Pai Gow Tiles: High-9 vs Gong or Wong
March 18th, 2018 at 5:16:46 PM
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Last week my wife and I were in Vegas passing through Harrah's. We saw a guy playing Pai Gow tiles on his own and stopped to watch for a moment. Both the player and dealer were very friendly and began explaining the game. We were given the house cheat sheet to help tutor us. We played for a few hours learning as we went along. There was a lot to absorb and take in but we got the hang of it overall.
However, now that I've had time to let it sink in and do some reading on WoO, I have a question about the basic strategy as laid out by the player, dealer, and the cheat sheet.
When holding a 12 or 2, the strategy says to play it with a 7, 8, or 9 in that order. Why is it preferable to make a high 9 rather than a Gong or a Wong?
My guess is that the chances of the dealer having a Gong or Wong is slight, the player making a Gong or Wong won't beat a dealer's pair, and making a high 9 will likely give you a better high and/or low to beat the dealer on average and at least give you a push. Am I on track with that analysis?
However, now that I've had time to let it sink in and do some reading on WoO, I have a question about the basic strategy as laid out by the player, dealer, and the cheat sheet.
When holding a 12 or 2, the strategy says to play it with a 7, 8, or 9 in that order. Why is it preferable to make a high 9 rather than a Gong or a Wong?
My guess is that the chances of the dealer having a Gong or Wong is slight, the player making a Gong or Wong won't beat a dealer's pair, and making a high 9 will likely give you a better high and/or low to beat the dealer on average and at least give you a push. Am I on track with that analysis?
March 18th, 2018 at 5:25:45 PM
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Quote: chuckf
My guess is that the chances of the dealer having a Gong or Wong is slight, the player making a Gong or Wong won't beat a dealer's pair, and making a high 9 will likely give you a better high and/or low to beat the dealer on average and at least give you a push. Am I on track with that analysis?
In general yes. But there are exceptions. You would play Gong/1 instead of 9/2 as an example. The advantage of having a gong instead of 9 overrides the advantage of having a 2 instead of a 1. The WoO site will let you practice, and you can have it alert you if you make an error. Enjoy!
