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Pai Gow Poker

If you are not familiar with the Asia game of Pai Gow Poker online, don't let the exotic nature of the title or the fact you end up playing with two hands every game scare you off. The game has two origins that come together online for fast-paced and exciting gameplay. There is another game played with tiles of a similar name, but thanks to Sam Torosian of the Bell Card Club in California either inventing the poker card variant or making it well known back in in 1985, American poker has been melded into the ancient Chinese dominos game.

The game is played with a virtual deck of 52 cards plus one Joker and the cards are shuffled between hands. Players are dealt 7 cards and must create two hands from the bunch - one 5-card hand, and one 2-card hand. Dealer wins when any two compared hands are tied. The player wins if both hands beat the dealers. If one wins and one loses it is a push. If both player hands are inferior or tied, the dealer wins.

The Joker is good for Aces, Straights, and Flushes including Straight Flush and Royal Flush in the 5-card and is always an Ace in the 2-card hand. Most of the hand rankings are identical to American poker with the exception that A-K-Q-J-10 beats A-2-3-4-5, which beats any other non-flushed straight. It is also possible to get five of a kind, but only Aces - four Aces and a Joker. Aside from 5oaK, the highest hand is Royal Flush. Lower than a single pair is a High Card. The highest possible two-card hand is a Pair, barring that, the 2-card hand with the highest card wins.

Once you've placed your bet and ask for the deal you will receive 7 cards. Depending on the software (game provider) you may be able to simply click the "House Way" button to split your cards into the "best" two hands possible - 5 & 2 cards each. While this may not be the optimal strategy, it follows the same rules the dealer will use to split the house hand cards.

If no House Way option is available you'll need to arrange the cards yourself. One important rule here is that the 5-card hand has to be of a higher value than the 2-card hand. You wouldn't be allowed to split off two Aces to the 'small hand' and keep two Kings in your big hand unless you had a third and possibly fourth King or another pair so that Two Pair in the big (5-card) hand would be superior to the Pair (Aces) in the small (2-card).

While it may seem very easy to come up with the best choice, in order to reduce the house edge to as low as possible you will either need to work it out or rely on a tried and true strategy like those you'll find at Wizard of Odds.

As most rounds will push - you win one hand and the dealer wins one hand, Pai Gow Poker can have a low impact on your bankroll, but up and down streaks do occur. Most online rules allow for a 5% commission or house fee on your winning hands. If your high hand and you low hand both beat the dealer's, the game pays 1:1 minus the house fee, so a $1 ante bet would pay $1 (return ante) plus $0.95 ($1.95). The dealer also has the advantage of winning individual tied hands.

While the land-based version of the game is more complicated due to seating and dealing rules, players do stand more of a chance to win on-land than online if they take advantage of the dealer/bank position. Skillfully setting your hands using optimal strategy online should bring the house edge down to about 2.69%.

Frequently asked questions

Pai Gow Poker is a seven-card poker game played with a standard 52-card deck and a joker. The art of the game is to skillfully arrange your cards into two poker hands, one of five cards and the other of two. To win, both your five-card hand and your two-card hand must beat the banker’s corresponding hands. When setting your hands, remember your five-card hand must have a higher poker ranking than your two-card hand. Winning one hand while losing the other is a push or tie, where you neither win nor lose.

Your question, Gary, describes a nifty little game called Pyramid poker, a simplified version of Pai Gow poker, where, instead of seven cards, three cards are dealt to each player. Pyramid poker also uses a standard 52-card deck but does not include a joker.

Both the dealer and player are each dealt three cards, which are arranged into a two-card hand and a one-card hand. As in Pai Gow Poker, the one-card hand must have a lower value than the two-card hand. The hand rankings are just as in poker except there can be no straights or flushes with the two-card hand, and aces are always high.

Once the player sets his two hands, the player’s one-card hand is compared to the dealer's one-card hand, and then the player's two-card hand is measured against the dealer's two-card hand. In order to win, both hands of the player must be higher than both of the dealer's. If only one hand is higher and the other loses, then the bet is a tie, or push. You lose only if the dealer wins both hands.

If hands are of equal face value -- say for instance you both have a Queen in your one-card hands -- it’s called a copy, which automatically goes to the dealer, giving the casino a built-in house edge of approximately 3.5%.

Although you can find Pyramid Poker in some of the larger gaming jurisdictions, it’s not yet here in the woods of Northern Michigan, but I have, Gary, given it a kitchen table workout. It’s fun, and faster than Pai Gow Poker, and probably worth adding to my play list amongst friends, but that 3.5% casino advantage by way of copies is a bit steep for me.

I’m short on space, Gary, but I will do a Q&A on optimal playing strategy in the future if someone writes in with an interest.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "If you got talent, Las Vegas is the land of milk and honey. If you don't, it's a burial ground." --Benny Binion

When I dipped into the archives, David, I found I had said this then and say it again now.

In Pai-Gow Poker each player is dealt seven cards that he is required to make into a five-card hand (the "high hand") and a two-card hand (the "low hand"). The five-card hand is ranked like traditional poker hands (royal flush, four of a kind, straight flush, three of a kind, flush, straight, two pair, pair and high card) but the game does have a couple of exceptions. Your question happens to call attention to one of them. Only a straight consisting of 10, J, Q, K, Ace beats an Ace, 2, 3, 4, and 5. A straight of 9, 10, J, Q, K doesn’t.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died." -- Steven Wright

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