Chinese Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker basics

Introduction To Pai Gow: The Chinese Version of Poker

This game is probably close to universally accepted as being the best game for a beginner to cut their teeth on, the advanced player will eventually want to branch out and learn other card games. Some obvious choices for branching out include Omaha, Seven Card Stud and their Hi/Lo and lowball counterparts, but a game that people do not talk about that much is Chinese Poker.

It is rather unfortunate that not that many people know how to play Chinese Poker because as a game it is one of the most challenging card games on the face of the planet.

The Basic Premise of Pai Gow

The basic premise of Chinese Poker is that you are dealt 13 cards and play against the person sitting across from you. You can play the game with two or four players, but the best Chinese Poker games are played with four so that the adversarial relationships can be switched around as the game goes on.

With the 13 cards that you are dealt, you need to make one hand of three cards and two hands of five cards. These are known as the front, middle and back hands respectively.

There are not that many restrictions in making these hands, but you do need to make sure in the hand construction that the front hand is smaller than the middle hand and the middle hand is smaller than the back hand. If you are not familiar with Pai Gow Poker you will recognize this stipulation as a running theme through all versions of Oriental poker games.

Once you have set your hands, you compare them to your opponents and score a point for each hand of yours that is higher than your opponents. A clean sweep would score 3 points, a win on two of the hands and a loss on the other would score 1 point and of course you can also lose 1 and lose 3 points to your opponent if the opposite scenarios take place.

Over the course of the game the point differential will switch based on each new hand and at the end of the game the loser is required to pay the winner an amount of money equivalent to the point differential multiplied by whatever monetary value had been attached to each point at the start of the game.

Advantages of Chinese Poker

The main advantage of the game is that there are not a lot of casino players that know how to play chinese poker. For this reason if you are able to get really good at the game you can easily beat other players and win money from them.

For the people that enjoy the challenge, chinese poker also allows for exercising your critical thinking skills on a large level that dwarfs Texas HoldEm or any of the other currently popular poker variants and that in turn means that you get a lot more out of the challenge if you are the type of person that enjoys it.

Pai Gow Poker Rules

Pai-Gow Poker – Have Fun & Win!

Pai gow poker is one of the easiest games to play, and is one of the fastest growing casino games today, its fun and the casino edge when you are the banker is just 1%, making it a good game to win big pots!

Pai-Gow Poker played, using a 53-card deck made up from the standard deck of 52 cards plus a Joker.

To play the dealer will deal seven cards to each player (face up); which must then be “set” two hands are compared with the dealer’s two hands (dealt face down). A comparison of the hands will then determine the winner.

The Rules of Pai-Gow Poker

  1. The first hand of 5 cards must rank higher than the hand of 2 cards.
  2. The hands are ranked according to standard poker rules (chart below).
  3. The Joker can only be used to complete straights or flushes, otherwise it counts as an Ace.
  4. Dealer wins any tie hands.

When the Player wins:

  • The player wins if both the 5-card and the 2-card poker hand outrank the dealer’s hand.

When the Player loses:

  • The player loses if both the 5-card and the 2-card poker hand are outranked by the dealer’s hand.
  • The player also loses if the dealer’s hand outranks either of the two hands and the other hand is identical.

There is a Tie (called a “push”) – When the player wins one hand and the dealer wins the other.

How the Hands/Card Values are ranked

The hands are ranked according to standard poker rules with one exception: the Ace-2-3-4-5 straight is the second highest straight.

Straights rank, from highest to lowest: Ace-K-Q-J-10, Ace-2-3-4-5, K-Q-J-10-9 ? 6-5-4-3-2.

Hand Name Description Example

Five of a Kind 4 aces plus the Joker AS, AH, AD, AC, Joker

Royal Flush 10, J, Q, K, A of same suit 10H, JH, QH, KH, AH

Straight Flush Sequentially, 5 cards same suit 3S, 4S, 5S, 6S, 7S

Four of a Kind 4 cards of same rank 6D, 6S, 6C, 6H

Full House 3 of a kind, plus a pair 2H, 2D, 2S, 3H, 3S

Flush 5 cards of same suit 2D, 4D, 6D, 8D, 9D,

Straight 5 cards in sequence 3H, 4C, 5H, 6S, 7D

Three of a Kind 3 cards of same rank 7H, 7S, 7D

Two Pair 2 pairs of different rank 4H, 4S, 6D, 6S One Pair 1 pair (2 cards) of same rank KD, KH High Card 5 cards of different ranks and suits AH, KS, 10D, 5C, 2C

Pai Gow Tips to win

Here are three tips to help you win.

