N.J. Admin. Code § 13:69F-10.7

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 13:69F-10.7 - Procedures for completion of each round of play; setting of hands; payment and collection of wagers; payout odds; vigorish

(a) After the dealing of the tiles has been completed, each player shall set his or her hands by arranging the tiles into a high hand and low hand. After setting the hands, the tiles shall be placed face down on the layout immediately behind that player's betting area and separated into two distinct hands.

(b) Each player at the table shall be responsible for setting his or her own hands and no other person except the dealer may touch the tiles of that player. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a player requests assistance in the setting of his or her hands, the dealer may inform the requesting player of the manner in which the casino licensee requires the hands of the dealer to be set in its Rules of the Games Submission. Each player shall be required to keep the four tiles in full view of the dealer at all times. Once each player has set a high hand and low hand and placed the two hands face down on the layout, the player shall not touch the tiles again.

(c) After all players have set their hands and placed the tiles on the table, the four tiles of the dealer shall be turned over and the dealer shall set his or her hands by arranging the tiles into a high and low hand. The high hand shall be placed on the layout face up to his or her right and the low hand shall be placed on the layout face up to his or her left. If banking or co-banking is in effect pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:69F-10.8, after all players have set their hands and placed the tiles on the table, the player banking the game shall turn over his or her four tiles and shall set the two hands by arranging the tiles in a high and low hand on the appropriate area of the layout.

(d) Except as provided in (e) below, the dealer shall be required to comply with the following rules when setting the hands of the dealer:

1. If the dealer has the supreme pair, it shall be played as such;

2. If possible, the dealer shall always play a pair, wong or gong as set forth in N.J.A.C. 13:69F-10.2;

3. If the dealer does not have any combinations described in (d)1 or 2 above, the dealer shall play any two tiles together which have a value equal to nine, eight, or seven; and

4. If the dealer does not have a combination listed in (d)1 through 3 above, the dealer shall play the highest ranking tile with the lowest ranking tile.

(e) Each casino licensee shall submit to the Division in its Rules of the Games Submission the manner in which it proposes to require the hands of the dealer to be set, and shall specifically note any exceptions it proposes to the rules listed in (d) above.

(f) A player may surrender his or her wager after the hands of the dealer have been set. The player must announce his or her intention to surrender prior to the dealer exposing either of the two hands of that player pursuant to (g) below. Once the player has announced his or her intention to surrender, the dealer shall:

1. Immediately collect the wager from that player; and

2. Collect the four tiles dealt to that player and stack them face down on the right side of the table in front of the table inventory container without exposing the tiles to anyone at the table.

(g) Once the dealer has set a high and low hand, the dealer shall expose both hands of each player, starting with the player farthest to the right of the dealer and proceeding counterclockwise around the table. The dealer shall always compare the high hand of the player to the high hand of the dealer and the low hand of the player to the low hand of the dealer and shall announce if the wager of that player shall win, lose or be considered a tie ("push").

(h) All losing wagers shall be collected immediately by the dealer and put in the table inventory container. All losing hands shall also be collected. A wager made by a player shall lose if the high hand of the player is identical in rank or lower in rank than the high hand of the dealer, and the low hand of the player is identical in rank or lower in rank than the low hand of the dealer or has a value of zero.

(i) If a wager is a push, the dealer shall not collect or pay the wager, but shall immediately collect the tiles of that player. A wager made by a player shall be a push if:

1. The high hand of the player is higher in rank than the high hand of the dealer, but the low hand of the player is identical in rank to the low hand of the dealer (copy hand), lower in rank than the low hand of the dealer or has a value of zero; or

2. The high hand of the player is identical in rank to the high hand of the dealer (copy hand) or lower in rank than the high hand of the dealer, but the low hand of the player is higher in rank than the low hand of the dealer.

(j) All winning hands shall remain face up on the layout. Winning wagers shall be paid after all hands have been exposed. The dealer shall pay winning wagers beginning with the player farthest to the right of the dealer and continuing counterclockwise around the table. A wager made by a player shall win if the high hand of the player is higher in rank than the high hand of the dealer and the low hand of the player is higher in rank than the low hand of the dealer.

(k) A winning pai gow wager shall be paid off by a casino licensee at odds of 1 to 1, except that the casino licensee shall extract a commission known as "vigorish" from the winning player in an amount equal to five percent of the amount won; provided, however, that when collecting the vigorish, the casino licensee may round off the vigorish to 25 cents or the next highest multiple of 25 cents. A casino licensee shall collect the vigorish from a player at the time the winning payout is made. After a winning wager has been paid and the vigorish collected, the dealer shall then collect the tiles from that player.

(l) If a casino licensee offers the dragon's eye variation of pai gow, it shall extract vigorish by one of following two alternative methods:

1. Five percent on the amount won on the tiles phase of the game, provided, however, that any roll of triples during the dice phase of the game shall result in losing odd and even wagers; or

2. No vigorish shall be extracted during the tiles phase of the game, provided, however, that any roll of triples during the dice phase of the game shall result in losing odd, even, and pai gow wagers.

(m) All tiles collected by the dealer shall be picked up in order and in such a way that they can be readily arranged to reconstruct each hand in case of a question or dispute and shall be placed face up to the right of the dealer in front of the table inventory container.

N.J. Admin. Code § 13:69F-10.7

Amended by R.2014 d.009, effective 1/6/2014.
See: 45 N.J.R. 1225(a), 46 N.J.R. 97(a).
Added new ( l); and recodified former ( l) as (m).