Pai Gow Poker Rules and Basic Strategies

Pai Gow is derived from the traditional Asian game of gai gow that is played with tiles that look like dominoes. Pai Gow poker is a variation of this game and is played with a 52 card standard deck and one joker. The joker can be used as an ace or a wild card to complete a straight, a flush or straight flush only.
The game of Pai Gow is played on a blackjack-size table with up to six players and a banker which the players play against. The house may be the banker or one of the players may be the banker. If a player wants to be the bank the rules become rather complex and will be discussed later.

The object of pai-gow poker is to make two poker hands from 7 dealt cards namely a 5 card high hand and a two card low hand that beat the banker's hands. The hands are played and ranked as traditional poker hands (with one exception: A2345 is the second highest straight), and the 5 card hand must be higher than the 2 card hand. For the two card hand, any pair beats any two unmatched cards, and no other combinations are possible. If both hands are better than the banker's hand, you win, if both lose, you lose, otherwise it's a push. The banker wins absolute ties (i.e. K Q vs K Q).

Pai-gow is a slower paced game with many pushes. The Banker has a slight edge because it wins the copies. Each hand takes a while to play since the dealer has to shuffle for each game and most hands push therefore you can play on $20 at a $5 table for quite a while.

General Rules, Betting and Sequence of Action for Pai Gow Poker

Before the cards are dealt the play begins by making a wager. A roll of dice or a randomly generated number determines which player receives the first set of cards. The players then each arrange their seven cards into a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand is ranked as in poker.
 Most, but not all, casinos treat A2345 (the "wheel") as the second highest straight. The two-card hand will either be a pair or two individual cards. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces and the lowest is a 2-3.
After all the players have arranged their hands the banker arranges theirs according to a set of fixed rules known as the "house way." Then the player's five-card hand is compared to the dealer's five-card hand. Likewise the player's two-card hand is compared to the dealer's two-card hand. The highest hand wins. In the event of an exact match between hands, called a copy, the tie goes to the banker. If the player beats the dealer with both hands the player wins even money, less a 5% commission. If the player wins one and loses one the bet is a push. If the player loses both the player loses the entire wager.

When setting the hands the two-card hand may not be higher then the five-card hand. If it is then both hands are deemed "foul" and both lose. The joker can only be used to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush, otherwise it is treated as an ace. At some places if there is an empty seat the dealer will also deal a "dragon" hand. Another player may assume the dragon hand if they wish, essentially playing two positions rather than one. The player may have to use the house way in setting the dragon hand.

In pai gow poker any player may elect to be the banker in turn. If a player banks the 5% commission is charged on the net win. When a player is the banker the dealer will still play, betting an amount equal to the last bet the player made when the dealer was banking. It is strongly to the advantage of the player to be the banker as much as possible because the dealer wins on copies and the 5% commission is charged after losses are set against winnings.

The opportunity to bank usually rotates from person to person, including the house, but sometimes will zig-zag between the players and the dealer. If the player wants to bank they must have enough money on the table to pay off all winning bets of the other players and dealer. The player must also have played a previous hand against the house banker to bank. Some casinos will allow the player to co-bank with the house. If this option is elected the casino will assume half the financial responsibility of the outcome. The player must set their hand according to the house way if co-banking.

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