Official Pai Gow Poker Rules

Pai-Gow Poker is a relative new-comer to the casino gaming scene, but is based on the ancient Chinese domino game of the same name. The only major difference is the use of playing cards and poker hands to determine the outcome of the game. Pai-Gow Poker has quickly become a very popular card game because it's fairly simple to learn and has great odds of winning.

The game is played with a regular deck of 52 cards with a Joker will be added as a wild card, and pits 1 to 6 players against the “banker.”

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The banker is normally the casino, but each player will be given the opportunity to act as the banker, covering all the bets of the rest of the players and acting as the house. This is not required, it's strictly optional, but it gives the player a chance to win a lot of money – up to six bets if all your opponents lose.

First, each player will make a wager, which may vary from $5-$25 dollars or more, depending on the table.

Then, the dealer will make 7 hands of 7 cards, and discard the remaining 4 cards unseen. They will roll 3 dice and count around the table until he reaches the number rolled to determine who gets the first hand dealt. Then the remain hands are given out in a counter-clockwise rotation. If this all seems a bit confusing, don't worry – it's all just a formality.

Now, each player will examine their cards and try to make two hands – a small hand of two cards and a big hand of 5 cards. The easiest thing to do is just tell the dealer to set your cards “the house way” – this means the dealer will take your cards and make the best possible hand, just as if they were setting their own hand.

Or, you can set your hand using the following rules:

Each hand must contain a valid poker hand (see table below.)

Five Aces: A-A-A-A-Joker
Royal Flush: 10-J-Q-K-A - all of the same suit.
Straight Flush: 6-7-8-9-10 - five cards in sequence, all of the same suit.
Four of a Kind: 3-3-3-3-6 - four cards of the same number.
Full House: 2-2-2-5-5 - three cards of one number and two of another number.
Flush: 6-Q-5-10-J - five cards all of the same suit.
Straight: 3-4-5-6-7 - five cards in sequence of any suit.
Three of a Kind: 8-8-8-J-10 - three cards of the same number and two extra cards.
Two Pairs: 9-9-5-J-J – two cards of one number and two of another number.
One Pair: 6-6-5-J-A – two cards of the same number.
High Card: A-5-7-9-2 – A single card higher than anyone else's single card.

NOTE 1: The joker is a wild card which can be used only as an ace, or to complete a straight, a flush or a straight flush.

NOTE 2: There are two anomalies in the ranking of hands; Five Aces is one exception: the other is that A-2-3-4-5 is the second highest type of straight or straight flush, ranking between A-K-Q-J-10 and K-Q-J-10-9 .

The big hand must be higher than the small hand.

For example, if your 7 cards were Q-A-10-10-9-8-Q, you could make a your hands look like this: 10-10 / Q-Q-A-9-8, but would not be allowed to make Q-Q / 10-10-A-9-8.

After the players have set their hands (or requested that the dealer set the hand for them,) the dealer will turn up their cards and set them. Then, the dealer will compare each hand to the “bankers” hand (which may be the dealer's hand, or another player who has decided to act as the bank) and gives the win/lose decision as follows:

1. If the player wins both hands the banker pays out the amount staked by the player.
2. If the banker wins one hand and the player wins the other no money changes hands. This is called a "push".
3. If the banker wins both hands the banker wins the player's stake.
4. If either hand is tied, the banker wins that particular hand. So if the banker wins one hand while the other is tied, or if both hands are tied, the dealer wins. If one hand is tied and the player wins the other it is a push (no money changes hands).

The banker pays out the winners, takes all the losing bets, and the deck is re-shuffled for the next round.

That's it for basic Pai-Gow Poker. As you can see, it is a simple game, because you don't even have to set your own cards if you're not comfortable doing that. Also, because you have to lose not one, but two hands before you can lose your bet, you don't lose money as often as in a single-hand game like Blackjack. Finally, your turns at playing the bank gives you a good chance to win a lot of money, since you have an advantage at winning the tied hands, and you stand to collect the bets from 6 other players.

So, what are you waiting for? Take your new-found knowledge over to the Pai-Gow Poker table and try your luck at the newest incarnation of an old game.

 

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