Pai Gow Poker strategy Success in Pai Gow Poker is largely dependent on how the cards are dealt as there are no betting rounds. Granted some skill is necessary in setting one’s hand to provide the best chance of beating the dealer.

• Practice Pai Gow Poker

The thought of beating the house at its own game is one that excites many a gambler in the online casino world. Ultimately, if your primary goal is to win a game of Pai Gow Poker, you’ll find that a gambler’s ability to implement a strategy is what distinguishes a poorly prepared player from one who is fully armed to meet all that the casino can throw at you. So evidently, the best thing you can aim to do is to prepare yourself before you sign up to an online casino and hit the Pai Gow Poker table. Have a look at our Pai Gow Poker Strategy article in order to learn how to implement strategy whilst playing the game.

Beating the House – Overcoming the Pai Gow House Edge

Playing Pai Gow Poker offers gamblers the opportunity to enjoy a casino game with a relatively low house edge of approximately 2.9%. In fact, the house edge in Pai Gow Poker is just slightly more than that of the much loved casino classic; blackjack. Now, you might be asking yourself, ‘Can one possibly eliminate the house advantage whilst playing the game?’ Well, eliminating the house edge altogether is impossible due to the fact that the house usually takes 5% commissions on winning hands. Yet, you can effectively cut it down to 2.57% by implementing a Pai Gow Poker Strategy, if desired.

Taming the Dragon in Pai Gow Poker

The wise Roman philosopher, Seneca once said, ‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.’ This is especially true in regards to some casino games such as the casino classic Blackjack, but also Pai Gow Poker. Ultimately, many gamblers who play this game, which is deeply rooted in Chinese culture, will agree that you must be prepared to implement some kind of strategy in order to tame the dragon. Since you only play against the dealer and no other players, Pai Gow Poker strategy is not as rich as regular poker strategy. Nevertheless, you will obviously benefit from playing an optimal game. This will definitely increase your prospect of winning at the casino game by about 0.15%. Ok, so we know what you’re thinking. It’s a really small percentage which perhaps in your opinion will not make any difference. In fact, we bet you $10 that you’re thinking it can be totally disregarded. But, wait before you take us on for that bet, you should listen up first to see why strategy is in fact so important. If you play the game over a long session, implementing a Pai Gow Poker Strategy will be beneficial as your odds of winning will improve in your favor.

House Way Strategy

If you want to beat the house, you should think and act as if you were the casino’s dealer. Think about it. How would a dealer play his hand? Would he split his two pairs? Would he place a pair in the front hand? Or would he simply leave them both in the back hand? What about if he/she has absolutely no pair, what do you do then? Well, if you’re worried about all these things, we have it down to a tee. Have a look at our Pai Gow Poker Strategy which mimics the way that the house would play below!

1) If you happen to have been dealt absolutely no pair, you should place your highest card in your back hand and whatever your next two highest cards in the front whatever they may be.

2) When you’re dealt one pair, you should always keep it in your back hand, which is the five card hand, and move your two highest cards to your front hand. This will give you a better chance of beating the dealer, even though they are both not the best hands you could have.

3) If you happen to be dealt a two pair, which consists of two different pairs, you should split them between each hand. Put the highest ranking pair in the back hand and the lower ranking pair in the front hand. Why? This is due to the fact that if you do the opposite, you’ll be fouling your hand. However, don’t split the two-pair into two separate hands, provided that you’ve come across the following situations:

- A pair of 7s or greater with absolutely no single ace.

- A pair of Jack’s or better and 6’s or pairs which are better and an ace.

- A pair of aces and any other pair.

4) Put the highest pair of cards in the two-card hand and the two other pairs in the back hand, provided that you have been dealt a three-pair.

5) When you’re dealt three-of-a-kind, make sure you keep all the three cards which are of the same rank in your back hand. Yet, if you happen to be holding a three-of-a-kind with three aces, you should put two aces in the back hand and one in the front.

6) If you’ve ended up with two three-of-a-kinds, you should play the lowest three of a kind in the five-card and split the higher three of a kind to play a pair in the front hand and the other hand in the back hand.

7) If lady luck is on your side and you find yourself holding a full house, you should split with the exception of when you have a pair of 2’s and an ace/king is played infront.

8) If you’ve been dealt a full house with three of a kind and two pairs, you should split your initial hand into two and paly the highest pair in front and the rest in your back hand.

9) When you’re dealt two three-of-a-kind hands, you should always play your highest pair in front.

