Pai Gow Tiles rankings: all 32 tiles and the 16 named pairs
The pair order is the one thing in this game you cannot reason your way to. It has to be memorized.
Short answer
The 32 tiles form sixteen named pairs. Eleven pairs are two identical tiles. Five pairs are two different tiles that carry the same pip count. The pairs are ranked by tradition, not by pips, so a low-pip pair can outrank a high-pip one. Gee Joon is highest, Chop Ng is lowest.
The sixteen named pairs, highest to lowest
| Rank | Name | Tiles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gee Joon | 1-2 and 2-4 | Supreme pair. The two tiles differ. |
| 2 | Teen | 6-6 | Also the Teen tile, used to make Wongs and Gongs. |
| 3 | Day | 1-1 | Also the Day tile, used to make Wongs and Gongs. |
| 4 | Yun | 4-4 | The High 8. |
| 5 | Gor | 1-3 | The High 4. |
| 6 | Mooy | 5-5 | The High 10. |
| 7 | Chong | 3-3 | The High 6. |
| 8 | Bon | 2-2 | The Low 4. |
| 9 | Foo | 5-6 | The only 11. |
| 10 | Ping | 4-6 | The Low 10. |
| 11 | Tit | 1-6 | The High 7. |
| 12 | Look | 1-5 | The Low 6. |
| 13 | Chop Gow | 3-6 and 4-5 | Mixed nines. The two tiles differ. |
| 14 | Chop Bot | 3-5 and 2-6 | Mixed eights. The two tiles differ. |
| 15 | Chop Chit | 3-4 and 2-5 | Mixed sevens. The two tiles differ. |
| 16 | Chop Ng | 2-3 and 1-4 | Mixed fives. The two tiles differ. |
Only these sixteen pairings count
This is the rule that catches every new player. A pair is a named pair or it is nothing. Pip count does not create a pair.
A Yun (4-4) and a Chop Bot (3-5) both carry eight pips. They are not a pair. The Yun pairs only with the other Yun. The Chop Bot tiles (3-5 and 2-6) pair only with each other. The same trap exists at six pips, where Look (1-5) does not pair with the Gee Joon 2-4, and at seven pips, where Tit (1-6) does not pair with the Chop Chit tiles.
Single tile rankings, for breaking ties
When two hands score the same, the hand holding the higher-ranked single tile wins. Single tiles rank in the same order as the pairs above, with one exception: the two Gee Joon tiles drop to the bottom. The 2-4 ranks just below the Chop Chit tiles, and the 1-2 ranks last of all 32.
That is why the Gee Joon tiles are a double-edged asset. Together they are unbeatable. Apart, they are wild for scoring but nearly worthless for winning a tie.
How often you are dealt a pair
| Dealt four tiles | Combinations | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Two pairs | 120 | 0.3337% |
| Exactly one pair | 6,720 | 18.6874% |
| Any pair | 6,840 | 19.0211% |
| No pair | 29,120 | 80.9789% |
| Total | 35,960 | 100% |
EXACT Enumerated over all 35,960 four-tile hands. Four hands in five contain no pair at all, which is why the balancing rules, not the pair rules, decide most of your results.