Pai Gow Poker House Rules
Pai Gow Poker is a popular online casino table game that you will find at Canadian online casinos and online casinos globally. It is a bit more involved than other table games like blackjack or baccarat but is still relatively simple to learn.
- Pai Gow Poker Online
- Pai Gow Poker House Way Rules
- Rules For Pai Gow Poker
- Pai Gow Poker House Rules
- Rules Of Pai Gow
MGM Grand House Way for Pai Gow Poker Introduction The following is the house way for the MGM Grand. It was taken from a document on the procedures of the game, dated 2002.
Today, you’ll learn the rules of Pai Gow Poker. It only takes a couple of minutes to learn and is particularly suited for those that already know how to play standard poker. Note that these rules apply primarily to playing Pai Gow Poker online. Live versions of the game may have slightly different house rules.
The system of playing pai gow poker. The strategy of forming combinations requires careful study. Let’s understand step by step how to play pai gow poker. The optimal strategy for playing Pai Gow Poker. On specialized foreign sites devoted to Pai Gow Poker, and forums, where fans of the game, you can find a very detailed table of the basic. Games that are currently running are Baccarat, three card poker, ultimate Texas Hold ’Em, Blackjack and Pai Gow. Table with plexiglass separators for each player and the dealer. The Gardens is running with moderated hours from 9:00 am to 2:00 am, closing to be able to deep clean the room, tables and chairs. Pai Gow Poker Rules And Guidelines Then all the players' cards are exposed. The result between the dealer and each player is determined by comparing the player's 5 card hand with the dealer's 5 card hand and the player's 2 card hand with the dealer's 2 card hand: If the player wins both hands the dealer pays out the amount staked by the player. House way pai gow poker is a variation of the game where the dealers’ hand is split according to a pre set rules. The hand can be separated into low pairs, middle pairs and high pairs. Players can also follow this way of splitting their 5 cards and two card hands.
Pai Gow Poker Rules
The object of Pai Gow Poker is to make two poker hands, a five-card poker hand, and a two-card hand. The five-card hand is the “high” hand and the two-card hand is the “low” hand.
The high hand must be higher than the low hand. For example, if your two-card low hand is a pair of tens, then the five-card hand must be a pair of jacks or higher.
The Pai Gow Poker deck is a standard deck of 52 cards with a joker added. The joker is not an automatic wild card. It can be played as follows:
- To complete a straight
- To complete a flush
- When it cannot be used to complete a straight or flush, it plays as an ace only.
Note that this game is best suited for those who already have a basic knowledge of how to play poker. If you are not comfortable making multiple poker hands without help, then this may not be for you.
Playing a Hand of Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is a relatively simple game to play at real money online casinos. After a couple of hands, you’ll get the hang of playing it. Below is how a hand of Pai Gow is played:
- Place a bet on the Bet circle on the table.
- You will be dealt seven cards face up with seven dealt to the dealer face down.
- Pick two cards for your low hand. Remember, this hand must be lower than the high hand. Don’t worry, the online casino software will point out if you’re trying to set a low hand that’s higher than the high hand.
- After selecting the two cards for the low hand, click the button to indicate you’re done.
- The dealer will then show his hand and your hand is compared to his.
- If both your hands win, you will 2 to 1 on your bet minus commission. If you lose both hands, you lose your bet. When a dealer wins one and you win one, the bet is a push.
Note that it is important that you set your hands correctly. Failing to do so will cause you to foul your hand, and this means you will automatically lose. Luckily, online casino software will prevent you from fouling your hand. This warning applies to those playing live Pai Gow Poker.
Understanding Commission
The majority of Pai Gow Poker games that you play will take a commission out of your winnings. Often, this commission is about 5 percent. This is about five cents out of every dollar won. If you bet $5 and win $5, you will actually only receive $4.75 with the house taking the other .25.
Games with no commission have about a 1.3 percent house edge. Games with a commission have about a 2.8 percent house edge, provided that you are playing a solid strategy.
Play Pai Gow Poker at Online Casinos
Pai Gow Poker is very popular at live casinos and that popular has carried over to online casinos. Casino Max is one popular online casino that offers Pai Gow Poker. If you’re lucky, you may even run across Pai Gow Poker games with no commission, although that’s somewhat rare.
Now that you know the rules of Pai Gow Poker, why not try the game out. In a future article, we will provide some basic strategy tips to help you win more when playing Pai Gow Poker.
