Although the majority of GuPai games are played for money, there is a certain category of games that have a lot in common, and I have put them in a separate category of “gambling”.
Firstly, they have a player playing the role of a banker. This can be a person from the casino, or this role can rotate, depending on the game, or on the circumstances. Moreover, any game from this list can have both a fixed and a “sliding” banker. The exception is Da Ling, in which the banker does not take part in the calculations according to the classical rules.
Secondly, luck plays a big role in these games, and little depends on the skill of the player.
Thirdly, they all use the module ten rule. According to the rule the sum of all values on the tile (or several tiles in the case of combinations) is divided by ten and only the remainder of the division is taken into account. For example, the tile [6:5] modulo ten counts as 1 point. The tiles [3:3][5:4] count as 5 points, and the set of three tiles [6:6][4:3][4:1] counts as 4 points.
Depending on the game, “zero” can be counted as the lowest value, i.e. zero, and the highest, i.e. as a ten. The first calculation option is in Pai Gow and Kol-ye-si, the second is used in Tau Ngau.
In all games (except Korean) the tiles [4:2] and [2:1] for the previous rule can take the value either 6 or 3. These two tiles, as we may already remember, form the Supreme Pair, that is, they are related in a certain way. Since one of them gives a remainder of 6 when divided by ten, and the other – 3, they became “jokers” or semi-wild tiles and can take both values. In Korea, military pairs were different, the concept of the Supreme pair did not exist there, therefore there is no connection between [4:2] and [2:1] there. Accordingly, one in calculations is always equal to 6, and the second is 3.
The most famous game from this category is clearly Pai Gow. It was thanks to the popularity of this game that I was able to purchase a set for Chinese dominoes. Pai Gow is played even in American casinos, although the players of such tables are mostly Chinese. Pai Gow is also the only gambling game that uses the classic Chinese pairing order.
The rest of the games have already been forgotten and remained only on paper. Tau Ngau is the simplest of them, in which you just have to make no mistake. The Kol-ye-si gives the player an advantage over the casino, which is probably why it disappeared. There is also Da Ling – probably the most difficult game for the player, and it is in this game that color of the spots finally plays some role.
I’m not a fan of gambling myself, but as a thank you to Pai Gow for the opportunity to buy a set of GuPai, and in order to show the full picture of Chinese dominoes, I decided to give a description of these games as well. Please be warned – gambling can be bad for you finances.
Chinese Dominoes GuPai 