1. Bank!

When playing Pai Gow poker, bank any time you get the opportunity. The bank wins when hands are copied, which pus odds 1% – 2% in favor of the banker. This is the major way players get the odds in their favor.

Keep in mind the banker must be able to cover the wagers of all other players at the table. For this reason, many players avoid it as they have insufficient.

Find out if the casino allows players to do banking, which will lower the potential cost of a failed hand as banker.

To lower the negative expectation to zero, it is best to bet as much as possible when banking, and as little as possible when not banking.

It is best to bet 6 – 14 times when you bank than when you’re not the banker. In the long term, this evens up the odds in your favor.

Online casinos often limit the amount of hands one player can bank. Banker duties are given in turn around the table.

If a player declines to bank, the opportunity is offered to the next player in sequence. It is best to find a table with no other players and a dealer. By doing this you can bank 1 in 2 hands.

2. Never Play a Full House

A full house should never be played as the upper hand. This will leave a simple high card for the forward hand, which means the player will almost certainly push.

The odds are better to play a three of a kind as the behind hand, with a two of a kind for the forward hand. This will increase your chance of winning considerably

3. Playing 3 Pairs

When a player acquires three pairs, play the highest pair in two card hand.

Any two pairs give a player a good chance to win the five card hand, so it is better to play the highest pair alone, this increases the players chances of beating any potential pair the dealer might play.

If you have six cards to a flush, the odds favor playing the lowest high card for that flush. This means the player saves a higher card to play in the two card hand.

Discover Pai Gow Poker

It’s a fun and easy to play game and the odds against you at 1% as the banker make it attractive. Although its been around for years has started to gain popularity, so discover it for yourself and enjoy it!

Pai Gow Poker Strategy

A good Pai Gow Poker strategy

For playing the perfect game you have to learn the strategies for playing Pai Gow. Setting both two card and five card hand is the basic strategy. Knowing the game well is another part of the strategies. Playing pre-pay commission games, entering with dragon hands, and making high bids as banker are some of the time tested strategies for good gains.

If you wish to play the perfect game of Pai Gow with maximum success rate then you will have to take care of well planned strategies for playing Pai Gow. Especially the hand setting strategy is most important for your Pai Gow Games. If you have a good strategy, it will help you in 95% of the situations. There will of course be at least 5% unpredictable situations.

Even in those cases your game will be near perfect. Setting the Front 2 and Back 5 referring to the two cards and five card settings in Pai Gow has optimum importance for achieving your desired goal.

Basically Pai Gow poker game is a variation of ancient Chinese domino game with the identical name. The common name for this version of poker is Pai Gow. A 53 card deck consisting of the 52 traditional cards and one joker is used for the game. The format is one on one. Every player or the players are pitted against the banker.

The players compete to form the best possible hand. However, there are a lot of ties and the game progresses at slow pace. Therefore one of the best strategies for the game is to make a modest buy that could last you for quite a long duration.

Need to know the rules

In making your strategies you have to conversant with the rules of the game. A wager commences the game. Thereafter every baiter gets seven cards. Either a roll of the dice or computer generated numbers determines who will receive the first card set. The seven cards are split into sets of 2 cards and 5 cards separately called the low and high hand respectively.

Ranking goes by poker. However, most of the online casinos treat the sequence of A-2-3-4-5 as the second highest straight captioned the “Wheel”. Two card rankings are that a pair will beat a couple of singleton cards. The pairs are ranked according to poker rules with the two Aces topping the list. Similarly the hand with 3-2 is the lowest hand.

Once the hands are fixed, the banker turns on the game with the “house way” rules. Remember if both your hands are inferior to the corresponding hands of the banker than you will lose the entire wager. However, if you win both hands then you earn the wager and 5% commission is taken out of it. But if you pre-pay the commission betting say $105 to win the wager of $100 you will be gainer. It will effectively lower the commission rate from 5% to 4.75%.