This page is an introduction to how to play Pai Gow Poker, and it’s also a beginner’s tutorial for Pai Gow Poker strategy. I’ll write additional articles about Pai Gow Poker in the future which will go into more detail about the game and its strategies.
Pai Gow Poker Online
Pai Gow Poker is a poker-based game based on an ancient Chinese domino game called pai gow. The two games have some superficial similarities, but make no mistake, they ARE different games.
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How to Play Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is not a true poker game. Like most casino games, in pai gow poker, you’re playing against the dealer, not against the other players. In a true poker game, you’re not playing against the dealer at all, you’re playing against the other players.
Pai Gow Poker is always played with a 53 card deck–a standard deck of cards with the inclusion of a joker as a wild card. The goal is to beat the dealer by putting together a better hand.
In a game of Pai Gow Poker, everyone is dealt seven cards. Each player then makes two poker hands out these seven cards–a five card hand and a two card hand.
The poker hand rankings that are used in Pai Gow Poker are the standard poker hand rankings explained on this site’s poker strategy page, with one exception–a straight of ace to five is considered the 2nd highest straight possible. (That straight is called a “wheel.”)
The dealer also arranges her hand into a five card hand and a two card hand, but she doesn’t use her judgment when arranging her hands. She uses a set of prescribed rules called “the house way.” (See the similarities to blackjack?)
The player’s goal is to win BOTH hands, in which case she wins even money less a 5% commission.
If the player wins one hand but loses the other, the hand is considered a push, and her bet is returned.
One rule that all Pai Gow Poker players must follow is that when they arrange their hands, they’re forbidden from arranging their two card hand in a way that would make it a better hand than their five card hand. A player who arranges her hands in this way automatically loses; this is considered a “foul.” It’s not cheating, even though it breaks a rule–it’s just a dumb way to lose your money playing Pai Gow Poker.
Another quirk of Pai Gow Poker is that the player has the option of being the banker. If the player opts to be the banker, she needs enough of a bankroll to cover the bets at the table, and she also has to arrange her hands according to the “house way.” But a player can’t opt to bank every hand; the option rotates around the table. Most players don’t choose to be the banker at all anymore.
Pai Gow Poker House Edge
Pai Gow Poker House Way Rules
According to the Wizard of Odds, the house edge for a player who knows how to arrange her cards correctly in a game of Pai Gow Poker is 2.73%. The house edge for the banker is only 0.20%, so it’s a good idea to be the banker when you have the option. If you play the game long enough, and you choose to be the banker every time you get the chance, the overall house edge for the game is only 1.46%, making Pai Gow Poker a pretty good casino game, percentage-wise.
How to Arrange Your Hands in Pai Gow Poker
Rules For Pai Gow Poker
If you want to get the detailed specifics for the correct Pai Gow Poker strategy, find a copy of Stanford Wong’s book Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker. He goes into a lot of detail about the math of each situation and how to make the right decisions.
Another option is to visit Michael Shackleford’s site and just copy the “house way” even when you’re the player. You can find that link, labeled “Wizard of Odds”, in the paragraph before last.
But my preferred approach to Pai Gow Poker strategy is to apply a little bit of thought to each hand. This isn’t the mathematically correct approach every time, but I figure that even if I use perfect strategy, I’m still playing a negative expectation game, so why not?
Pai Gow Poker House Rules
According to Andrew Brisman, author of American Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways, the best you can hope to achieve by playing perfectly at Pai Gow Poker is to shave 0.3% off the house edge. I’m not willing to study hard to gain 0.3% on a game that’s still a negative expectation game, so I’ll just relate the simple strategy for how to arrange your hands in Pai Gow Poker that Brisman shares in his book, and it boils down to a single sentence.
Rules Of Pai Gow
Arrange your hand so that you have the highest possible two card hand possible while still not having a two card hand that’s better than your five card hand.
This makes a lot of sense if you think about it. It doesn’t do you any good to have a full house for your five card hand if your two card hand is going to lose, because you won’t win any money. You’re better off with a three of a kind in your five card hand and a pair in your two card hand, because then you’ve at least got a chance of winning some money.
You shouldn’t arrange your cards in such a way as to almost guarantee a push, in other words.
Like most casino games, there are more nuances and details I could share about Pai Gow Poker, but this is meant to be an introduction to the game and its strategies, so I’ll leave the other details for future articles on the subject.