Twist’em® is a new casino game played with standard dominoes. Like the Chinese tile game Pai Gow, each player’s goal is to form two hands which respectively outrank the dealer’s hands. The ranking is done as in Baccarat or Pai Gow: by adding the total of each hand and using only the ones digit. Nine is high, zero is low. Unlike Pai Gow, the tiles won’t be physically separated into two hands.
How To Play
- The dealer washes the tiles and builds a wall three tiles high. A dice cup is shaken to determine which player receives the first hand.
- Each player wagers and is dealt three dominoes.
- Each player arranges the orientation of the dominoes to form a low hand and a high hand. As an example, if the player held the 2-5 domino, she could arrange it so the 2 was above the line and the 5 was below, or flip it and have the 5 on top and the 2 below. Here’s an example of how the two hands are formed:
- A score of 2/6 isn’t very good, so the player can twist the middle tile and arrive at a much better hand:

Top hand = 9 Bottom hand = 9 - When the player is finished arranging the tiles, they are placed face-down on the table.
- The dealer exposes three banker dominoes and arranges them in the same way, to form a high and low hand.
- In turn, the dealer exposes each player’s tiles and compares them with the banker’s tiles. The player’s high hand is compared to the banker’s high hand, and the player’s low hand is compared to the banker’s low hand.
- If both player hands win, or if one hand wins and the other ties, the player wins even money. If one wins and the other loses, the wager is a push. If neither player hand wins, the player loses the wager. The banker gains the advantage by winning when both hands exactly tie. As a result, no commission is necessary and all payouts are even money.
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Top hand = 2 |
| Bottom hand = 6 |
