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Pai gow poker, or double-hand poker, is an Americanized
version of Pai Gow, in that Pai Gow Poker is played
with playing cards using poker hand rankings while Pai
Gow is played with Chinese dominoes.
The game is played with a standard
52-card deck, plus a single joker. It is played on a
table marked with seven betting locations if one of
the players serves as "bank"; in a casino
where players play against the house, there are only
six betting spots.
The cards are shuffled, and then dealt
to the table in seven face-down piles of seven cards,
with four cards unused, regardless of the number of
people playing. Each round's deal begins on a randomly-selected
position on the table, with the hands after the first
being dealt to the player's left around the table. One
common way of doing this is to roll three six-sided
dice, then count betting spots clockwise from the first
until the number on the dice is reached; then give that
spot the first hand, the next spot the next hand, and
so on until all seven hands have been allotted (this
is an adaptation of the similar procedure used in Pai
Gow). Otherwise, the position is derived from a random-number
generator as shown on a display above the dealing apparatus.
If there is no bet placed on a particular spot, the
hand is still assigned but then placed in the discards
with the four unused cards.
Each player is playing against the
banker, who may be the casino dealer or one of the other
players.
The object of the game is to create
two poker hands out of the seven cards in your hand:
A five-card poker hand and a two-card poker hand. The
five-card hand must rank higher than your two-card hand.
The two-card hand is often called the hand "in
front", and the five-card hand is called the hand
"behind", as they are placed that way in front
of the player when he is done setting them. The only
two-card hands are one pair and high cards; no straights,
flushes, and so on. The joker plays as a bug: that is,
in the five-card hand it can be used to complete a straight
or flush, if possible; otherwise it is an ace. In the
two-card hand, it always plays as an ace. Five-card
hands use standard poker hand rankings, with one exception:
in most Nevada casinos, the hand A-2-3-4-5 ranks above
a king-high straight, but below the ace-high straight
A-K-Q-J-10. In California, this rule doesn't apply.
If each of your now-separated hands
beats the banker's corresponding hand, then you win
your bet. If only one of your hands beats the banker,
then you push. If both of your hands lose to the banker,
then you lose. On each individual hand, ties go to the
banker (for example, if your five-card hand loses to
the banker and your two-card hand ties him, you lose).
This gives the banker a small advantage. If you foul
your hand, meaning that your low hand outranks your
high hand or that there are an incorrect number of cards
in each hand, there will be a penalty, either re-arrangement
of the hand according to house rules or forfeiture of
the hand.
In casino-banked games, the banker
is generally required to set their hand in a pre-specified
manner called "house way", so the dealer does
not have to implement any strategy in order to beat
the players. When a player is banking, he is free to
set the hand however he chooses. However, the player
has the option of "co-banking" with the house,
and if this option is chosen, the player's hand must
also be set the house way.
California casinos typically charge
a flat fee per hand, such as 50 cents or one dollar,
to play, win or lose. Other casinos take out of winnings
a 5% commission. While this seems high, it should be
noted that a hand of Pai Gow poker takes a long time
to play compared to, say, blackjack, and there are many
pushes, so the house doesn't collect that 5% as often
as it would collect the house percentage on other games.
Basic Strategy
Generally speaking, one should try
to set the highest two-card hand that you can legally
set (that is, the best two-card hand that still leaves
a higher five-card hand behind). More specifically,
one should expect and "average" hand to be
something like a medium-to-high pair behind in the five-card
hand and an ace-high in front. Detailed computer analysis
has been done to determine ideal strategy, but this
requires memorizing large tables. A close approximation
can be done with only a few rules of thumb. If you are
playing in a casino, you can always ask that your hand
be set "house way" if you are in doubt; most
house strategies are quite reasonable and can be quite
close to optimal strategy.
- If you have no pair, no straights, and no flushes,
set the second- and third-highest cards in your
two-card hand. For example, with K-Q-J-9-7-4-3,
play Q-J and K-9-7-4-3. There are a few minor exceptions
to this (for example, with A-Q-10-9-5-4-2 it is
slightly better to play Q-9 and A-10-5-4-2), but
these are rare and don't affect your win rate much.
