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Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker is an Americanized version of the traditional Chinese game Pai Gow, played with Chinese dominoes. Instead of playing with dominoes, dealers use a standard deck of cards containing 52 playing cards plus one joker. Up to six players can play at a time on most tables. When the players play, they play against the banker. This is typically the dealer or another player who is an opponent.

How to Play the Game

The cards are dealt to each player with seven cards in each pile, face down. Of course, players are not permitted to see other players hands or show their own hands to anyone else. Players are also not permitted to see the dealers hand. There will be four cards that are not played in each game. Each player is numbered 1 through 7 and the dealer or someone else will determine who goes first by randomly choosing a number electronically, rolling a dice or something similar to that.

The players will all try to do one thing – create two hands out of the seven cards that he or she is holding. They need to have a five card hand (called 'on top') as well as a two card hand (called 'on bottom'). Of course, the five card hand needs to be more valuable than the two card hand. So, they will essentially be creating the best two poker hands they can, one containing five cards and one containing two cards. The object of the game is to beat both of the dealer's hands with both of the player's hands.

Card Values

The value of the hand is determined by the typical poker hand values, although there are a few differences depending upon which state or casino you are playing in. The Joker acts as an ace in the two card hand as well as the five card hand, except in the five card hand it can be used to create a straight or a flush, like a bug. One interesting thing to note is that the Joker is completely wild in some casinos and states. This gives a greater advantage to the player holding it.

Winning

As stated above, players try to beat the dealer with both hands having a higher value than both of the dealer's hands. If the hands tie, the win always goes to the dealer. If a player has one hand that beats one of the dealer's hands and one hand that does not beat the dealer's hand, it is considered a push. Of course, if both hands do not beat the dealer's hand, the player loses.

Because the five card hand needs to be more valuable than the two card hand, if the player somehow switches this up and the top hand is not more valuable than the bottom hand, he will receive a penalty. Of course, this differs depending upon where you play the game, but typically the player will forfeit the hand or there will be a re-arranging. In most casinos, there is a 'pre-set' way that the dealer must place his hand. This obviously involves no strategy at all and the dealer does not have to think very hard in order to beat the players.

Pai Gow Poker Strategy

Of course, the top hand needs to be more valuable than the bottom hand so high cards usually end up there. Most of the time, players will come up with an ace-high hand on top and leave the pairs behind in the bottom hand. This is one way to keep the two card hand more valuable than the five card hand. If there is a pair that is medium to high and will still beat the five card hand, many players will format their hands this way.

The basic and probably the most important strategy is to form the absolute highest two card hand you can and still leave the five card hand at a lower ranking. If there is a way to balance the hands in order to try and beat both of the dealer's hands and keep the two card hand higher ranking, this is the way to go.

Pai Gow Poker is a fun and favorite game among gamblers. Even though the dealer has an advantage, seasoned and experienced gamblers can still end up with a large pot to take home.

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