Pai Gow Poker?

Pai Gow Poker is an interesting game that combines standard table poker with an ancient Chinese card game that goes back thousands of years.  This rendition of poker has become a favorite at the online casino.  Most of the top online casinos should have it available to play as part of the software download program or as an instant Flash casino game.  If you enjoy playing online Pai Gow then we suggest you read the following tips in order to learn a few new tips that may help you win a few hands at Pai Gow poker if played properly.  Good luck!


The object of Pai Gow poker is to make two poker hands that beat the dealer's hands. The player receives 7 cards that he makes into a five card hand (high hand) and a two card hand (low hand). The hands are played and ranked as traditional poker hands (with one exception: A2345 is the second highest straight), and the 5 card hand must be higher than the 2 card hand. If both hands are better than the banker's hand, you win, if both lose, you lose, otherwise it's a push. The dealer (i.e. banker) always wins absolute ties (i.e. K Q vs K Q).


The game is played with a 52 cards plus one joker. The joker can be used as an Ace or to complete a flush or straight. The table layout has 7 spots one in front of the dealer and 6 for players.


In Pai Gow poker, there are only a few strategic decisions such as how much to bet and how to set your hand. The simple basic strategy for setting your hand is to make the highest 2-card hand that is less than your five card hand. If you can't figure out what to do, you can show your hand to the dealer and they will tell you how the house would set it. Since pairs generally win the 2-card hands, and two-pair wins the 5-card hands, the only difficult decisions are when to split two pairs. The house rules at the Four Queens were not to split low pairs (<= 6) and not to split pairs <= 10 if there was an Ace high two card hand. So the house would set

    A 10 10 6 6 5 3 =>  A 5 / 10 10 6 6 3
    K Q 10 10 6 6 3 =>  6 6 / 10 10 K Q 3

A ``Pai Gow' is a hand with no pairs, such as Q J / K 7 8 6 2.
Things get a little weird if a player wants to be the bank. To quote from the IP house rules: ``The House Dealer or the player may be the ``BANKER.' The Bank wagers against all players. The bank will alternate between the house and the player (the House Dealer will at least take the bank every other hand). The BANKER will be signified by a white plastic marker. A Bank Player must either cover half or all wagers against him/her. The House will co-bank at 50/50 only at the Bank Player's request. The hand will be set according to house way and the table limit will apply if the House acts as a co-banker. In order to bank, a player must have played the previous hand against the House. The House will wager a sum equal to that player's wager against the house the previous hand. The player may request that a smaller amount be wagered. A Banker must be bank at the same spot of the hand he previously played against the house.'
Pai Gow poker is an easy game to play, and since each hand takes a while to play (dealer has to shuffle for each game) and most hands push, you can make $20 at a $5 table last for quite a while.