Pai Gow Moments

There are a lot of options available to the buyer of pai gow tiles.  On the Internet alone, you can find so many different choices to suit your preferences.  Perhaps you are thinking, tiles are tiles, what is the difference?  It is basically the look of the whole set, the material, and even the weight.  Let us look at some pai gow tile sets that are on sale online.

At Kardwell.com, they offer supplies for most any gambling endeavor.  They have a whole line of pai gow supplies which you can view on their page: http://www.kardwell.com/pai-gow.html.  Anyhow, they have some pai gow tiles sets, the first of which is housed in a brown vinyl case.  The case itself has a handle which allows you to carry your tiles from one place to another easily.  The tiles themselves are of casino quality and have a high gloss black pearl finish.  The dots on the tiles are red and white.  For this set, you have an added bonus of three dice and a pai gow button.

Their second set that they have is in a nicer case – a wooden box that is stained a deep brown.  There are Chinese characters on the slide out top of the box.  The tiles are essentially the same as the ones available in the vinyl case.  Personally, though, I favor the wooden box.

In any case, there are other sites out there which sell pai gow tiles.  Though many of them are black pearl – which I personally prefer – you might be able to find something else if your inclination leans towards something different.

Though there are some casinos both online and offline that offer pai gow tiles on their roster, there are still some people who want to play this game at home with friends.  Much like poker home games, pai gow “home games” can be a lot of fun and make an afternoon or an evening extra interesting.  So how do you go about setting up a pai gow game at home?  Of course first you need supplies before you can start inviting people.

Just like poker, you would need buttons to play pai gow.  You can get dealer buttons, action buttons, and banker buttons.  They are normally rectangular in shape and are often found in a pearl white finish.  You would also need pai gow dice.  You can find them in sets of three, with a wide variety of colors.  To complement these, you would need to get pai gow cups.  Common finishes would be silver and gold.

In order to play pai gow you would need a table to set things up.  It is really just like any other card game.  Depending on your preferences and your budget, you have a variety of options when it comes to the table.  If you have spare cash you might want to have someone make a table for you.  Yet it is possible to use any flat surface as well.  You just need to buy the layout for the surface.  It’s like a table top with the layout for the players.

Last but not the least, you need the tiles.  We’ll look at tiles in more detail in the next post.

Who hasn’t heard of the name Trump?  Probably a statistically insignificant percentage of Americans.  Yet did you know that the Trump Plaza Atlantic City Hotel and Casino is one of the several places in the continental US where you can play the “exotic” game of pai gow tiles?

Since you are reading this blog, I am assuming that you are interested in pai gow tiles and you have a basic working knowledge of the game so we are not going to dwell on the rules and features of the game itself.  Instead, what can you find at the Trump Plaza?

Aside from the usual array of slot machines and table games, this casino offers some games they dub exotic, pai gow being one of them.  As a matter of fact, they also offer the other type of pai gow which is quite popular today, pai gow poker.  If you are new to the games, they offer extensive information regarding the rules of the games on the web site.  You only have to browse the different pages to get a basic grasp of the games.

The Trump Plaza prides itself in having new machines on their casino floor.  They aim to give the best gambling experience to their customers.  On top of that, they boast excellent customer service, which they claim is unparalleled.  Of course, that remains to be seen by you yourself.  So if you are in the area, I suggest that you go pay this casino a visit.  While you are at it, why not give their pai gow tiles tables a try?  Online pai gow tiles is very similar to playing for real, with slight differences of course.  Yet I am sure that you will enjoy the atmosphere that the casino has when playing “for real.”

On the outset, it may seem to a beginner that pai gow is merely like a game of dominoes.  Or maybe once one begins to grasp the basic rules, you would think of poker or similar card games.  In reality, though, pai gow is a unique game on its own.  Here are some tips to get you started.

Once you get your tiles, the first thing that you should look for is a pair.  In pai gow, pairs have the highest ranking.  It should be no problem spotting them as you should just look for tiles with the same markings.  If you do not have pairs among your 4 tiles, the next thing that you should look for is a Teen or a Day tile with a 7, an 8, or a 9.  One winning possibility with these tiles would be one Teen or Day tile with a 7 – this would form a High 9.  An 8 with a Teen or a Day would form a Gong.  A Teen or Day tile with a 9 would form a Wong.

Of course, not all hands that you get will yield a pair of any of the combinations above.  When this happens, just bear in mind that the dots on the tiles represent the numerical value of the tile.  In pai gow, when the dots are more than 10, the numerical value is the number when the 1 is dropped.  With no High 9s, Wongs, Gongs, or Pairs, the number which is closest to 9 wins.

The Denenberg Strategy is a technique that you can use to improve your game.  This was developed Steven Deneberg and is available at Paigow.com.  To learn the strategy, you need to sign up to become a member this web site.

