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Pai Gow PokerPai Gow is a game of dominoes played by the Chinese. Pai Gow Poker is an Americanized version of this game. It is played with cards that have poker hand values and was created by Fred Wolf and Sam Torosian. The game is played with a standard fifty two card deck and a single Joker. The table is set for six players and each player tries to win against the banker, who is generally the dealer in a casino. |
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Fred Wolf is not only the inventor of
games such a Pai Gow poker and Super
Pan-9, he was also the manager of the
Commerce Casino in the 80’s. He needed
to overcome larger competition from
other casinos and Invented Pai Gow Poker
and Super Pan to overcome this
competition. These games soon became
huge crowd pleasers that spread in the
Californian gambling market and
eventually world-wide. It was a natural
progression for Pai Gow Poker to become
a popular online gaming favorite.
How to play Pai Gow Poker
The objective of this game is for the
player to make two poker hands from
seven cards. The hands should be a five
and two card poker hand. The hand of
five cards must be higher than the value
of the two card hand. Two card hands
consist of one pair and high ranking
cards.
The five Card hand in Pai Gow Poker is
according to standard poker rules, and
any exceptions might be that a king high
straight ranks below the A-2-3-4-5
ranking. But check with your own
particular casino to ses what rules
apply in this instance. The joker is the
“bug”, this means that it may be used to
complete a straight of flush in a five
card hand. In the two card hand of Pai
Gow, the joker substitutes for an Ace.
But check again with your casino,
because sometimes the joker can be
completely wild.
Most casinos charge a flat fee to play
Pai Gow Poker and take a percentage of
the winnings as commission (the rake).
It might appear that this is a little
steep, with some casinos charging as
much as 5%. But this game takes a long
time to play compared to other games so
the house does not collect as often as
it might with games such as Blackjack.
Winning at the Game of Pai Gow
Once each player has separated his hands
and he wins against the banker, he wins.
If only one hand beats the banker, he
pushes and of course if both hand are
losers then he loses. If a hand ties
with the banker, the banker has the
advantage and the player loses. If the
players five card hand is fouled and is
higher than his high hand or has the
wrong number of cards the hand will be
forfeited or re-arranged, according to
the house rules of the casino.
How to Set Hands
In Pai Gow Poker the two card hand is
referred to as the “on top”, “in front”
or “minor” hand. While the five card
hand is the “bottom”, “Behind” or “big”
hand. This is the way the hands are
placed when the player has finished
setting them. The cards are dealt in
seven piles of seven cards each. Four
cards remain unused.
Each betting position is allocated a
number from one to seven, starting with
the banker, counter-clockwise around the
table. The numbers one to seven is
randomly chosen, either with dice or
electronically. The deal commences at
that number and if a player is not
seated at a position on the table the
hand will still be assigned to that
spot, but the cards will be placed on
the discard pile. There are always four
cards in the game that go unused, and
any other unused cards will be placed
with these cards.
In casino banked games of Pai Gow poker,
the banker is usually required to set
their cards. This means that a
pre-specified method or “House way” has
to be adhered to. This is so the dealer
does not implement a strategy to win
against the other players. Players
should attempt to set their two card
hand in such a way as to the highest two
card hand possible.
Online Pai Gow Strategy
Computerized analysis has been conducted
in detail to determine the perfect
strategy for playing Pai Gow Poker. But
learning these strategies requires the
player to memorize huge amounts of
information and this takes all the
pleasure out of the game. Basically all
that is required is to stick to a couple
of rules of thumb. If you are playing
this game and are unsure of how to set
your hand, then you are able to request
that you hand be set in the “house way”.
House strategies are generally as close
as possible to optimal strategy.
The best two card hand in the “minor”
hand that leaves a higher five card hand
behind is not optimal. The best that a
player should look for is an ace high in
front and a medium to high pair behind.
For example if the player only has a
single pair in a hand of A-K-K-8-7-5-3
he can play A-8 and K-K-7-5-3, this rule
will cover approximately 65% of Pai Gow
Poker games.
Obviously there are a great many
different hand combinations in playing
Pai Gow poker. The best possible way to
learn these is by playing and practice.
It is a very entertaining game that
takes a good deal longer to play than
many other casino games.
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