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Casino content | Poker content | Gambling suppliers | Strategy content | Betting content | Other content- Tips on winning in Pai Gow
- The Payout
- The House Edge
- Dos and Don’ts in Poker
- Pai Gow Poker Hand Rankings
- Learn Pai Gow Poker
- Tips When Playing Pai Gow Poker
- All about Pai Gow Game
- Pai Gow rules
- Additional Pai Gow rules
- The history of pai gow
- Texas Holdem Poker
- Advanced Pai Gow Poker Strategy
- Master Pai Gow Poker
Pai-Gow Rules
Pai-Gow poker is a variation of poker, played with standard playing cards, and the Pai Gow rules are a little bit different.. The kicker here is that a Joker is included.
A Pai-Gow Poker table has six players' seats and a dealer. The set up is very similar to a Blackjack table, almost exactly the same. This game requires that the player play two hands, one hand of two cards, and a second hand of five cards. The goal of Pai-Gow Poker is to beat the banker's two hands.
The player's high hand is displayed closest to the space in front of them, while the 2nd highest or low two-card hand is placed on top of the high hand towards the dealer. A marker is set in front of the banker.
Pai-Gow play starts by placing two bets of equal size. Then, in a counterclockwise order, the dealer shuffles and deals seven hands of seven cards face down, which equals 49 cards; therefore, 4 are left in the deck. A dice throw from a cup containing three dice determines who will be the receiver of the first hand. After all the players receive their seven cards face down, they must form two hands.
The two poker hands are formed from one high hand made up of five cards and one low hand containing two cards. Based on poker rankings the highest five-card hand consists of five aces and the highest two-card hand consists of two aces. The cards in Pai-Gow Poker are ranked like usual poker hands with one exception. In Pai-Gow, one Joker is included in the deck and can be played as an Ace or the high card to finish a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush.
The five-card hand is ranked the same way it is in poker, with the exception that an A - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 straight is the second highest straight. The two-card hand will either be a pair or two individual cards. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces and the lowest is a 2 - 3.
All players play against the banker. He could be the dealer, or a player putting up the required funds. Remember, in order to win your bet you must win both hands. The rules as to how many times a player can act as banker varies between casinos. Usually, the dealer will ask each player in turn if they wish to be the banker. The same player cannot bank two consecutive hands. If you don't want to bank you simply refuse the offer. There is a player advantage if the casino allows you to be banker every second or third hand. In casinos, the banker must have sufficient chips to cover all the other players' wagers. Some books say that at some casinos the banker may co-bank with the house edge, in that case the house is a 50% partner in the dealer's hand, however we have never seen any casino that offers this option. Learn Pai Gow Poker and Check out the paigow tips when playing pai gow poker
Once all hands are set, the dealer will compare the player's hand rank with banker's hand for payouts.