10) Whenever you’re dealt straights, flushes, straight flushes and royal flushes, you should always play a straight or a flush in the back hand. However, you should play as a two pair only if you come across one of the following:

- A pair of jacks and a pair of 6s.
- Any pair and a pair of aces.
- Any single ace and two pair.

11) If you’ve got a four-of-a-kind, play according to the rank of your cards. For example:

- Provided that you’ve got 2 through 6, you should always keep it together.

- If you’ve got 7 through 10, you should split unless you have an ace or better which can be played in front.

- When you’re holding a 4-of-a-kind consisting of a Jack through King, you should split the hand unless it contains a pair of 10’s or higher.

- You should split aces in this case, unless you’re holding a pair of 7’s or higher which you can put in your front hand.

12) If you happen to be lucky enough to be holding five aces, you should split unless there is a pair of kings which can be put in your front hand.

Using Jokers to Your Benefit

Most variations of Pai Gow Poker include Jokers which act as semi-wild cards. A joker is either counted automatically as an Ace. However, if it's used to complete a pair, flush etc, it can stand for whichever card you need to make up the hand. So, count yourself luck, if you've got one present in your hand.

YOU CAN’T BE THE BANKER in Pai Gow Online

In brick-and-mortar casinos, a hand of Pai Gow Poker sometimes starts with a player taking on the responsibility of being banker. This enables the player to have some advantage over other players around the table and reduces the house edge.

Although, this is seen very often at land- based casinos, you’ll find that online Pai Gow Poker generally doesn’t have this option. The house is always the banker by default. So, in online Pai Gow, you won’t get the chance to “run the game”. Thus, in its digital variation you’ll always find the player trying to beat the dealer.

Consider the Pai Gow Poker Odds

Whether you’re playing online or at a brick and mortar casino, you must always keep in mind that the lion’s shares of casino games are based on luck. Pai Gow Poker is of course no exception to this statement. So, you really should pay attention to the odds involved. Yet, the house way as well as the strategies used by players at casinos can vary. So, the probabilities which are shown below are not set in stone. Nonetheless, the calculations our experts at CasinoTop10 have made based on various house way methods have determined that the dealer will win both hands approximately 30% of the time, the player will win both hands about 29% of the time and they will draw hands approximately 41% of the time.

As a player you can acquire any of the 154,143,080 hand combinations in Pai Gow Poker. Ergo, what you need to know is how likely it is to get a specific hand through the cards you’re dealt. Due to the fact that each hand consists of seven cards, there is a great probability of acquiring a pair or possibly even two pairs. So, you’re probably asking yourself, what are the probabilities of getting certain hands? Well, let us spell it out for you through the two tables below:

Implement Pai Gow Poker Strategy and Walk away with the Prize!

Pai Gow Poker is a product of Chinese history and American ingenuity which has been adopted by many brick-and-mortar casinos as well as online casinos around the globe. It is one of the very few casino games which is not totally based on luck and can incorporate some sort of strategy. Ultimately, if you incorporate strategy into your game, instead of playing instinctually, you’ll be able to better your game and possibly walk away with some cash in your pocket! If you’ve already read through this page, we highly recommend that you practice implementing your strategy by playing one of the online casino’s Free Pai Gow Poker games. Once you feel satisfied with how you’re playing the game you can go ahead and dive right into a real money game! Have a look at our Best Pai Gow Poker Casinos list to find one of the best casinos along with an online casino bonus to suit your gambling needs!

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Introduction

Pai Gow Poker is a variation of the Chinese domino game pai gow. The game is known for a slow rate of play and lots of pushes, resulting in low risk game. While a game of skill, most hands are obvious how to play, and it is not difficult to learn proper strategy for the rest of them. Every player plays against the same dealer hand, which causes the table to often win and lose together, resulting in a fun and social game.

History

Pai Gow Poker was invented in 1985 by Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell card club in southern California. However, his is a name few people recognize. While other have made millions inventing casino games, Sam received some bad legal advice that card games were not patentable, and never filed one for his game. When his game was a success at his own casino there was nothing to prevent competing casinos from offering the game as well, and they didn't have to pay Sam a dime.

Source: Casino Boss Can't Cash In on Game He Developed — Los Angeles Times, Nov. 3, 2002.

