Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow is a Chinese gambling game played with dominoes and it is played outside of its native country, China, also in the USA and in Australia.

The basic idea behind the game was transferred into a game with cards and so the variety called Pai Gow Poker was developed, which is played especially popular in Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

Pai Gow Poker was first introduced in 1986 in Las Vegas as an adaptation of Pai Gow; the complicated ranking of the domino-combinations was replaced by the common system of the poker-hands.

In one game of Pai Gow Poker up to seven players may participate; one player will bet he banker and the remaining ones are playing against him (or her). The dealer shuffles the cards and distributes them among the players – everyone will receive seven face-down cards. In order to determine who will receive the first card – very often a strategy is used (just like in a domino game), namely rolling a dice.

Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker Rules
Pai Gow Poker Tips and Strategy

Pay gow poker


Every player as well as the banker splits up his cards into two groups :

• one high hand or back hand, consisting of five cards and

• one low hand or front hand, consisting of two cards.

The ranking of the high hands basically follows the usual order of the poker-combinations, with one difference (see below).

The ranking of the low hands follows in descending order:

• Pairs: A, K, Q, J, 10s, ...- 2s

• No pair: A-K, A-Q, A-J,....A-2, K-Q, K-J,...3-2

In the ranking of the low hands there are no straights or flushes: consecutive cards or cards of the same color will not be valued separately. The low hand must have a lower rank (or value) than the high hand, for instance, you cannot take two Kings for your low hand and take a combination of two eights for your high hand.

The additional rules follow those of the domino:

When all players have finished their arrangements, and have put the cards face-down onto the appropriate spots on the table, the dealer will reveal his cards and the players will receive their winnings and the loosing wagers will be collected.

Every player plays for him-/herself against the banker. In order to win, a player has to have a higher-value in his high hand and low hand cards than the banker. If the player wins, he will receive a payout of 1:1. Note that the winner pays a tax of 5% to the bank.

If the player wins with only one hand whereas the other hand will be hit by the banker, a so-called push occurs, which means that the game remains undecided.

If the banker is able to hit both hands of the player – he must also pay a 5% tax.

The players have the right to play two coups in a row as the banker, then the player to the right of the banker has the opportunity to become the banker. Of course, the banker might decide to change after only coup.

Features of Pai Gow Poker

The playing cards

Pai Gow Poker is played with a deck of 53 cards (52 French playing cards and one joker).

In this game the joker is called “the bug” and is used only in order to complete a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush or it is used as an ace.

Poker combinations

Out of the fact that you can use a joker as an ace, you have the possibility to hold five aces; this is the most valuable combination.

The ranking of the straights and the straight flushes differs from the usual order: the highest straight is A-K-Q-J-10, the second highest is 5-4-3-2-A and the third highest is K-Q-J-10-J; the additional straights follow their usual order. This means that the decision will be made upon the rank of the highest card.

Playing Pai Gow Poker Online

Although Pai Gow Poker is not as well-known as other gambling games; it has become more and more popular in the last couple of years. A number of Online Casinos already have Pai Gow Poker in their repertoire. If you have always wanted to try playing Pai Gow Poker, playing the Online version is not only the best opportunity to get yourself familiar with the game but it also nice because you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own apartment. Usually, the rules for Online Pai Gow Poker are the same. Some Online Casinos even offer you the chance to play Pai Gow Poker for free. This is an excellent opportunity to hone your skills or if you are a beginner, you can get yourself familiar with this exciting and entertaining game, without risking your money.

The following definitions are important, especially if you are playing Online Pai Gow Poker.

Jetons/Chips: There are jetons worth $1, $5, $10, $25, and $100 which appear on the table. If you are clicking once on the jetons the value of the symbol next to cursor changes and if you double-click on the jetons, they will be placed automatically into the betting circle.

Betting circle: Click left and the chips will be placed into the circle, click right and the chips will be removed.

Deal: It starts the game and distributes seven face-up cards to each player and seven face-down cards to the dealer. The “Deal” button is not activated until at least the minimum wager is chosen.

Clear: It removes all chips/jetons from the betting circle and the money will be credited to your account.

Re-Bet: Places the same amount of chips into the betting circle as in the previous game.

House Way: Distributes the hand of the player automatically according to the terms of the Casino which apply for the hand of the dealer.

Done: As soon as the player is satisfied with the grouping of his hands, he should click on “Done”. Afterwards, the dealer’s cards will be displayed and the bet will be deucted. “Done” will not appear as long as the player has not put two cards into the “2nd highest” spot.

New Game: The cards on the table will be removed and the “Deal” and “Re-Bet” buttons will appear again. Just place your wagers and click on “Deal” in order to play another game.



Sitemap