Foxwoods House Way

Last update: Oct 3, 2008

The following is the Foxwoods house way for pai gow (tiles). It was taken from a Foxwoods Training Center booklet, dated 02/97. If more than one rule applies, use the one listed first.

Pair Rules

A
Never split the following pairs (4, 5, 6, 10, 11).

B
Split Gee Joon only when holding tiles 6-6, 6-5, or 6-4.

C
Split 2's and 12's to make 6/8 or better, or other two tiles are 9 and 11.

D
Split 9's only with any combination of 2, 10, and 12 tiles.

E
Split 8's only with any combination of 2, 10, 11, or 12 tiles. Also split with 9 and 11.

F
Split 7's only with any combination of 2, 10, 11, or 12 tiles.

Wong, Gong, and High Nine Rules

Play the 2 or 12 tile with a 7, 8, or 9. With more than one possible, play High 9 over Wong and Gong, or Gong over Wong, when given the choice. When given the choice between a 2 and 12, play the 12 in the high hand.

Exceptions:

A
Play Wong over Gong with an 11.

B
Play Wong over High Nine with an 11.

C
Play Gong over High Nine with (1) any 4, or (2) 5 and Low 8.
If the highest low hand is less than High 3 (highest tile High 6 or higher), and the highest high hand is 7 or higher, then make high hand as high as possible. Otherwise make the low hand as high as possible. Following are exceptions to this rule.

A
If hands total 8-9 or more then play high tile in high hand.

B
If hands total 7 and 8, and contain a 2 and 12, then play the 12 on the high hand.

C
Play 2 and High 5 with the following.

D
Play 6 and High 7 with the following.

E
Play 6 and High 8 with the following.

F
Play 6 and High 9 with the following.

G
Play 7 and High 9 with the following.

H
Play 7 and High 9 with the following.

I
Play 7 and 9 with the following. The 1-1 tile may replace the 6-6, and the 6 can be any 6.

J
Play 7 and High 9 with the following.

K
Play High 5 and 7 with the following. The 7 can be any 7.
Finally, there is an unwritten rule (until now) that the house will never play a hand where an alternative benefits both the high and the low. For example, consider the following hand.

Rule 1C would suggest the pair should be split to make 6/8. However both the high and low are improved by playing 7/teen pair. The unwritten rule 4 would thus override rule 1C.