In your rules for pai-gow poker you state that A-2-3-4-5 is the 2nd highest straight. Why isn’t 9-10-J-Q-K the 2nd highest straight. Gordon from Lewiston, New York. I have always wondered this myself. It is probably just one of those weird things like why we spell colonel the way we do. Them’s the rules: the standard hand rankings for poker apply, except for one twist. The second-best Straight you can make in Pai Gow Poker is the wheel (Five-Four-Three-Deuce-Ace), which is the lowest Straight possible in regular poker. Your two-card hand is either a Pair or High Card. Note that these rules apply primarily to playing Pai Gow Poker online. Live versions of the game may have slightly different house rules. Pai Gow Poker Rules. The object of Pai Gow Poker is to make two poker hands, a five-card poker hand, and a two-card hand. The five-card hand is the “high” hand and the two-card hand is the “low” hand. As far as the rules of Pai Gow Poker are concerned, all you need to know is described above. Once all players are done setting up their hands, the dealer will arrange their hand. After that, they’ll compare their hands to the players’ hands and pay the winners.
Understanding Basic Pai Gow Rules
Pai Gow starts with each player placing their own bet. The order the cards are dealt in is determined randomly by the dealer, who then deals each player 7 cards from a 53 card deck containing the usual 52 card poker deck plus a single Joker. In online pai gow, this is handled electronically through a specialised online pai gow room.
Many of the cards and five-card hands in pai gow are the same as in most other poker games. The possible exceptions are:
- The use of the Joker may vary, so be sure to find out which rules the room you are playing in uses. For many games of pai gow poker, the Joker may be used as an Ace in order to complete a straight, a flush, or a straight flush. In some games, it may simply be equivalent to an Ace. Many casinos only allow the Joker to act as an Ace in the two card hand, but occasionally the Joker may be wild without limitation.
- When playing pai gow in some casinos and in some versions of online pai gow, the hand A/2/3/4/5 is placed higher than K/Q/J/10/9 and lower than A/K/Q/J/10. This variant is not universal, and is notably avoided in many casinos in California.
- Due to the Joker representing an Ace, it is possible to get a five-card straight in pai gow. This outranks the Royal Flush and is the highest ranked five-card hand in pai gow.
Pai Gow Rules: Winning a Hand
Other than these exceptions, the ranking of five-card hands in online pai gow is the same as for 5-stud poker. The order of the ranks from high to low in pai gow is thus 5 Aces, Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-Of-A-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-Of-A-Kind, Two Pair, Pair, Nothing.
The best two-card hand in pai gow is a pair. One of the interesting rules of pai gow is that the two-card hand must not be of a higher value than the five-card hand. There can be penalties for not arranging your hands correctly in pai gow. This can range from being forced to rearrange your hand in a particular way through to an automatic loss. Some online pai gow rooms may warn you of a possible foul hand before you play it, though it is best not to rely on it.
In order to win a hand of pai gow, the player must beat both of the dealer's hands. If one hand wins and the other loses, then the player pushes and no money changes hands. In the event neither hand beats those of the dealer, the player loses, and their stake goes to the dealer. Anytime the dealer and player tie on a particular hand, the dealer wins that hand.
A winning player is paid even money on their stake, but casinos may require a 5 per cent commission on wins. Some casinos merely charge a flat fee per hand played, though. When playing online pai gow, it is advantageous for players to try many different online pai gow rooms to guarantee the best price per hand.
Pai Gow Strategy: Using the Joker
Pai gow strategy is mostly universal, though differences in how the Joker may be used as well as the way the A/2/3/4/5 hand is ranked could see minor changes in specific circumstances. The first thing you must remember when playing pai gow, however, is that draws are extremely common. You can easily find yourself with a good five-card hand only to find the dealer has a strong enough two-card hand to force a draw.
The challenge of pai gow is in constructing the best two hands from your cards. While it is difficult to win on both hands, it can be easy to lose on both if you are not careful to set up a draw. Pai gow is incredibly defensive compared to other forms of poker.
How to Reduce the House Edge
If you are playing online pai gow, then it is especially advantageous to do everything you can to reduce the house edge. This means that improving the odds of winning in your five-card hand may not always be preferable to splitting a good five-card hand to make two decent hands. The following combinations may help you in reducing your losses, though many are designed to make draws more likely than wins.
High Card
Use the highest card for your five-card hand and the second- and third-highest cards for your two-card hand. This should hopefully improve your odds of a draw, though winning with such a combination is unlikely in pai gow.
One Pair
Use the pair for your five-card hand, but use the next two highest cards for your two-card hand. Again, the idea is that you are unlikely to win with a mere pair and thus are better off using your next highest cards to try to win the two-card hand and possibly force a draw.
Two Pairs
If you hold an Ace that isn't part of one of the pairs, then put both pairs into the five-card hand and the Ace into the two-card hand. If you do not hold an ace, then put the high pair in your five-card hand and the low pair in your two-card hand.
Three Pairs
Put the highest pair into your two-card hand. Put the other two in your five-card hand. This may seem unusual, but again the idea is that you can give yourself better odds of forcing a draw if your five-card hand loses by putting the highest pair in the two-card hand.
