|
Pai gow poker is a variation of gai gow tiles, played with a 53 card deck, including a joker. The game is one on one, the player(s) against the banker, each competing to make the best possible hands. Due to a rather slow pace and a lot of ties pai gow poker is less intense than most casino games and a modest buy in can usually last a long time. This page will discuss the rules and strategy for pai gow as found in casinos as opposed to card clubs. Pai gow in legal in the card clubs of southern California but the rules are somewhat different, often in the direction of being to the player's advantage. The strategy in this page can be equally applied to southern California games. The Rules Play begins by placing two bets of equal size. Then everyone receives seven cards. A roll of the dice or a randomly generated number determines which player gets the first set of cards. The players then each arrange their seven cards into a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five card hand is ranked as in poker, with the exception that an A-2-3-4-5 straight is the second highest straight. The two-card hand will either be a pair or two individual cards. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces and the lowest is a 2-3. After all the players have arranged their hands the banker arranges theirs. Then it is time to compare. Unless you are banking, one of your two bets is betting that your five-card hand is greater than that of the banker, the other bet is likewise betting that your two card hand can beat the banker's. The banker wins on ties (called copies in pai gow poker). If both your hands beat the banker then you will win both bets, if both of your hands lose then you lose both bets, and if one wins and one loses then it is a push. The house collects a 5% commission when the player wins both bets and on the net win of the banker. The bank either rotates from person to person, including the house, or it will zigzag between the players and the dealer. It is beneficial to bank because the banker wins on ties. The player may pass the chance to bank if they want. Some books say that at some casinos the banker may co-bank with the house in which case the house is a 50% partner in the dealer's hand, however I have never seen any casino offer this option. If the player wants to bank they must have enough money on the table to broker their share of the bets. The player must have played a previous hand against the house banker to bank. When the player banks, as long as the house is not co-banking, the dealer will also play against the banker with a wager equal to the player's last bet against the house banker. Here are some other important rules. First, the two-card hand may not be higher then the five-card hand, if it is that both hands are deemed "foul" and both lose. Second, the joker can only be used to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush, otherwise it is treated as an ace. At some places if there is an empty seat the dealer will also deal a "dragon" hand. Another player may assume the dragon hand if they wish, essentially playing two positions rather than one. Strategy According to 'Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker' by Stanford Wong the most important factor in improving your odds in pai gow is the ratio of how much is bet when you are the banker to as a player. The greater the ratio the better your odds are. The second most important factor is how well you arrange your cards. The house way (explained below) is a very safe strategy that is difficult to improve upon. In my pai gow poker index I have a table that shows the probability of any given 5 or 2 card hand beating the house way. Theoretically you could use these charts to play any hand, maximizing your odds of winning, but in real life nobody would have enough time to look up the numbers and add them up.
|
