How to Play Pai Gow Tiles

Pai gow poker has been played in New Jersey casinos since 1991; pai gow tiles first appeared in fall 1995.  The first four casinos to offer pai gow tiles were the Trump Taj Mahal, the Sands, the Grand, and Caesars.  Also known as Chinese dominoes, the game has a long history.

The game can be a tricky one to learn.  According to the Casino Career Institute, there are more than three thousand possible tile combinations a dealer or player has to remember.  (3,620 to be exact!)  The rules can be strange and confusing at times -- some hands that look high are actually low and vice versa.

The basics here will help you get started!

Pai gow tiles is played with a set of thirty-two dominoes.  The dealer will shuffle the tiles face-down, then stack them and cut the stack.  A trio of dice is rolled to determine dealing order, then tiles are dealt four at a time.  Both dealer (known in pai gow tiles as the banker) and player sort their tiles into two pairs -- a low hand and a high hand.  The high hand is laid face down horizontally and the low hand is laid face down vertically.  When all players have set their hands, the high hands are compared against each other, then the low hands.

In order to win, both hands -- low and high -- have to win.  Otherwise, the player and the dealer have a tie.

Remembering the highest and lowest hands is where pai gow tiles gets tricky.

• The Supreme pair is the two wild dominoes together:  1:2 and 2:4.  This is the best pair you can make.  (Individually, the two wild dominoes can count as either three or six points.)
• Heaven:  double 6:6 dominoes
• Earth: double 1:1 dominoes
• Man: double 4:4 dominoes
• Goose: double 1:3 dominoes
• Flower (Plum Flower): double 5:5 dominoes
• Long: double 3:3 dominoes
• Board: double 2:2 dominoes
• Hatchet: double 5:6 dominoes
• Partition: double 4:6 dominoes
• Long Leg: double 1:6 dominoes
• Big Head: double 1:5 dominoes

After the pairs, you have particular non-matching “pairs” of dominoes.  A mixed 9 (4:5 and 3:6) is highest, followed by a mixed 8 (2:6 and 3:5), mixed 7 (3:4 and 2:5), and mixed 5 (2:3 and 1:4).

After the non-matching pairs come the Wongs.

• King of Heaven:  6:6 and 4:5 or 6:6 and 3:6
• King of Earth:  1:1 and 4:5 or 1:1 and 3:6

After the Wongs come the Gongs.  These are combinations that include the 2 point domino (1:1) or the 12 point domino (6:6) and any eight point domino.

• Treasure of Heaven:  6:6 and 4:4, 3:5, or 2:6
• Treasure of Earth:  1:1 and 4:4, 3:5, or 2:6

If you can’t make a pair, a Wong, or a Gong, the hand is ranked according to the end digit of the total point value of dots on the dominoes.  For example, if you have an 11-point domino and a five point domino, you have 16 points.  Your ranking number is six.

There are generally three different ways any hand can be arranged.  Think about whether you can make two strong pairs, one strong pair and one weak pair, or a balanced hand.  When you get really good at pai gow tiles, you won’t even look at your tiles -- you can just feel for the holes with your fingers.