Another strategic move is to see that your two card hand does not become higher than the five card hand. In such cases your hands will be considered foul and you lose on both counts.

Making your strategy also requires knowing exactly how to use the joker. It can used to complete a straight, flush or the straight flush. In all other cases it is treated as an Ace. In flush it is treated as the highest unused card. Sometimes the casinos have the dealer deal “dragon” hands when there are some empty seats. A player may opt to assume the dragon hand thus playing two positions instead of one.

However, the most important strategy for improving your chances in the game is your bet as a banker. Higher the bet you make, the greater is the chances of your win. Another important factor is your card arrangement. The house way is the safest of the strategies and requires little improvement.

Pai Gow Winning Strategy

How to win in Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow is yet another variation of classic poker that grew into form during the 20th century and became very popular since the introduction of online casinos. Find out why below!

This game uses a 53 deck of cards that includes one joker that serves as a wild card. Although the game features a wild card, it should be noted that it may only be used as an ace and also only in order to create certain hands, that is straight, flush or straight flush. In the game of Pai Gow Poker, first of all bets are placed. Then, each player receives seven cards.

In the game of online Pai Gow Poker the player plays against the dealer and not against other players. The idea of the game is that players need to create two separate hands of two and five, out of the seven cards dealt. The five card hand must be a stronger hand than the two card hand.

The dealer’s seven cards are then revealed and following this, two hands created accordingly. The player’s hands are then compared with the corresponding hands of the dealer.

Ways to Win at Pai Gow Poker

In most online and onsite casinos, Ace, 2, 3, 4 and 5 is considered to be the second highest straight is Pai Gow Poker. In addition, it should be noted that in Pai Gow Poker, the highest possible two card hand consists of two aces.

Newcomers to the Pai Gow Poker game first need to learn which situations will provide a win for the player. In the eventuality of the player winning both hands, then the player will be the winner. If the dealer and the player each win one hand then no money is won as this is a tie, known as a ‘push’.

If the player wins just one hand, then this also becomes a push. The player’s wager will be lost in the case where the player’ hands are both inferior to those of the dealer.

Bearing in mind, that in order to win the player needs to win both hands, it is therefore necessary to pay close attention to both hands. In general, some Pai Gow Poker experts would recommend trying to create the highest possible two card hand, while making sure that the five card hand is still higher.

Free Pai Gow Poker Games

Before beginning to play Pai Gow Poker for real money, it is worthwhile to read rules and instructions regarding the game. A bit of Pai Gow knowledge can certainly cause no harm. There are also players who take advantage of the free Pai Gow Poker games available at the best online casinos, in order to learn more about the game or to improve their skills. This is an excellent way in which to gain experience at the game before placing money on the table.

Pai Gow Strategy

Pai Gow poker strategies

Learn to play Pai Gow poker! A chinese version of poker with promises to win! Learn it down Below!

For playing the perfect game you have to learn the strategies for playing Pai Gow Poker. Setting both two card and five card hand is the basic strategy. Knowing the game well is another part of the strategies. Playing pre-pay commission games, entering with dragon hands, and making high bids as banker are some of the time tested strategies for good gains.

If you wish to play the perfect game of Pai Gow with maximum success rate then you will have to take care of well planned strategies for playing Pai Gow. Especially the hand setting strategy is most important for your Pai Gow Games.

If you have a good strategy, it will help you in 95% of the situations. There will of course be at least 5% unpredictable situations. Even in those cases your game will be near perfect. Setting the Front 2 and Back 5 referring to the two cards and five card settings in Pai Gow has optimum importance for achieving your desired goal.

Basically Pai Gow poker game is a variation of ancient Chinese domino game with the identical name. The common name for this version of poker is Pai Gow. A 53 card deck consisting of the 52 traditional cards and one joker is used for the game. The format is one on one. Every player or the players are pitted against the banker.

The players compete to form the best possible hand. However, there are a lot of ties and the game progresses at slow pace. Therefore one of the best strategies for the game is to make a modest buy that could last you for quite a long duration.

Strategies For Playing Pai Gow Poker

In making your strategies you have to conversant with the rules of the game. A wager commences the game. Thereafter every baiter gets seven cards. Either a roll of the dice or computer generated numbers determines who will receive the first card set. The seven cards are split into sets of 2 cards and 5 cards separately called the low and high hand respectively.

