Why is Pai Gow Poker dealt backwards (counter-clockwise)?
Thread Rating:
That totally doesn't answer your question though. Sorry.
Quote: IbeatyouracesThis is a good question that PaiGowDan probably knows the answer to and it drives me nuts everytime I watch the game but why in the world is PaiGow Poker dealt counter-clockwise from third base to first? Now I know third base does not always get the first set of cards, but in all the places I have been the game is dealt this way and was curious to know why. In all other poker based games and blackjack the deal goes clockwise except Pai Gow.
My best guess is because Pai Gow (tiles) is dealt counterclockwise. Moreover, the tiles are dealt from the rightmost stack and moving leftwards (from the dealer's perspective). It could obviously go either way, and apparently does in the card (poker) version.
Quote: MathExtremistMy best guess is because Pai Gow (tiles) is dealt counterclockwise. Moreover, the tiles are dealt from the rightmost stack and moving leftwards (from the dealer's perspective). It could obviously go either way, and apparently does in the card (poker) version.
In pai gow tiles, the house (when banking) arranges the tiles in a horizontal row, four tiles high and eight tiles long. The dealer distributes tiles from the rightmost stack first, working right-to-left, so a counterclockwise distribution is most comfortable. When PGP was introduced in casinos, most of the dealers who dealt it had been transplanted from pai gow tiles games.
Of course, there could also be some cultural artifact/superstition that says to deal the tiles any other way but counterclockwise would offend the Celestial Gambling Dragon and bring misfortune on the offender for 3,333 years,
Quote: IbeatyouracesThis is a good question that PaiGowDan probably knows the answer to and it drives me nuts everytime I watch the game but why in the world is PaiGow Poker dealt counter-clockwise from third base to first? Now I know third base does not always get the first set of cards, but in all the places I have been the game is dealt this way and was curious to know why. In all other poker based games and blackjack the deal goes clockwise except Pai Gow.
Maybe it originated south of the equator and then caught on in China? (Kinda of the same way that toilet water goes the other way in the Southern Hemisphere.)
Ding, ding, ding!Quote: FleaStiffWell, you see... its this way: Once upon a time there was a Floor Person who thought he knew everything ... .
We have a winner!
(I don't know if that's the answer, but it's a damn funny reply!)
