Paigow Poker
Pai Gow Poker is a card-based version of the Chinese game Pai Gow, played with dominoes. Played live, Pai Gow poker involves a satisfying balance of luck and skill, with a basic knowledge of strategy essential to beating the game.
In the poker version of Pai Gow the object is for a player to make two poker hands out of the seven cards they are dealt, one or both of which is better than the dealer’s. One must be a five-card poker hand (the high or back hand); the other a two-card hand (known as the low or front hand). The crucial difference between live and online play is that online casinos often offer to arrange the two hands for you, taking out a large element of skill from the game.
Pai Gow Poker uses a 53-card deck, containing one joker. The joker can only be used as an ace or to help complete a straight flush, a straight or a flush. It may not be used to turn three kings into four, for example.
The best hand in Pai Gow Poker is five aces, using the joker as an ace. The next best hand is a straight flush, with all other hand rankings following in the usual order as follows:
* Straight Flush
* Four of a Kind
* Flush
* Straight
* Three of a Kind
* Two Pair
* Ace
* King
* Queen
* Jack
One more crucial point to remember: if the dealers hand and your hand are the same, the dealer wins!
Pai Gow Poker History
Pai Gow, the Chinese game from which Pai Gow Poker originates means “make nine”. It is a notoriously difficult game to learn, unlike its Americanised namesake which is pretty simple.
Pai Gow Poker was created in the 1980’s by Sam Torosian and Fred Wolf, a games inventor who also managed the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Wolf introduced the game to casinos in 1987 and it immediately became a huge favourite among Californian casino goers, quickly spreading to Vegas and around the world.
Pai Gow Poker - Rules
In Pai Gow Poker each player is playing against the banker, who is usually the casino dealer, but may be one of the other players.
The game begins with the dealer dealing out seven stacks of seven cards face down, with four cards left over to be discarded. This happens regardless of the number of players in the game. Bets are then made, after which the dealer rolls three dice from a cup in order to determine who gets the first stack of cards, and then hands out the other stacks in a clockwise motion. If there are less than six players at the table (with the dealer being the seventh) then the remaining stacks are thrown into the discard.
Having received their cards players then divide them into two hands, with the two-card low hand placed at the front and the five-card high hand placed behind it.
The first thing a player must do is ensure his five card hand has a higher ranking than his two card hand (hence why it is called the high hand). If a player fails to achieve this his hand is disqualified and he loses his bet. Other than this a player must simply use the seven cards to make the best possible hands.
When all players have set their cards the banker then turns over his cards and arranges them likewise. Hands are then compared and bets paid out accordingly.
To win both of a player’s hands must beat the banker’s hands. As mentioned before when hands are of equal value the banker wins, and when a player wins one of his hands but loses the other no money changes hands.
When players beat the banker the dealer uses the banker’s money to pay the player even money, and upon losing the player’s bet is awarded to the banker. The house never pays out, and collects money by charging a rake on each winning bet, usually 5%.
Pai Gow Poker - Strategy
When playing online players can usually elect for the casino to arrange their hands for them, and this is usually done in a manner that is close to the optimal strategy.
Perfect strategy for Pai Gow Poker, determined by detailed and complex computer analysis, is generally too difficult for most players to implement, and involves memorising large amounts of data, but there are a few basic strategies that are not hard to grasp.
On the whole the first rule is to try and set the highest front hand possible, that still allows for a player’s five-card hand to be higher.
So a good example is when a player has no pairs, straights or flushes, such as with the following cards: Kc-Jc-Ts-9h-6h-4d-2s. Here the best way to arrange the two hands would be Jc-Ts for the front hand, and Kc-9h-6h-4d-2s for the back hand.
Similarly in a hand that contains one pair but no straights or flushes a player should arrange the pair in his front hand and the two highest remaining cards in his back hand. So K-Q-Q-T-6-4-2 would be arranged: K-T in the front hand and Q-Q-6-4-2 in the back hand.
With two-pairs the strategy is a little more difficult. The received wisdom is that if the pairs are low and there are remaining high cards it is best to play two-pair behind and the high cards in front. Eg: A-K-5-5-4-4-2 should be arranged A-K and 5-5-4-4-2. However with very high pairs such as aces, kings or queens it is often advisable to split. A-A-6-6-5-3-2 for example, should always be arranged 6-6 and A-A-5-3-2.
With three pairs the strategy is fairly simple. Always put the highest pair in front and play the lower pairs behind. So K-K-Q-Q-J-J-3 should be split K-K and Q-Q-J-J-3.
With three of a kind players should only split if the three cards are high and the remaining cards are low. So A-A-A-9-8-7-4 should always be split A-9 and A-A-8-7-4, while K-K-K-J-9-7-4 will often be split K-J and K-K-9-7-4, though not always.
When players have the choice to make a straight or a flush the correct decision is always to play whichever hand leaves the best hand in front. So if you hold: Qc-Jc-Td-9d-8c-7c-6c you should choose to play the low straight (Td-9d-8c-7c-6c) behind so you leave Qc-Jc (your two highest cards) in front.
By now you should be beginning to grasp how the front hand is the key to deciding how to split hands in Pai Gow Poker. Always ensure you have a high card at the very least in your front hand, otherwise you will be hoping for a split at best. Remember, to win in Pai Gow you must win both hands, so that’s is what your aiming to do when you set your hand. There is little point in having a formidable back hand if your front hand is six high!
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