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Pai gow (pronounced pie-gow) poker originated some time in the late 1800s when the Chinese helped
construct the U.S. railroads. The game is believed to be a combination of American poker and paigow, a Chinese domino game.
Objective of the Game
To
have a 2-card hand and 5-card hand of
higher rank than the banker's 2-card hand
and 5-card hand.
How
to play
Pai
gow poker is played with one 52-card deck
and a Joker. The Bets. Select an initial
bet amount and click Deal to begin the
game. There is a minimum bet of
$5 and a maximum bet of $100.
The Cards. Aces may be considered
high or low (i.e.. the ace can be used
in an A-K-Q-J-10 or 5-4-3-2-A straight).
The Joker can only be used to complete
a Straight, a Flush, a Straight Flush
or a Royal Flush -- otherwise, the Joker
is considered an Ace.
The Deal. Each player is
initially dealt 7 cards. The player
then forms a 5-card hand called a high
hand and a 2-card hand called a low
hand. The high hand must
be equal to or higher in rank than
the low hand. The low hand will
always be either a pair or a high card
hand. See the following page for
a list of hands and their rankings.
To win, the player's two hands must both
have a higher rank than the banker's two
hands (i.e.. the high hand must beat the
banker's high hand, and the low hand must
beat banker's low hand). Should
the player win one hand and lose the other,
the wager is considered a push
and is neither won nor lost. In
all other cases, the player loses.
When a player's hand and banker's hand
are of equal rank, it is called a copy,
and is won by the banker.
Pai Gow Poker
Hands
Below are examples
of all the pai gow poker hands ranked
from highest to lowest. In pai gow
poker 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight,
A-2-3-4-5 is the next highest, followed
by 9-10-J-Q-K, etc.
1.
Five Aces
2.
Royal Flush
3.
Straight Flush
4.
Four of a Kind
5.
Full House
6.
Flush
7.
Straight
8.
Three of a Kind
9.
Two Pair
10.
Pair
11.
High Card
A high card hand is valued only
by its highest card.
Banker's Strategy
The
following is a list of rules that are
followed when playing the banker's hand
("the house way").
These rules are followed regardless of
how the player has chosen to play his
or her hand:
NO
PAIR: The highest card is played
in the high hand and the next two highest
cards in the low hand.
ONE PAIR: The pair is played
in the high hand and the next two highest
cards in the low hand.
TWO PAIR: Two pairs are handled
differently depending on the rank of
the pairs. "Splitting" a pair
means to place the highest ranking pair
into the high hand and the other pair
into the low hand. Pairs are categorized
as follows: low pair (2's through 6's),
medium pair (7's through 10's), and
high pair (Jacks through Kings and Aces).
Pair
of Aces and Any Pair: Aces are
played in the high hand, and the other
pair in the low hand.
Low
Pair and Low Pair: The pairs are
split unless the hand also has a single
King, Ace, or Joker. In this
case, both pairs are played in the
high hand and the highest singletons
are played in the low hand.
Low Pair and
Medium Pair: The pairs are split
unless the hand also has a single
King, Ace, or Joker. In this
case, both pairs are played in the
high hand and the highest singletons
are played in the low hand.
Low
Pair and High Pair: The pairs
are split unless the hand also has
a single Ace or Joker. When
the hand has a single Ace or Joker,
both pairs are played in the high
hand and the highest singletons in
the low hand.
Medium
Pair and Medium Pair: The pairs
are split unless the hand also has
a single Ace or Joker. When
the hand has a single Ace or Joker,
both pairs are played in the high
hand and the highest singletons in
the low hand.
Medium Pair and
High Pair: Pairs are always split.
High Pair and
High pair: Pairs are always split.
THREE PAIR:
The highest pair is played in the low
hand.
THREE OF A
KIND: The three of a kind in always
played in the high hand unless they
are Aces. If the three of a kind
consists of Aces, a pair of Aces is
played in the high hand with the remaining
Ace and the next highest card in the
low hand. THREE OF A KIND TWICE: The highest
three of a kind is always broken and
played as a pair in the low hand.
