Origins of Pai Gow, Before the Electronic Age

History of Pai Gow

If you want to become an expert at playing and winning at Pai Gow, it is usually then a good idea to become an expert at everything about the game. While a lot of people like to dismiss history out of hand, people that have studied history understand that learning from the past can give you insights into the future. In this way, studying the history of Pai Gow and its evolution over the course of time will allow you to better understand how the game works. While it will not really help you if you’ve already learned the strategy, it is still good to know.

Origins of Pai Gow, Before the Electronic Age

Just as with most of the gambling games that the world has gotten from China, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of the game of Pai Gow. In fact, many people think that it was invented thousands of years ago by some of the greatest of the ancient Chinese civilizations. However, historians do not really have the ability to relay on speculation on the part of the people living in the country and therefore must concentrate on actual aspects of the historical record that back up what they are saying. According to that same historical record, the game of Pai Gow dates back to the Song Dynasty, which means that it is at least one thousand years old.

During this period of time it was a game that was played by the royals and that is why the suits themselves represent military and civilian figures. Only the nobles and the royals played the game at first and during this time the Pai Gow game gained a great amount of tradition in the Chinese historical record. It eventually spread to the civilian population through illegal backrooms of gambling and when this happened the popularity of the game exploded.

Migration

The migration of the game did not take place until well after the 20th century, when Pai Gow migrated across the oceans and ended up in other places in Asia as well as Europe and North America. It became very popular in many of the casinos and for the first time gained a legal status amongst the civilian population of a country. It was during this time that the casinos of the west decided to create a card version of the game since many of their customers had complained about having to learn how to use Chinese dominoes. The result of this decision was Pai Gow Poker, a game that is very popular in the casinos of the west to this very day.

Present Day

In the present day, Pai Gow is played legally in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Edmonton, Melbourne and Auckland in the western world and it is played in Macau and Hong Kong in the eastern world. These are all legal games that are regulated by the government, although there are also illegal games available in many smaller Chinese communities. Pai Gow’s popularity is not expected to dampen anytime soon.