What exactly is PaiGow?
PaiGow, which roughly translates to “make nine” or “nine card” in Cantonese, is a game that is quite similar to the popular dominoes. The game originated in China and is played using a set of Chinese dominoes. It is primarily a gambling game and surprisingly, even in predominantly Chinese communities, the game is mostly played in underground casinos. The game, however, is widely accepted and played openly in selected casinos in cities in Macau and China, as well as in casinos in the United States (Las Vegas, Nevada, Atlantic City and New Jersey). It is also played in some card rooms in California and even casinos found in Australia, the Land Down Under.
A complete Pai Gow set should have 32 “named” tiles which make up 16 pairs; and dice. The standard dimension of each tile is about 1 inch wide by 2 inches tall. These are usually black in color with the markings (seen only on one side of the tile) in either white or red.
There are between two to twelve spots on each Pai Gow tile and these are arranged in different patterns and come in different colors. Players of Pai Gow should, not only take note of the total spots in each tile, but the arrangement as this is critical in the game. The different colored spots, however, have no bearing on how the game is played.
A number or rank is assigned each pair of tiles. The rank of the pair of tiles does not depend on the number of spots on the tile face. In Pai Gow, a pair of tiles with more spots is ranked lower and is less valuable than a pair of tiles with lesser number of spots. The main object of a Pai Gow game is to have a hand (through the rankings of your tiles) that is higher than those of your opponents.
Pai Gow may be played by a minimum of two and a maximum of eight players and a dealer. It is a betting game thus, players put in their bets even before the tiles are dealt.
The game of PaiGow, however, should not be mistaken for the Americanized version which is called Pai Gow Poker. The game was created jointly by Sam Torosian and Fred Wolf. Unlike the authentic PaiGow, Pai Gow Poker (also known as Double Hand Poker) is played by six individuals, plus the dealer, with a regular deck of cards and a Joker.