You get four tiles. Split them into a low hand and a high hand, two tiles in each. Both must beat the banker’s matching hands for you to win.
Make the strongest two-hand combination you can—not simply the strongest single pair. The low hand must rank below the high hand. Beat both banker hands to win; split the comparisons to push; lose both to lose.
The dealer shuffles 32 Chinese dominoes and builds eight stacks of four. Each active position receives four tiles. Dice or another approved method determines where the deal begins.
Arrange your four tiles into two groups of two. The stronger group is your high hand; the weaker group is your low hand. A foul hand—putting the stronger hand in the low position—loses under typical casino rules.
Check for a pair first, but do not stop there. There are three possible ways to split four tiles. Compare what each split gives your low hand as well as your high hand.
Copy hands favour the banker. Casino payouts and fees vary: some games pay even money less commission, while California-style player-dealer games may use posted collection fees.
Keep the tile chart open and work through the hand-setting guide.
Practice
Pick any four tiles in the hand calculator and it lays out all three splits with both hand values. If you want to know how this game differs from the card game, read Pai Gow Tiles vs Pai Gow Poker.
Play at home
Dealing real tiles makes the ranking stick faster than reading it. A set for home play needs all 32 tiles and dice for the deal.
Thirty-two traditional tiles in a case, enough to deal four-tile hands at home.
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