Pai Gow Poker has become one of the most popular casino table games. It involves the player competing against the banker to make the better low and high hand than the house. This is a slow-paced, relaxing game. The low number of hands dealt per hour and the number of. Pai gow poker has got a small but very dedicated following. Many online casinos offer players the chance to play this poker/pai gow hybrid. The game combines the fun styles and strategies of two classic gambling games to create a wonderful experience. If you would like to learn more about playing pai gow poker online, keep reading our game guide. Pai Gow is but one of the popular online casino games. We’ve googled the most popular casino games and decided to list them and link to resources you can read more about each game itself. Use this page to find quality information about all the major casino games you can play live and online.

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Pai Gow poker is an American card game based on the Chinese domino game, Pai Gow. The major difference in the two games is Pai Gow poker is resolves using cards and not dominoes. The game was invented in 1985 by Sam Torosian and Fred Wolf. Sam Torosian owned a casino in Southern California, but his lawyer told him card games could not be patented. When other casinos began copying the game, they did not have to pay Mr. Torosian and his associate. Fred Wolf, who was a manager at a Los Angeles casino in the 1980s, also receives credit for helping the early development of the game, along with Super Pan-9.

These days, Pai Gow poker is a favorite with gamblers who are risk-averse. A hand of Pai Gow poker plays out fairly slowly. Also, the game has many pushes, where the casino and the player tie and no bets are paid either way. While players can go on nice streaks and can have requisite bad luck, these game mechanics mean players (usually) can play long sessions without losing all their money.

Deck Size

The deck used in Pai Gow poker includes 53 cards. The cards comprising this deck are the standard 52-card poker deck, along with one joker. Seven players can sit at the table at any given time. Seven cards are dealt to each player, so 49 active cards are dealt each hand, while 4 cards are burnt or go in the discard pile. If the table doesn’t have the full seven player compliment, then seven cards are dealt to the empty seat as if a player was sitting there, then moved to the discard pile by the dealer. In some California casinos, a “dragon hand” is dealt to the empty seat or seats. When using the dragon hand rules, players have the option to take on the betting action for this hand, in order of betting for that round.

Two Hands in One

In a hand of Pai Gow poker, everyone is dealt 7 cards. With these cards, the player must make a 5-card hand and a 2-card hand. An equal size bet is made on the outcome of both hands, so the player must pay attention to both results. The only stipulation binding the player’s decision is the need for the 5-card hand to outrank the 2-card hand. So you couldn’t make the two-card hand as an ace-ace hand and the five-card hand a jack-jack-8-4-2 combination, for example.

Banker

Goofy Dudes Playing Pai Gow

The game uses a banker, somewhat like baccarat does. The banker is determined by rotation of banking duties clockwise around the table. When a session begins, the first banker is determined by some random means, either through dice rolls or an electronically generated number. Betting starts from position 1 to position 7. The banker for that particular hand is always considered position 1 for betting purposes.

All tied hands go to the banker, which provides this gambler with a house edge on the hands they bank. Readers should not confuse tied hands with pushes, because pushing works differently in Pai Gow poker. An example of a tied hand would be the banker and a player each receiving a pair of queens. In this case, the banker would win the hand. A push happens when a player win one hand and the banker wins the other. For example, if the player won the 5-card hand and the banker won the 2-card hand, this would be considered a push and no money would exchange hands. For a player to win money, he or she would have to win both the five-card and two-card hand. The same would go for the banker, though the banker would win any hands that are tied (example: each holding Q-Q).

When the banker wins money, the casino receives a 5% commission. Players used to other games might find this to be an extravagant amount to receive in commission, but keep in mind this game has many pushes. Because a significant number of hands won’t have money changing hands (or has the banker losing), the commission won’t come into effect nearly as often as other games. When a player plays the role of the banker, no stipulations regulate how they build their hands (besides the standard rules of the game). Players who don’t want to have to cover all the bets made at the table have the option to co-bank with the casino. In these cases, the player must build hands according to the “house way”.

Dealer-Banked Games

Some casinos stipulate that the house will bank games. In this case, the dealer builds hands in the house way. This is a prearranged set of rules which stipulates exactly how the casino’s hand must be built, much like the hit/stand rules in blackjack or the banker rules in baccarat.

Strategy Suggestions

As a general rule, a player should set the highest 2-card hand possible. Keep in mind the results of the two-card hand count as much towards winning the wagers as the five-card hand, therefore those two cards have an added weight in comparison to the five cards in the other hand. Certain situations dictate this general rule shouldn’t be followed. Tables exist which gives detailed basic strategy instructions for playing hands, but these can be complicated from the perspective of many new gamblers.

If you have trouble figuring out which way to play your cards, you always have the option to have your hands played the house way. While this doesn’t assure optimal play, most sets of dealer rules optimize to a great degree the cards’ advantage.

House Edge

The house edge if you play using simplified basic strategy rules is 2.47%. If you play using the more complicated strategies, the house edge is lowered to 2.26%. Few people ever learn the more complicated tactical suggestions, due to their complex nature. Most gamblers dedicated enough to learn complicated instructions for play would prefer to play blackjack or video poker, which have a lower house edge.

Online Pai Gow Poker

Most online casino on the Internet offer Pai Gow poker. The rules of the virtual versions of the game different from one software company to the next, but adhere fairly closely to the rules stipulated above.

• Be the banker: When you play Pai Gow, try to be banker whenever you have the opportunity. When hands are duplicated, the bank wins and the odds are moved between 1% and 2% in favor of the banker. It should be noted, however, that bankers need a bank roll large enough to cover the bets of all participants at the table.

When you’re the banker, you should bet as much as possible, and in turn, bet as little as possible when you’re not the banker. There may be some short-term losses are made in the long term.

Most casinos put a limit on the number of hands that a player can play as a banker, and the banker role is passed around the table to another player. Usually, only one or two hands are allowed by banking game. If possible, try to find a table with no other players and one dealer, which results in a player to deposit elsewhere.

• Create the strongest hands of two cards: Players must always remember that the two-card hand (low hand) is as important as the 5 card hand (high hand). New players often forget this rule and rush to create a strong upper hand at the expense of your low hand. It is preferable to finding the right combination to create two strong hands odds of winning both hands. The highest hand, of course, cannot be stronger than the low hand, but this does not mean that the low hand must be completely weak. Remember: If only one party wins, the hand is lost!

Pai Gow Online Casino

• Never play a Full House: A full house should never be played as the high hand.

• How to Play 3 pairs: If a player has three pairs, the highest pair should be placed in the low hand. If a player has six cards to a straight, then the lowest high card should lead the color and the highest card must be played in the low hand.

Pai Gow Online

• Ask for assistance: Pai Gow tables are known for their friendly and relaxed atmosphere and this includes the fact that it is completely acceptable to ask the dealer for help. There should be no shame in asking for help to involve you try to figure out the game. Some casinos even allow teammates to help each other as players are only playing against the dealer and not against each other.