This strategy is very easy to learn as it is quite similar to the basic strategy.  Its edge is that it tells you how to maximize the value of your high hands.  It also tells you when you can maximize the value of your low hands and when to split pairs, and more.  If you have no problems understanding the basic strategy – which I assume you already know – then you will not have any problems with the Denenberg Strategy.

Based on tests, it has been showed that the Denenberg Strategy decreases your losses when playing pai gow.  For example, with the traditional strategy, you are expected to lose about $1.49 for every $100 that you wager.  With the Denenberg Strategy, the house advantage is cut by half, increasing your expected return by 0.68%.

One good thing about the Denenberg Strategy is that you do not have to know the whole thing before playing it at the table.  That means you can learn it in stages and then apply what you know.  This will still be beneficial to you and you can just apply the different stages of the strategy as you learn them.  As you continue to learn the strategy, you can practice what you know.  Paigow.com also offers a practice area wherein you can hone your skills until you know the Denenberg Strategy by heart.

Pai Gow is an old Chinese gambling game. It is mainly played with the use of dominos. It should not be confused with its derivative, Pai Gow Poker, which is played with cards. Here are some commonly used terms in Pai Gow.

Banker – the designated person who does not place a bet but all players bet against him. Each participant’s high and low hands are compared against the banker’s high and low hands. The banker collects and benefits from all the bets that he wins, but he is also responsible for playing off the bets to all participants who beat the banker’s high and low hands. Each person around the table can take his turn at being the banker at some point. It is important to note that the banker is not the same as the dealer.

Day – the tile with a double one

Dealer – the person who shuffles and stacks the tiles. Much like the dealer in poker and other card games.

Dice – there are three dice used in Pai Gow. They are not rolled but shaken in a cup. They introduce and additional element of chance as well as avoid cheating.

Gee Joon – the 1-2 or 2-4 tiles. Also known as wildcards.

Gong – a pair that consists of a Day or Teen and an eight. This is worth ten.

Hand – a group of tiles. A hand is composed of two tiles each.

High hand – the hand which has a higher value.

Identical pair – a pair of tiles which are identical in appearance. There are 11 identical pairs in Pai Gow.

Low hand – the hand which has a lower value.

Pair – two tiles grouped together (According to the rules of Pai Gow). Pairs are not necessarily of the same value. There are sixteen pairs in Pai Gow.

Teen – the tile with a double six

Tie – a situation wherein you and the banker have the same exact hands. In the event that a tie happens, the winnings go to the banker.

Tiles – the main material with which you play Pai Gow. They are rectangular in shape, about 1 inch wide and 2 inches tall. They are usually black with white and red dots on one side. The other side is uniformly black so that a tile can be overturned without the other players seeing the number of dots on it.

Wong - a pair that consists of a Day or Teen and a nine. This is worth eleven.

Pai Gow is fast becoming one of the favorite gambling activities in the US, both online and offline. In fact, derivatives such as Pai Gow Poker have been created due to this popularity. With other card games and gambling activities, one of the reasons for their popularity and widespread acceptance is the existence of a number of professional players.

These professional players add glitz and glamour to the game. Take for example Texas Hold ‘em Poker and Blackjack. The prolific names in these card games add to the excitement of the whole thing. Legends have been created and continue to influence the worlds of these card games.

As Pai Gow is not as established or widely known as Texas Hold ‘em Poker and Blackjack, it comes as no surprise that there aren’t too many professional Pai Gow players as of yet. Try doing a search on Google or Yahoo for “professional Pai Gow players” and the chances are that you would come up with almost nothing.

However, there are some professional gamblers who do dabble in Pai Gow. Take for example Bill Zender, one of the most notable figures in the world of blackjack. He is also involved in the business of casinos and has authored several books as well. In addition to all these, he is also considered a professional Pai Gow player. More so, he also plays Pai Gow Poker.

He claims that he prefers playing Pai Gow gives you a great game where the money is good and steady. More so, he says that in Pai Gow, there is no heat. What does he mean by that? He was probably referring to the fact that in Pai Gow, you play against each other and not the house.

In any case, it is quite a pity that there aren’t more professional Pai Gow players out there. This is a very interesting and exciting game, comparable to poker and al its variants. Perhaps one reason for this is the fact that there is a lack of publicity. Then again, it could be the lack of professional players that is causing the lack in publicity. It’s something like the chicken or the egg – which came first?

Anyway, the fact remains that despite the lack of people who play Pai Gow professionally, the game still deserves attention, which, I believe, a lot of people are realizing right now. Who knows, there might be more emerging Pai Gow players in the near future?

If you were to do a search on the Internet for Pai Gow, the chances are that what you would find would be online game rooms for Pai Gow Poker, a poker variation derived from Pai Gow tiles. Majority of the online gaming casinos today have offerings for Pai Gow Poker, there is no doubt about that. However, finding a game room online for Pai Gow tiles would be a little bit of a task.

