How To Win Pai Gow Poker
The Basics of Pai Gow Poker Objective of the Game. The objective in Pai Gow Poker is for players to assemble hands that are stronger than the dealer in order to beat the house and win the bet with the help of seven cards. The only chance to win is to have both hands of higher value. Make a Side Bet. Depending on the game, there are different types and amounts of side bets you.
- How To Win In Pai Gow Poker
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- How To Win At Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is not your typical game of poker as it combines both poker and Chinese dominoes in the way that it is structured. In order to win at this poker variant, a poker player will have to lower the house edge. Many in the poker community believe that it is essential that the player have some mathematical skills and be able to calculate the house edge and win at Pai Gow Poker.
Here are some tips to win at Pai Gow Poker.
Understand The Rules And Betting Patterns –This is a standard tip for any poker game, and even more so with Pai Gow Poker. Players must known how the game works and have knowledge of the basics so that they do not struggle during game play.
Play Bank Whenever You Can – Position is an important factor in a game of Pai Gow Poker, and players must try and use the position of the Bank whenever possible, but need to be very careful at the same time. This is because the Banker is required to cover the best of all the other players at the table; however, the odds for the Banker to win are more favourable than for any other player. Remember that you will have to have a good bankroll to keep this position. You can also try and find a table that lets two players share the banker position to help you with this.
Watch the Ratio Between Banker to Player Bets – When playing as the Banker, a player should try and bet big if he feels he has a good chance of winning with his hand. When the player is not in the Banker position he should avoid placing large bets as he does not hold the advantage. When the ratio between the Banker bets and Player is great, then the odds are better for the Banker.
Be Careful How You Split Your Two Pairs – If you have a 2 pair hand, you will need to break it into two very well thought out hands as this will cut down the house edge in your favour. There are different ways of doing this and players should try out a few strategies in free play to see what suits their style of gaming before venturing on to one that they can use for real money play.
Here is a great video tutorial on how to play Pai Gow Poker
This video has been provided by wizardofodds.com
Focus on 5 Card Hand and 2 Card Hand –Players will need to create a 5 card hand and a 2 card hand to win this game. Most players concentrate on the 5 card hand and forget the 2 card hand or vice versa. A good player will try to balance both hands and keep this strategy in mind while betting. It is advisable to learn all the possible hand rankings before sitting down to a game of Pai Gow Poker.
Do Not Play a Full House As the Upper Hand – Unlike other poker games, Pai Gow Poker is one type of poker variant that does not favour a full house. Players who draw a full house or see the possibility of acquiring such a hand with the cards they have been dealt, should ideally avoid this hand. This is because although it will secure you a good 5 card hand, it will not leave you much room for creating a forward hand.
Use The House Way If You Need Guidance – Pai Gow Poker is not a simple game of poker and requires mathematical planning when you arrange your cards. For those players who suddenly get confused and do not know how to make the best out of their hand when they are confronted by a difficult arrangement, they can opt for the House Way. This is a method of automatically arranging your hand based on a fixed system of how the dealer arranges his own hand. Since this system varies from casino to casino, players should look it up and find out how it works before playing Pai Gow Poker at that particular online poker room or brick and mortar casino.
Play the Top Hand in A Three Pair – If you are lucky enough to secure a hand with a three pair, use the largest pair of that hand in front. This is a standard strategy and all good Pai Gow Poker players use it. However, if a player has three pair hand and nothing else, then he should play it at the back and put high cards in the front.
Pai Gow Poker is one of those Americanized Chinese gambling games that today are part of almost every casino. This game is a social game just as poker and can be played by six players simultaneously using a 52-card deck. In addition to the players, land-based casinos appoint a dealer at the table to assist players. Similar to other casino games, the players in Pai Gow Poker play against the house, not against each other.
This game came to be when a Chinese game called Pai Gow in which dominoes were used, was mixed with poker cards. What came out as a result was a gambling game with a very reasonably low risk compared to other games. Pai Gow Poker is a more of a game of skill, although learning the cards and using the skills is not that farfetched for beginners. The hands are easy and obvious, and strategies can be applied without much difficulty. The fact that all the players play together against the house makes this game very fun and leisure game.
The game as we know it today was established in California in the mid-80s in 1985. The person that invented the game first began offering it at his own casino, and later the game began appearing across many other casinos without prior permission of its author due to a lack of patent for the game. Since then Pai Gow Poker has brought millions of players to casinos and the game today has a well-deserved status.
Pai Gow Poker Rules
Pai Gow Poker uses many rules that are commonly known in standard poker, such as:
- The game is played with standard fifty-two cards and a joker from a single deck only.
- As in other games, the joker is used to complete a hand like straight flush, flush, straight or royal flush, and it can be used instead of an Ace.
- Each player receives 7 cards along with the dealer too after all the players have made their bets previously.
- With these seven cards, the players have to form two hands, one five card hand and one two card hand. The only condition is for the five card hand to be of higher value than the two card hand.