- If you have nothing but a single pair, set it
in your five-card hand and put the two highest remaining
cards in your two-card hand. For example, with A-Q-Q-9-6-5-3,
play A-9 and Q-Q-6-5-3. There are no exceptions
to this rule. This rule and the rule above will
cover 90% of the hands you play.
- Two pair is the most common case where strategy
isn't obvious. You can either play the high pair
behind and small pair in front, or else two pair
behind and high cards in front. The smaller your
high pair and higher your remaining cards, the more
you should be inclined to play two pair behind.
If your side cards are small, or your larger pair
is large, split the pairs. You should always split
pairs if your high pair is aces, and almost always
split if your high pair is kings or queens; they
are high enough by themselves. With something like
J-J-4-4-A-Q-5 you can consider playing A-Q and J-J-4-4-5-,
since A-Q in front is not much worse than 4-4, but
two pair behind is much better than a single pair
of jacks. Jacks and tens might be more inclined
to split, because tens in front is much better than
A-Q. With pairs as small as 7s and 8s, you might
consider playing two pair behind if you can play
a king-high or better in front. With 2s and 3s,
you might even play as little as a queen-high in
front. If you have no side cards higher than a jack,
always split pairs, even 2s and 3s. (Most house
ways split if there's a pair of 6s or higher, and
split small pairs if there's no Ace for the low
hand.)
- Three pair is a very good hand. Always play the
highest pair in front, no exceptions. For example,
with K-K-7-7-4-4-A, play K-K and 7-7-4-4-A.
- If you have three of a kind and nothing else,
play three of a kind behind and remaining high cards
in front, unless they are aces--always split three
aces, playing a pair of aces behind and ace-high
in front. Occasionally, you can even split three
kings if your remaining side cards are not queen-high
(for example, with K-K-K-J-9-7-6, it is slightly
better to play K-J and K-K-9-7-6 than to play J-9
and K-K-K-7-6). Most house ways only split three
Aces.
- If you can play a straight or a flush or both,
play whichever straight-or-better five-card hand
makes the best two-card hand. For example, with
K?-9?-8?-7?-6?-5?-4?, playing the flush would put
8-6 in front, playing the 9-high straight would
put K-4 up front, but the correct play is K-9 and
8-7-6-5-4. Occasionally, you will have a straight
or flush with two pair; in that case, play as if
it were two pair and ignore the straight or flush.
This rule applies even if you can play a straight
flush: if a straight or flush makes a better hand
in front, play it that way.
- With a full house, generally play trips behind
and the pair in front. The exception is if the pair
is very small and your side cards are very high,
for example, with 5-5-5-3-3-A-Q, it might be better
to play A-Q with the full house behind. These are
rare, though, and you will never be making a big
mistake if you never play a full house behind. House
ways will always split the full house.
- With two sets of trips, play the higher as a pair
in front, and the smaller trips behind. For example,
with Q-Q-Q-7-7-7-A, play Q-Q and 7-7-7-A-Q. No exceptions.
- With four of a kind, play as if it were two pair,
but be slightly less inclined to split. For example,
with 10-10-10-10-J-5-4, play 10-10 and 10-10-J-5-4;
with 3-3-3-3-K-Q-7, play K-Q and 3-3-3-3-7. Most
house ways always split the four of a kind.
- With three pair and a straight or flush (only
possible with the joker), play as three pair (aces
in front).
-
The cases below will probably never
happen to you, but just in case:
-
With four of a kind and a pair,
play the pair in front unless it is very small and
the four of a kind is very large. For example, with
9-9-9-9-7-7-K, play 7-7 and 9-9-9-9-K, but with
Q-Q-Q-Q-3-3-9, you might play Q-Q and Q-Q-3-3-9.
House ways always put the quartet in back and the
pair in front.
-
With a full house and a pair,
play the higher pair in front and a full house in
back.
-
With four of a kind and trips,
split the four to play a pair in front and full
house behind. House ways will tend to break the
trips.
-
With all four aces and the joker,
play a pair of aces in front and three aces (or
a full house) behind UNLESS your back pair is a
pair of kings; you get the honor of gloating on
this one.
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