Pai Gow is a
card-game derived from the ancient Chinese domino game with the same
name.
The game is offered at most online and real casinos, as well as at some
online poker rooms.
There are rooms that offer a no-download flash version of it for
practice as well as for real money,
where you can really get the hang of it while actually playing.
If you access one of these flash-based Pai-Gow games you'll see that
it all begins with a bet.
As a player, you need to make a wager matched by the dealer, before the
actual game commences.
The game is always one-on-one ( you against the dealer) no matter
how many people there are seated around the table.
The dealer will
play each of them separately in a one-on-one setup.
After you made your wager, you're dealt seven cards.
You need to arrange these cards into two separate hands: one comprised of
5 cards, the other one of 2.
Both these hands shall be ranked according to general poker hand
ranking,
with the difference that the highest possible 2-card hand is a pair
of aces and the lowest possible one is 2,3.
Naturally, no straights
or flushes are allowed for your 2-card hand.
There are also jokers in the game, but they are only wild for
straights and flushes in your 5-card hand, otherwise they're counted
as aces.
You need to pay attention that your 2-card hand isn't higher than the
5-card hand you produced, as this will invalidate both hands.
While you arrange your hand, the dealer also arranges his according
to the rules set by the casino.( more on these later)
then you compare your hands ( his 5 card hand against your 5-card
hand, and his 2-card hand against his 2-card hand)
The winner is decided the following way: if you both show down
exactly the same value hands the dealer ( banker) wins.
If your five-card hand beats his and your two-card hand loses to his it's
a push and you get your money back.
If his five-card beats yours and
your two-card hand beats his, it's a push again. If both your hands
beat his respective hands you win, if both his hands beat your
respective hands you lose.
The best way to learn these rules is to
see them in action, by playing a bit of Pai Gow online in practice
mode.
Whenever you win, you win the money you wagered in the first place
back, plus the same amount of money from the dealer minus a 5%
commission.
That is the equivalent of the rake. Whether or not there
are poker rooms out there offering
rakeback on rake generated in Pai Gow, I'm not sure, but it is
possible in theory.
The interesting thing about a Pai Gow
PokerRoom is that players too can become
bankers in turn.
This is quite important because in case of equal-value hands shown
down the banker wins.
In order to qualify for the banker position the player needs to have
enough chips in front of him to be able to pay out all other players
in case they win.
The dealers will still play when a player takes over the banker
position, and they'll be obliged to post a first bet,
equivalent to
the last bet of the player who became the banker.
Strategy-wise, Pai Gow can get pretty complicated.
First off, you need to watch the amount of money you bet when you're
a banker and what you bet when you're a simple player.
Obviously, being in the banker position will offer you increased
odds.
The way you make up your 5-card and 2-card hands is another variable
which you can tamper with in order to increase the odds.
A few ideas as to how you should arrange your hands according to the
cards you're dealt: if you have a high card, ( no pairs, nothing
else) place the highest card in your 5-card hand and the second and
third highest in the 2-card hand.
In case you get a pair: place it in the 5-card hand and put your
remaining two highest cards in your 2-card hand.
There are rules like this for pretty much every card combination
you're dealt.
If you learn how the house arranges its hands, you should arrange
yours the same way. That'll give you the best odds.
Online Pai Gow software will arrange your hands automatically for
you.