- The two card hand will always be a pair of the highest possible value, while the five card hand will be a standard poker hand.
- The dealer will reveal his cards after the players have divided their cards. The dealer follows a special rule referred to as the House Way. This rule is actually a predetermined manner in which the dealer will play the cards. This rule varies from casino to casino.
- The two hands of each player are then compared against the dealer’s hand and the player with the two hands of higher values will take his winnings.
- There is a special rule for a tie. If the two card hand of both the player and the dealer are composed of pair of Kings or Aces, then the house wins.
- In order for the player to win his both hands need to be stronger than the dealer’s hands. In this case the bet pays 1 to 1. If the player loses one hand to the dealer, then it’s a push. In all other scenarios, the player loses. Five percent commission is taken of each winning.
- The banker role rotates between players, and each player can refuse the role.
The Basics of Pai Gow Poker
Objective of the Game
The objective in Pai Gow Poker is for players to assemble hands that are stronger than the dealer in order to beat the house and win the bet with the help of seven cards. The only chance to win is to have both hands of higher value. The lower hand, which is the two card hand is always a pair (if there two cards of same value) while the higher five card hand can be any of the standard hands used in poker. The two card hand mustn’t be of a higher value than the five card hand.
Pai Gow Poker Hands
In order to form a hand, players can use a joker. It can be used to replace a card any kind of straight or flush. In other cases the joker is valued as an Ace. The following are the hands in Pai Gow Poker arranged from the weakest to the strongest:
- No Pair hand is a hand that has no cards that can be combined together to form a pair.
- One Pair is a hand consisted of any two cards of the same value.
- Two Pair is a hand consisted of two pairs with cards of the same value.
- Three of a Kind is a hand consisted of three cards of the same value.
- Straight is a hand in which all cards are arranged in a sequence, for example from 6 to 10.
- Flush is a hand in which all cards are of the same suite, either clubs, diamonds, spades or hearts.
- Full House is a hand consisted of two cards of the same value, and three cards that are all of some different value.
- Four of a Kind is a hand consisted of four cards of the same value.
- Straight Flush is a hand in which all cards of the same suite, but also they need to be arranged in a sequence, for example from 7 to Jack.
- Royal Flush is a hand consisted of Jack, King, Queen, Ten and an Ace, but all five cards need to be of the same suite.
In any of the hands, the remaining cards help determine the winner in cases when the competing five card hands are identical.
The Ranking of Two Card Hands
There are special rules set for the ranking of the two card hands. It is obvious that with two cards the only hand you can play is a pair i.e. a hand consisted of two cards of the same value, with a pair of 2s as the weakest, and a pair of Aces as the strongest two card hand.
But, there is also a No Pair hand. This hand is also valued, but here the weakest hand is a combination of 2 and a 3, while the strongest No Pair two card hand is consisted of a King and an Ace. A Pair hand always beats a No Pair hand. The Joker here is used instead of an Ace too.
The House Way
As mentioned previously, the House Way is a predetermined manner of how the dealer will play with his hand. This rule can vary from casino to casino. Somewhere you may find it more in your favor, somewhere you may not, in general it doesn’t vary substantially.
The Odds
Although Pai Gow Poker a house edge that is worse than craps, blackjack and baccarat, it is still a very decent edge that varies between 2 and 3 percent. Since it is a game of skill this edge can be easily eliminated with a little spell of luck. Also, since it is a much slower paced game compared to other games with a lot of ties and pushing your playing time is much longer and your bankroll is more prone to survive.
An Easy Pai Gow Strategy to Use
First, when playing Pai Gow Poker, whether using a strategy or not, you need to remember that both of your hands need to win. So basically you have to think how to equally distribute your hands. If you can’t form a strong five card hand, make sure at least for your two card hand to be as high as it can get in order to cause for a push and stop the house from winning. Or do the other way around, by setting a strong five card hand while making a weak two card hand.
If your hand is a no pair hand, just use the third and second highest cards for the two card hand. If you have at least one pair the highest two cards should be used as a two card hand. This strategic playing extends to different scenarios for having dealt 2 pairs, 3 pairs, three of a kind and all the other possible hands and involves how to split your hands and use the most of all cards dealt.
How To Win In Pai Gow Poker
Summary
Pai Gow Poker has spurred so much interest in the public due to its ingenious way of playing with two hands at the same time so that many experts have even written books on the optimal strategies that can be used for playing the game. Try the game a little at any online casino offering it for practice, and we guarantee you will immediately like it.
Useful Pai Gow Poker Glossary
– Back Hand: used to refer to the five card hand.
– Banking: this is when players bet either against the players or the dealer.
– Foul Hand: this is when a player has not split his hands appropriately which means his two card hand is stronger than his five card hand. It is used in land-based casinos.
– Front Hand: used to refer to the two card hand.
For a more comprehensive list of terms and phrases, check out our Pai Gow Glossary section.
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