The Rules

1. A single 53-card deck is used, consisting of the usual 52 cards, plus one joker.
2. The joker is semi-wild. It may be used as an ace, or to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush, or royal flush. After the player makes a bet, the dealer will deal the player and himself seven cards each.
3. Standard poker ranking rules are followed with one strange exception — the A2345 straight (known as 'the wheel') is considered the second highest straight. Some casinos have dropped this ridiculous rule, but most still cling to it.
4. The player will separate his seven cards into a five-card high hand, and two-card low hand. The high hand must be of higher poker value than the low hand.
5. The five-card hand is ranked according to conventional poker rules. The only poker hand in the two-card hand is a pair or no pair, after which the individual cards determine the value.
6. After the player has set his hand, the dealer will turn over his cards and divide his hand in the same manner, according to specified rules known as the 'house way.'
7. The two high hands will be compared, and the two low hands, the hand with the higher poker value winnings. If the event of a tie, for example both two-card hands are ace/king, then the tie has go to the 'banker.'
8. If the player wins both comparisons, then the player will win even money on his bet, less a 5% commission. If the player wins one and loses one, then the bet shall push. If the player loses or ties both, then the player shall lose his wager.
9. Unlike most casino games, the player may bet against the dealer, and other players in pai gow poker. This is known as 'banking.'
10. The turn to act as banker is supposed to rotate around the table, but at some casinos it zig-zags between the dealer and each player in turn.
11. The player may always decline to bank (which usually happens), in which case the option will revert to the next player, or dealer.

Strategy

I'm very proud to present my pai gow strategy page. It contains simple, intermediate, and advanced strategies for both playing as the banker, against the banker, and combined. This page took months for my assistant JB to create so I hope you'll have a look.

For your convenience, I also have my one-page simple pai gow poker strategy (PDF).

House Edge

The house advantage in Pai Gow Poker depends on partially on your skill setting hands but more on how much of the action you bank. I plan to publish some pai gow poker strategy in January, 2014. Until then, the following tables show the probability of each possible outcome and the expected value four ways — whether using the house way or optimal strategy and whether banking or the dealer is banking.

House way Strategy — Dealer Banker

House Way Strategy — Player Banker

Optimal Strategy — Dealer Banker

Optimal Strategy — Player Banker

The following table summarizes the expected value under all four scenarios. The 'difference' row and column show that banking, compare to not banking, increases expected value by 2.47%. The difference between following the house way and the theoretical optimal strategy, which I'm quite sure nobody knows, is 0.21%.

Summary

Commission Free Pai Gow Poker

Often in Washington State the casino will not charge the 5% commission on banker wins. They make a profit on the banker's advantage and side bets only. With no commission, the banker has a 1.30% advantage, and all others playing against the banker a 1.30% disadvantage.

Banking Against Yourself

Sometimes, when a player invokes his right to bank, the other players will want a shot at whatever the side bet is, but dislike betting against another player on the primary wager. Another reason this might be done is to 'change the luck' at the table. In this case, non-banking players may make a deal with the banking player that if one beats the other, the winner will refund the loser, less the 5% commission. It is essentially banking against yourself through a gentleman's agreement with the banker. The dealer will have nothing to do with it. In some casinos, they will overtly not allow it, although it may be hard to prevent, especially if the deal is made in a foreign language the dealer doesn't know. I mention this as a warning that you may be asked to do this, if you choose to bank. How you respond is up to you, but I will say it may cause some ill-will at the table if you say 'no.'

There is a discussion of this in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.

The House Way

The house way is how the dealer arranges their own hand. It can vary from place to place the differences are marginal and happen infrequently. The house way is available for the following casinos:

• Great Britain (1124K PDF; see page 80)
• Silver Dollar (Washington)
• IGW (Software for Arrow's Edge Internet casinos)

Pai Gow Poker Probabilities

The following table shows the probability of forming any specified poker hand. These probabilities consider all seven cards and without regard to how the player may play the hand.

Probabilities in Pai Gow Poker

Note: The number of combinations for a Royal Flush is 26,132; 21,620 wild and 4,512 natural.

Internal Links

• pai gow strategy page.
• pai gow poker simple strategy (PDF).
• Ask the Wizard questions about Pai Gow Poker.
• EZ Pai Gow Poker.
• Commission Free Pai Gow Poker.
• Dealer Probabilities: Shows the probability the dealer will form any given hand or less. Useful for making accurate strategy decisions.
• When to split Two Pair: My advice on when to split two pair.
• Side Bets: Analysis of various side bets such as Fortune, Jackpot, and Emperor's Challenge.
• No Push Pai Gow Poker: My analysis of this Pai Gow Poker variant.
• Pai Gow Mania: My analysis.
• Play Pai Gow Poker. Play my Pai Gow Poker game.
• Face Up Pai Gow Poker — Variant where the dealer's cards are dealt face up.

External Links

German translation of this page.