Straight
Put the Straight in the five-card hand and then make up the two-card hand out of the remaining cards.
However, if you have six cards that could make a Straight, use the highest cards you can for the two-card hand while still preserving the Straight.
Flush
Use the Flush for the five-card hand and then use the remaining cards for the two-card hand.
Full House
This may seem odd, but the usual advice for a Full House in pai gow is to use the pair for your two-card hand and the Three-Of-A-Kind for the two-card hand. This should give you a good chance of winning with the two-card hand while still giving good odds to win with the five-card hand.
Three-Of-A-Kind
If you have three Aces, put one into your two-card hand with the next highest card and the remaining pair of Aces in your five-card hand.
Essentially, when playing pai gow, you will often need to aim for a draw rather than focusing on just one hand. Pai gow is definitely a game of patience and online pai gow makes it much easier for you to remain patient. Just remember when playing online pai gow to look for the lowest cost rooms to play in, as while many casinos will take a 5 per cent commission from wins, some others will simply charge a low flat rate per hand, which may work out better for you.
Finding Good Pai Gow Sites Online
Pai Gow is hugely popular at casinos across Asia, and now you can get a taste online. Many Internet casinos have real-money Pai Gow games from low stakes. And if you sign up for an account you can enjoy a great deposit bonus upon sign-up.
On This Page
Introduction
The following is the house way for the MGM Grand. It was taken from a document on the procedures of the game, dated 2002.NO PAIR
Use the highest card in the high hand, then use the second and third highest as the low hand.ONE PAIR
Always use the pair as the high hand and use the highest ranking cards for the low hand.
TWO PAIRS
Pairs will be broken into three groups (when splitting, always play the lowest pair in the front hand).- 2's thru 6's — Low Pair
- 7's thru 10's — Medium Pair
- Jacks thru Aces — High Pair
Play the two pair as follows.
- NEVER SPLIT ANY TWO LOW PAIRS (6 OR UNDER).
- LOW PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- LOW PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- MEDIUM PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- MEDIUM PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
- HIGH PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
- PAIR OF ACES AND ANY OTHER PAIR: Always split.
THREE PAIRS
Always play the highest pair for the low hand.
THREE-OF-A-KIND
Always keep, unless Aces, then play one of the Aces for the low hand.(TWO) THREE-OF-A-KIND
Play Pair of the highest Three-of-a-Kind for the low hand.Pai Gow Cards
ALL STRAIGHTS, FLUSHES, STRAIGHT FLUSHES AND ROYAL FLUSHES
- WITH NO PAIR
When given a choice to play either a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush, play the category which will allow the highest two cards to be played on the low hand. - WITH ONE PAIR
- Play pair in front hand if a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush can be preserved in high hand.
- With Ace or Joker and pair of 10's, Jacks, Queens or Kings — play Ace or Joker in front hand and pair in high hand, unless a straight or flush can be maintained with an Ace in the low hand.
- Play pair in front hand if a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush can be preserved in high hand.
- WITH TWO PAIR
Use two pair rule. (With two low pair, play straight or flush unless you can play two low pair in the high hand with at least an Ace in the low hand. ) - WITH THREE PAIR
Use three pair rule. - WITH THREE-OF-A-KIND
Play pair in front hand. - WITH FULL HOUSE
Use full house rule. Example: (A Heart, Joker, J Heart, J Spade, J Club, K Heart, 2 Heart, play: Ace, Joker/J, J, J, K, 2)- Three-of-a-Kind and pair: Always split and play pair in front hand. Exception: When the hand contains a pair of 2's, an Ace, King and Three-Of-A-Kind, you will play A, K as low hand and the pair of 2's and three-of-a-kind (full house) in the high hand.
- Three-of-a-Kind and two pair: Play highest of the pairs in front hand.
- Three-of-a-Kind and Three-of-a-Kind: Play highest of Three-Of-A-Kind as a pair in front hand.
Pai Gow Poker Free
FOUR-OF-A-KIND
- 2's thru 6's: Never split, play in high hand.
- 7's thru 10's: Split unless an Ace can be played in the front hand, then keep four in high hand.
- Face Cards and Aces: Always split.
FOUR-OF-A-KIND WITH A PAIR (OR THREE-OF-A-KIND)
Always play Four-of-a- Kind in the high hand. (The only exception will be four Aces which will always be split.)Four Aces and a pair: split four Aces, except if you have a pair of Kings and four Aces in back.
FIVE ACES
Always split and play two Aces in front hand. The only exception will be if you also have a pair of Kings in front and five Aces in back.IMPORTANT NOTES
- The bank cannot set an automatic loser!
- The 'A-2-3-4-5' is the second highest straight.
- The Joker will be used as an Ace or may be used to fill a straight, flush, straight flush or a royal flush.
When the Joker is used to fill a Flush, the Joker will be used as the highest value card not already held in the hand.
Example: Ace, Joker, King, 7, 5 will be played as Ace, King (Joker='Queen') 7, 5 in the flush.
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Pai Gow Poker Rules Strategy
Written by:Michael Shackleford