Pai Gow is a Chinese gambling game that is based on dominoes and means Make Nine in English. It’s a Chinese variation of dominoes and is played with 32 pieces. Pai Gow is primarily played in the US, China (specifically Macau) and Australia. Once Online Casinos came around, they started offering everyone worldwide a chance to play Pai Gow. You will have access to it whether you are in the UK or New Zealand.
Where to Play Pai Gow
- Hippodrome Casino: You can find Pai Gow at both their Online and Land Based Casino.
- 32Red Casino: 32Red has such a wide range of Online Casino Games to choose from, that’s why it made sense for them to offer players the chance to play Pai Gow
- Intercasino: InterCasino offers all the Microgaming games, which include titles such as Pai Gow, Sic Bo and many other unique games
- Ladbrokes Casino offers all types of gaming, including Pai Gow. If you want a wide selection of unique games, it is a great place to find what you are looking for.
How to Play Pai Gow
Pai Gow Tiles are packed into eight stacks of four tiles, shuffled, and players can make their bets. Obviously, according to its name, scoring a nine is the best hand one can have. You know if you are close to nine by adding up the dots on the dominoes.
If you get a 5 and 5 tile or a 4 and 6 tile, for example, you will have a 10, which actually means you have zero.
Teen and Day Tiles
You can only reach a ten or eleven by having a day or teen tile. This is how it works:
- A Gong: A gong is made by a day or teen tile combined with an eight; its value is then equivalent to 10
- A Wong: A wong is made by a day or teen tile combined with nine, which is equivalent to 11
Gee Joon Tiles to play pai gow
You can also use Gee Joon tiles, which are 1-2 or 2-4. These tiles can be used as a type of joker; for example, a 1-2 tile can be used as a 5-6.
Paired Pai Gow Tiles
In Pai Gow, there are 11 pairs of identical tiles, with the other five pairs being unidentical. The identical tiles have five pairs that are equal but look different. Pairs are consistently ranked higher than the other tiles, with the highest ranks being Gee Joon, Day, Teen, and Red Eights.
Ties in Pai Gow
It is possible that you and the banker can wind up with the same score. To solve this, determine which tile in each hand has a higher value. If one of you has the Gee Joon Tile, or if you both have a 0-0 tie, you will then lose.
Pai Gow Poker
This is an American version of Pai Gow, played with cards instead of dominoes. The game is a 52-card deck game with one joker. Six players are allowed to play at a time, and the aim is to defeat the banker. The wheel (A2345) is the second-highest hand and ranks higher than a king-high straight. This game is mainly played in the US but can be found at Online Casinos in the UK.