One easy way to play Pai Gow online would be to go to Wizard of Odds. However, their Pai Gow game is really only good for practice games. You are a single player and you do not play against other players. You would not need to download any software, which is a plus I suppose. Still, I do not think that you will have much excitement playing like this forever.

Believe me, I have spent a lot of time trying to find a decent online game room offering Pai Gow tiles but so far, I have come up with nothing. As for Pai Gow Poker, you can have your pick from countless online casinos. You also have the alternative of playing Pai Gow tiles in land based casinos. That option is perhaps the best way for you to go at the moment. It seems that Pai Gow Poker has superseded the original Pai Gow tile game when it comes to the online community. Perhaps its similarity to other card games is the reason for this. Or maybe the tag “poker” could be the reason for its popularity. I know that does not really give much help regarding how to play Pai Gow tiles online, but that is all that is to be had at present.

However, the lack of online game rooms offering Pai Gow tiles does not mean that you cannot polish and hone your skills online, from the comforts of your home. There are quite a few sites offering tutorials for Pai Gow tiles. One of the most comprehensive and useful sites is Paigow.com. In this page, you can find a step by step comprehensive tutorial – from the rules to equipment to the basic mechanics. You can also practice your skills at Paigow.com. Once you have sharpened your Pai Gow tiles skill to its best, then you can head on out to a casino and see how it goes.

Most activities known to man are learned. That is, we do not know exactly how to do something at the first try. What happens is that we go through a learning process that varies depending on the person and the activity. This is where the concept of the learning curve comes in. The learning curve effect states that “the more times a task has been performed, the less time will be required on each subsequent iteration. It was discovered by the nineteenth-century German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus.”

You may be thinking, this is all well and good – it sounds really scientific and all – but how does it relate to Pai Gow? After all, I just want to have fun. Well, there is the issue of actually learning to play the game. Just as with other games (cards, tiles, or whatever), I am sure that if you know how to play Pai Gow, that was not always the case. If you do not know how to play it yet, well you still have to go through the process of learning the game.

So again, back to the question – where does the learning curve effect come into the picture? When you ask the question “How easy or hard is it to learn Pai Gow? it is essentially asking about the learning curve of Pai Gow. So how easy and how fast is it to learn Pai Gow?

There is not straightforward answer to this question. First of all, Pai Gow can be a little bit more complicated than the usual card game. Not everyone is familiar with the tiles and dominoes used in Pai Gow. So the first step in learning the game is to familiarize one’s self with the tiles and the different patterns first. Then one must learn the different combinations. Depending on how fast an individual can pick up these concepts, the process might take quite some time. That is why in learning Pai Gow, you would need to spend a considerable amount of time practicing the basic concepts first.

Once you have grasped the concepts of the tiles fully, then it will be easy street for you. Of course, understanding and memorizing the values and possible combinations is one thing. Actually using them correctly in a game would be another thing. As such, it would be safe to say that Pai Gow’s learning curve would be a little less steep than other card games. It takes patience and some time but it’s all worth it.

Pai Gow, a tile-game similar to the card game Black Jack, is a betting game. What makes Pai Gow different from other gambling games is that you place a bet before you receive your tiles and, after you have seen your cards and created possible pairs or hands, you are not allowed to change, neither increase nor decrease your bet. In simplest terms, you place a bet, you are given four tiles, you play these tiles and, depending on how you arranged your pieces, you either win or lose the amount you have bet.

Everyone involved in Pai Gow, from the player to the dealer or bank, can win or lose money, and this is done two ways: through bets, and commissions.

Making money through bets is fairly simple. You place a bet and after all the tiles are received, you can win or lose your bet. If both your pairs beat the hands held by the dealer, you win back your bet, and also get the amount the bank / dealer has wagered. If both your pairs lose to the pairs of the dealer, it goes without saying that the money you wagered. In case only one of your pairs beat the tiles of the dealer, both of you are in a situation called “Push”. In this instance, the money does not remain on the table and added to the succeeding pot, but goes directly to the dealer.

Commissions of a players winnings, is another way money can be made by playing Pai Gow. Commissions, however, are only applied to games played in Casinos. The standard commission charged by casinos in the United States is 5% of your winnings. For example, you bet a hundred, and won, you do not receive double your hundred (200) but your bet and 95% from the house (195). The commission is only taken from winnings. For draws (push situations) and loses, the house / dealer will not take any additional 5% from you. If you’re playing at home with friends, there is no need to give 5% of the money you won from the bank as commission, not unless it is something everyone has agreed upon.

You also do not need to be a player to make money on Pai Gow. As a spectator, you and your friend can place bets on the tiles held by another player or on the dealer. However, instead of the money going to the player or the bank, the money just changes hands between you and your companion.