pai Gow Tile games are always played against real dealers at online casinos in Japan. The only exception is video versions of Pai Gow where the outcome is determined by RNG. At the end of the game, players compare their high hands to the dealer’s high hands. Then, they compare low hands to the dealer’s low hands. Based on this information, how is the winner of Pai Gow Tiles determined?

The player wins if both high and low hands of his beat both high and low hands of the dealer. If so, the player gets his bet back and wins extra money according to the odds. Payouts usually vary from one game to another.

The dealer wins if both high and low hands of his beat both high and low hands of the player. In this case, the player loses his bet.

If just one of the high/low player’s hands ranks higher than the dealer’s high/low hand, it is a tie or a “push.” In this case, players can push i.e. don’t collect or pay any money. Instead, they can use their bet in the next round.