Ranking goes by poker. However, most of the online casinos treat the sequence of A-2-3-4-5 as the second highest straight captioned the “Wheel”. Two card rankings are that a pair will beat a couple of singleton cards. The pairs are ranked according to poker rules with the two Aces topping the list. Similarly the hand with 3-2 is the lowest hand.

Once the hands are fixed, the banker turns on the game with the “house way” rules. Remember if both your hands are inferior to the corresponding hands of the banker than you will lose the entire wager. However, if you win both hands then you earn the wager and 5% commission is taken out of it. But if you pre-pay the commission betting say $105 to win the wager of $100 you will be gainer. It will effectively lower the commission rate from 5% to 4.75%.

Another strategic move is to see that your two card hand does not become higher than the five card hand. In such cases your hands will be considered foul and you lose on both counts.

Making your strategy also requires knowing exactly how to use the joker. It can used to complete a straight, flush or the straight flush. In all other cases it is treated as an Ace. In flush it is treated as the highest unused card. Sometimes the online and onsite casinos have the dealer deal “dragon” hands when there are some empty seats. A player may opt to assume the dragon hand thus playing two positions instead of one.

However, the most important strategy for improving your chances in the game is your bet as a banker. Higher the bet you make, the greater is the chances of your win. Another important factor is your card arrangement. The house way is the safest of the strategies and requires little improvement.

How to Play Pai Gow

A combination of ancient Chinese format of Pai Gow and the modern poker games, Pai Gow is exciting and interesting. To succeed you must know how to play Pai Gow. Your job is setting the 7 cards in 5-card high and 2-card low hand and the aim is to beat corresponding hands with the dealer. The sequences are unique as well in Pai Gow.

Pai Gow offers a very interesting form of the Poker games. However to experience the full excitement and pleasure of the game you should know how to play Pai Gow. The game starts with distribution of 7 cards for each betting area by the dealer irrespective of absence of the player.

The seven cards distributed are divided into two parts, one with two cards making the low hand, and the other with five cards making the high hand. One of the players on option, or the dealer by default becomes the bank. If someone opts to become banks he or she must have enough chips to meet all the wagers made. Thereafter the game moves on around the banker’s hands that form the center point of the game.

The rules

Set principles of the game are that each player at the table is responsible for his or her hand settings. Only the dealer can touch the cards of any of the players and none else. Each of the players is also required to keep all the seven cards in full view of the dealer all the time.

After setting their respective high and low hands the players will put them face down on their respective allotted areas in the table. After than he or she will not touch the cards again. The rule is different for the dealer. He or she will set the hands using a set of well defined rules captioned “the house way”.

You can have a copy of these rules whenever you play Pai Gow teaching you how to play Pai Gow.

Location of dealing the first card is decided on randomized numbers generated by the computer. When the shaker and dice is used in Pai Gow, it is the dealer cum banker or any other player who is the banker will be counted as 1, 8 or 15.

The counting goes counter clockwise starting from the dealer or the banker completing the round up of the whole dice. This marks the beginning of the dealing process. Remember that all the bets have to be made before the dealer announces “no more bets” in the game.

Need good skills

You require quite a good deal of skills to achieve success in the Pai Gow poker. It could be considered as a combination of the old time Chinese Pai Gow and the modern game of Poker. Incidentally, Chinese Pai Gow meant “makes mine”. However there is a major difference from the traditional game of poker here.

In Pai Gow the player is pitted directly against the dealer. You have to set the seven cards in a specific manner. Your five card hand must show a higher value than your two card hand. At the same time both your high and low hands should have greater values in comparison to the corresponding hands of the dealer.

53 cards constitute the deck in the game of Pai Gow. This includes the standard 52 cards and a joker. The Joker has multiple uses and can replicate any card excepting as the fourth Ace when you already have three. Advantage of playing in online casino is that you can ask for advices on arranging your hands or you can arrange them all by yourself.

While you have the standard poker values for the cards in your hand, the sole aim is to beat both hands held by the dealer. In that case you will get even money minus 5% commission to be taken by the dealer.

The sequences are a bit unique in the game. A-2-3-4-5 will beat K-Q-J-10-9 but lose to A-K-Q-J-10.