Part 1:Pai Gow Basics

More of this Feature • Part 2:The Strategy Join the Discussion Lets talk about playing Pai Gow. Related Resources • Poker Hierarchy • • From Other Guides • Elsewhere on the Web • •

by Guide Bill Burton

The traditional Asian game of Pai Gow is played with tiles that look likedominos. To make it easier to understand an American version was introducedusing standard playing cards and the ranking of hands were fashioned after pokerhands. Thus the new game of Pai Gow Poker was developed.

Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck and one joker. The jokercan be used as an ace or a wild card to complete a straight, a flush or straightflush only. The game is played on a blackjack-size table with up to six playersand a banker. The players are playing against the banker. In most cases thecasino acts as the banker although players can chose to bank the game if theywish to. This would require having enough money to cover all of the otherplayer's bets. The casino collects a five- percent commission on all winningbets.

To start the game, the players make their bets according to the tableminimum. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals out seven stacks containingseven cards. This is done no matter how many players there are. The Bankershakes a cup containing three dice to determine who gets the firsthand.

The player looks at the seven cards and sets them into a two-card hand and afive-card hand. There is a place marked on the table to place your hands. Thetwo-card hand is placed in front and the five-card hand is placed behind it. Ifboth of your hands beat the Banker's two hands you win. If one of your handsbeats the Bankers and one loses it is a push and there are no winners. If eitherof your hands has the exact same value as the Banker's hand it is a tie, whichis called a copy and the Banker wins.

When you are setting your hands, your five-card hand must be a higher valuethan your two-card hand. If you make a mistake and the two-card hand is higherit is a "foul" and you lose automatically. When the casino acts as theBanker the dealers must set their hands according to certain rules, which iscalled the "House Way." If you are unsure of how to set your and youcan ask the dealer to set it the "House Way." This will keep you frommaking a mistake.

Pai Gow is a slower paced game. There are many pushes. The Banker has aslight edge because it wins the copies.

Here is the Pai Gow Strategy:

Next pageTheStrategy Page 1

Until next time,remember:
Luck comes and goes...Knowledge stays forever.

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