Pai Gow Tutorial

Chapter 3: Valuing the Hands

What's special about this deal?
See the last page of this chapter for the answer.

In this chapter, you will learn how to determine the value of any two-tile hand.

In the game of Pai Gow, you place a bet, and you are dealt four tiles at random. The banker is also dealt four tiles. You then decide how to divide your four tiles into two hands. Each hand contains two tiles. The four tiles at the top of this page are arranged into two hands, each hand containing two tiles. 

Your two hands are your high hand and your low hand; the hand of higher value is automatically your high hand, and the hand of lower value is your low hand.

The banker is also dealt four tiles, and he divides his tiles into two hands.

Everyone's tiles are then exposed. Your high hand is compared to the banker's high hand to see who wins the high hand comparison, and your low hand is compared to the banker's low hand to see who wins the low hand comparison.

In order to play Pai Gow, you must be able to look at a two-tile hand and know the value of that hand, so that you can know who won the comparison, and so that you can decide the best way to play your tiles.

(After you have studied this chapter, if you come back to the chapter later and only wish a quick review, you can skip to the end of the chapter for a summary of the rules for determining hand value, with links to detailed explanations of each rule.)

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Chapter 3: Valuing the Hands

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