Pai Gow Poker is a card game based on the popular gambling game of Chinese dominoes. Unlike your usual Poker game, the players try to win against the banker and not each other.
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This card game is played not with the usual 32 dominoes of the Chinese game but with a 52-card deck and a joker card.
It was invented by an American card club owner, Sam Torosian, in 1985. Since then, the game of Pai Gow has become quite popular across casinos. It’s played with up to six players. You’ll often find it being played alongside three-card Poker and Blackjack.
The game begins with six players around a table and the dealer. Every player places a bet. Then each player is dealt seven cards.
The game’s object is simple: to defeat the banker (or the dealer) with two Poker hands.
The banker can be the dealer, it can be another player at the table, or it can be a team between the dealer and another player. In other words, if you are the banker, then you’ll be playing against the other players, and they’ll be playing against you.
After the cards have been dealt, every player splits their hand into two Poker hands:
To win, your higher hand needs to beat your lower hand. For instance, if the low hand is a pair of fours, your high hand must be higher ranked than the pair.
After every player has set their hands, the dealer reveals them and the banker’s hands. At this showdown stage, the game of Pai Gow could go three ways:
What happens if both of you and the dealer have the same high hand? The dealer wins.
The dealing in a game of Pai Gow is unique. After shuffling the cards, the dealer puts them in seven piles (face-down) with seven cards each. Each pile is for one player and the dealer. Four extra cards are sent to the discard pile.
The seats are numbered 1 to 7, starting with the banker. Then a random number is chosen to determine who gets the cards first. The dealer then distributes the cards in counter-clockwise order.
You could ask the dealer to help you set your hand if you’re unsure how. In most casinos, the dealer is allowed to help out.
In setting the hand and ranking a player’s hand, you consider the Poker hand ranks. It means three of a kind, straight flush, two pair, high pairs, full house, four of a kind, and Royal Flush are all legal hands in Pai Gow. But make sure to check whether the wheel (a straight hand with A-2-3-4-5) is ranked second among straights after the Broadway (10-J-Q-K-A.) Some venues have such a rule.
Also, note that you can only use the joker to complete a straight or a flush. If you don’t have either of these options, the joker can also be the ace. But always check with your casino for their rules.
If the player can’t come up with a pair or a better hand with their cards, then it’s a Pai Gow. In other words, it’s a ‘non-hand’. For instance, if the dealer dealt you Q-7-9-2-3-5-6, it’s a Pai Gow.
After you’ve set your hand, the dealer reveals the cards in the ‘house way’. It is a card arrangement that’s the rule at the venue. Every casino or card club will have its own house way.
It means that there’s a process to how house dealers must set their cards, which can help a player with their strategy.
If a player is a dealer, they can set their hand in any way they like. But if the casino is the dealer, then the hands must be set according to the game’s rules.
If the hand is set incorrectly, then it’s a foul. The hand can either be forfeited or reset depending on the casino rules.
At many casinos, you can play Pai Gow Poker with side bets. You can bet extra if you get a full house, royal flush, three of a kind, or straight flush, etc. The higher hand gets the more the payout will be. This side bet doesn’t take away from your original bet, but it adds to it.
Success at Pai Gow depends mostly on the cards that are dealt. There is, however, some skill involved in setting your hand to win over the dealer’s hand. You may end up with cards that can be played in many different ways, with different outcomes. You’d have to choose the hands with the greatest chances of winning.
For instance, a player is dealt 10, K, 9, K, Q, 9, J. The player can set the hand like:
In this case, the bottom option would give the player the highest chances of winning.
Go with your gut feeling and personal preference to try and win at Pai Gow at the end of the day. The dealer can help you clear up any confusion about your hand.
READ MORE: Video Poker Tips
Pai Gow Poker has caught on in casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere in the past few decades. As with most card games, Pai Gow has developed several variants. Once you understand the fundamentals of basic Pai Gow and can play some practice games, you’ll begin to see the fun and straightforward entertainment that comes with this type of casino online singapore.
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