Objective
The objective of Pai Gow Poker is to split (or set) your seven cards into two hands: a five-card high hand, and a two-card low hand. The cards must be set in such a way that the five-card hand has a higher poker rank than the two-card hand.
Pai Gow Basics
- Pai Gow poker is a variation of the Chinese domino game Pai Gow.
- Pai Gow is played with a 53-card deck: a standard deck of 52 cards and one Joker (the Joker may only be used as an Ace, or to complete a Straight, Flush or Straight Flush).
- Pai Gow is played one on one, the player against the dealer (or banker), each competing to make the best possible hands.
- After placing an initial bet, both player and dealer receive seven cards.
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The player must split the seven cards into a five card high hand and two-card low hand. The high hand must have a higher poker rank than the low hand.
- For example, the player's hand is: 6,7,8,9,10,A,A. The player sets the pair of Aces as the low hand, and 6,7,8,9,10 (Straight) as the high hand. The dealer's hand is: 2,2,2,A,K,4,5. The dealer sets the Ace and King as the low hand, and 2,2,2,4,5 (three of a kind) as the high hand. The player beats both the dealer's high and low hands, thus winning the round.
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The hands are ranked according to standard poker rules, with the exception that an A,2,3,4,5 Straight is the second highest Straight.
- The best low hand is a pair of Aces
- The dealer arranges his hands according to a set of fixed rules (the house way).
- The player's hands are compared with the dealer's hands in order to determine the winner.
- To win, both your high and low hands must have higher poker ranks than the dealer's high and low hands.
- If your two hands beat the dealer's hands, you win an amount equal to your initial bet, minus a 5% commission.
- If both the dealer's hands beat both of your hands, the dealer wins.
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If you win only one of two hands, the game is a push and neither you nor the dealer wins.
- In the event of a push, your bet will be returned.
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If either the high hands or the low hands rank exactly the same, the hands are called copies. The dealer wins all copy hands.
- For example, if you beat the dealer with your high hand but copy the dealer with your low hand, the game is considered a push.
Pai Gow Specifics
Pai Gow Poker Hand Ranks (from highest to lowest)
The only real difference between Pai Gow poker hand ranks and standard poker hand ranks is that a five-Ace hand (four Aces and a Joker) beats a Royal Flush, and is the highest hand in the game.
| Rank |
Hand |
Description |
| 1 |
Five of a Kind |
Four Aces and a Joker |
| 2 |
Royal Flush |
Five consecutive denomination cards of the same suit, starting from 10 and ending with an Ace-10,J,Q,K,A |
| 3 |
Straight Flush |
Five consecutive denomination cards of the same suit |
| 4 |
Four of a Kind |
Four cards of the same denomination |
| 5 |
Full House |
A set of three cards of the same denomination plus a set of two cards of the same denomination |
| 6 |
Flush |
Five non-consecutive denomination cards of the same suit |
| 7 |
Straight |
Five consecutive denomination cards of different suit |
| 8 |
Three of a Kind |
Three cards of the same denomination |
| 9 |
Two Pairs |
Two sets of pairs of the same card denomination |
| 10 |
One Pair |
Two cards of the same denomination |
Table Limits
| Table Limits: |
| Table Type |
Minimum Bet |
Maximum Bet |
| I |
$2 |
$100 |
| II |
$5 |
$200 |
| III |
$25 |
$350 |
General Text Boxes
Message: This indicates whether you are the Player or Dealer.
Opponent: This tells you the name (or nickname) of your current opponent.
Last Round: This tells you how much you have won or lost in the previous round.
Dealer Points: This is your current Dealer Points balance. As Player, you accumulate 1 Dealer Point on every dollar you place as a bet. As Dealer, 1 Dealer Point is deducted for every 1 dollar bet against you.
Fun Balance/Balance: This is your current Fun/Real-Money Balance (in US dollars).
Commission: When playing as Dealer, you pay a commission of 1.75% on the total bets placed against you (when playing as Player you do not pay commissions).
Pai Gow Text Boxes
Bet Labels: These labels appear to the left of your bet and inform you how much money you have placed on the table.
Won/Lost Labels: These labels appear above the cards and indicate whether you have won or lost.
Game Options
Game Chips, $1, $5, $25 and $100: With the game chips, you make your bet on the table by creating a chip tower. To remove chips, place your cursor on the tower and left-click your mouse.
Deal: Once you have placed your bets on the table, click
Deal to deal the cards.
Game Cards: Click on the game cards to select the two cards that you want to set as the low hand. The cards must be set in such a way that the two-card (low) hand has a lower poker rank than the five-card (high) hand.
Split: Once you've made your choice for the low hand, click
Split to separate your hands.
House Way: Click
House Way to have the software automatically set your cards.
Disconnections
Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. Our software has been designed to cope with these disconnections and protect you from unjustified losses.
If you are playing Pai Gow as the Dealer and a disconnection occurs after you have clicked the
Approve button, the play will continue until the Player has finished his turn. This will have no effect on you as the Dealer is played automatically according to the rules of the game (house way).
If you are playing Pai Gow as the Player and the disconnection occurs before you click
Deal, your bet will be returned to your balance. If the disconnection occurs after you click
Deal, the round will continue as if you had decided to split according to the house way.
After connection is re-established, you can enter the History page and see the results of the last round (History is available for Real Money mode only).
Playing as Dealer
Our casino offers you the unique option of playing the role of the Dealer. This option increases your chances of winning, as you gain some of the favorable odds reserved for the Casino. At the end of every round, the Casino takes a commission of 1.75% of the total bets placed against the Dealer.
Example
A Dealer chooses to play in Table II. This means that the Dealer meets the minimum requirements for playing at this type of table: a minimum of 50 Dealer Points and a minimum balance of $60. The system then matches a Player to the Dealer and after the Dealer approves the next round, the Player places his bets on the table. Notice that the view of the table has changed to that of the Dealer's. Let's say that the Player places a bet of $50 and receives 2,3,7,8,K,K,A. The Player sets A,8 as the low hand, and 2,3,7,K,K as the high hand. The Dealer's hand is: A,A,2,3,4,5,6. According to the house way, the Dealer sets the pair of Aces as the low hand, and 2,3,4,5,6 (Straight) as the high hand. The Dealer beats both the Player's high and low hands, thus winning the round. The Player loses his bet and as the bet against the Dealer was $50, the Casino takes a commission of $0.88 (1.75%*50), which means the Dealer wins $49.12 ($50-$0.88) on this round. The Casino's edge in Pai Gow with these rules is approximately 2.9% (bear in mind that this 2.9% is how the Casino makes a profit) so as the Dealer, you actually gain an edge of about 1.4%.
Minimum Dealer Points and Balance
You can play as Dealer once you have accumulated enough Dealer Points and you have enough money in your balance, according to the game's limits.
The minimum balance required is a bit higher than the total winnings of the Player in a a given round. This is calculated as: (Maximum Bet) + 1.75%(Casino commission) * (Maximum Bet).
Game Options
Approve Button/Auto-Approve Feature
When playing as Dealer, before each round commences you must approve the next round. After you approve the round, the Player can place his bets and play. The
Auto-Approve feature allows you to automatically approve the next rounds, without having to approve every round individually.
