Pai Gow is dealt counterclockwise and is a rotating player/banker game. All active players wager against the player/banker. A time collection is taken in advance for each wager.

Each active player is offered the opportunity, in turn, to be the player/banker.

The player/banker starts the game by shaking the dice cup. The player/banker position is always counted as 1-9-17. The total of the 3 dice determines the distribution of the hands, and where the action starts. Each active player position will be dealt a hand consisting of four tiles, which the active player will set into two hands of two tiles each - a high hand and a low hand.

To Win: Both players' hands must rank higher than the player/banker's two hands, respectively. To Lose: Both players' hands must rank lower than the player/banker's two hands, respectively. To Push: One of the players' two hands must rank higher, with the other hand ranking lower than the player/banker's two hands, respectively.

To understand and to play Pai Gow, a player should be familiar with the rankings of the tiles.

(See charts for ranings of pairs and individual tiles).

For simplicity, the rankings can basically be divided into six groups, as follows:

1.	Gee Joon (The Sumpreme Pair)
2.	Matched Pairs
3.	Unmatched Pairs
4.	Wong (a 12 or a 2 tile with any 9)
5.	Gong (a 12 or a 2 tile with any 8)
6.	Combinations

Combinations are common and comprise much of the strategy of Pai Gow. When a hand does not contain any of the higher ranking groups, combinations are formed by taking any two tiles, to produce a number from 9 (highest) to 0 (lowest).

When totaling, only the last digit is used:

For example: 8 + 7 = 15 = 5

Note: The two tiles that make the Gee Joon pair are interchangeable when played individually.

The 6 can be played as a 3, and the 3 can be played as a 6. Individually the two tiles rank very low.