How to play Pai Gow Poker

Play Pai Gow Poker Online

• How to Play
• Strategy
• Tips
• Background
• Glossary

Pai Gow is an Asian traditional game that is played with Domino-like tiles. The fusion version of Pai Gow and Poker is a widely appreciated game in America where it is played with standard playing cards from a 52 card deck. The ranking and hands are fashioned after Poker and it’s a simple game that requires quick thinking and skill.

Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck and one joker, a total of 53 cards. The joker is a wild card that can be used to form paying hands – straight, flush or straight flush. The player plays against the dealer in this game. The casino collects a five percent commission on all winning bets. To start off, the player makes a minimum bet of 2 and a maximum bet of 250. The cards are shuffled and seven cards each are dealt to the dealer and the player. The computer automatically sets the cards according to the best possible hand. The player has to take a look at the cards and then split them into two hands – a five card hand (Back Hand) and a two card hand (Front Hand). The dealer does the same to his cards.

Once the player splits their cards, the dealer’s cards are shown and who ever has the best five card hand and the best two card hand, wins. If the player gets the better five card hand but the dealer gets the better two card hand, the game results in a push. In short, if both hands – the player’s or the dealer’s, are better than the other’s then only there’s a win. If the player’s hand has the exact same value as the Banker's hand it is a tie, or a copy and the Banker wins. Before you split your cards, remember that the five card hand must be of a higher value than the two card hand.
Take a look at a typical example of what cards you get and how you should split them:

Let’s say you have the following cards: 7, 5, A, 7, 7, 3, Q

The dealer will straightaway arrange it as 7, 7, 7, A, Q, 5, 3, putting the best cards forward. Once that combination is reached, you have to split the hand into a five card hand and a two card hand.

Split them into 7, 7, 7, 5, 3 and A, Q. Here in your five card hand, you have a three of a kind hand. The two card hand is also b because you have two high value cards. The value of the five card hand is more than the two card hand.

Additional Rules

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