STRAIGHT, FLUSH,
STRAIGHT FLUSH, ROYAL FLUSH: These
hands are played differently depending
on the contents of the hand.
High
Card Only: If choosing between
a straight, a flush, or a straight
flush, whichever hand leaves the highest
two cards for the low hand is chosen.
One
Pair: The pair is played in the
low hand only if leaves a straight,
flush, or straight flush for the high
hand.
Two
pair: The hand is played using
the two pair rule.
Three
pair: The hand is played using
the three pair rule.
Three
of a Kind: A pair from the three
of a kind is played in the low hand.
Full
House: The hand is played using
the full house rule.
FULL HOUSE:
The pair is played in the low hand unless
the pair consists of 2's and the hand
contains an Ace and King singletons.
In this case, the full house is played
in the high hand and the Ace and King
are played in the low hand.
THREE OF A KIND AND TWO PAIRS:
The highest of the two pairs is played
in the low hand. FOUR OF A KIND: Four of a kinds
are played based on the rank of the four
of a kind. "Splitting" means to
divide the four of a kind into two pairs
and play one pair in the high hand and
one pair in the low hand.
2 through 6: The four of
a kind is played in the high hand
and the next two highest singletons
are played in the low hand.
7 through 10: The four of
a kind is split unless a King, Ace,
or Joker can be played in the low
hand.
Jack through
King: The four of a kind is split
unless an Ace or Joker can be played
in the low hand.
Aces: The
four of a kind is always split.
FOUR
OF A KIND AND A PAIR: The four of
a kind is always played in the high
hand and the pair is played in the low
hand.
FOUR OF A KIND AND THREE OF A KIND:
The three of a kind is always broken
and played as a pair in the low hand
leaving the four of a kind in the high
hand.
FIVE ACES: Three aces are played
in the high hand, and two aces are played
in the low hand unless the hand also
contains two kings. In this case,
all five aces are played in the high
hand and the pair of kings are played
in the low hand.
Payouts
All bets in
pai gow poker are paid off at even money
minus a 5 percent commission. Even money
means simply that the amount you wager
is the amount you'll be paid if your hand
wins. Remember that the player's
high hand must beat the banker's high
hand, and the player's low hand
must beat the banker's low hand in order
to win.
For example,
if you bet $25 and your hands beat both
the banker's hands, you'll win $23.75
($25.00 minus 5 percent commission, or
$1.25).
Placing Bets
Each
time you left-click inside the BET circle
near the base of the pai gow poker table,
you will place your current bet amount
on the table -- adding to any chips
that might already be there. To
remove your current bet amount from
the table, right-click inside the circle.
You can change the amount you will be
adding or subtracting from your bet
by selecting one of the chips in the
lower left corner of the table.
The chip with that is highlighted in
blue, it represents the amount by which
you will change your bet.
For example: If you wish to
place a $25 bet, make sure the $25 chip
in the lower left corner of the screen
is selected by clicking on it.
It should then be highlighted in blue.
You can now left-click in the betting
circle to place a $25 bet. If
you left-click a second time in the
betting circle, you will add another
$25 chip to your bet for a total of
$50. You could then select the
$5 chip and click in the betting circle
to increase your bet to $55. Right-clicking
in the betting circle performs the opposite
function by removing the amount from
your bet.
Starting the Deal
Once the minimum bet has been placed,
the DEAL button will illuminate
to indicate that it may now be clicked
to start the deal. Once the DEAL
button has been clicked, the game will
begin and you can no longer add to or
remove from your bet.
You may also notice
that the DEAL button may be illuminated,
but you do not have a bet placed on
the table. In this case, clicking
on the DEAL button will quickly
and automatically start the deal by
using the same bet used for the previous
hand. If, for example, you wagered
$10 on the previous hand, you may find
that the DEAL button is enabled
even though you have not placed a new
bet on the table. Clicking the
DEAL button will then start the
next deal with the same $10 starting
bet. If you do not have sufficient
funds to repeat your previous bet, or
this is your first hand of pai gow poker
during this session, then clicking the
DEAL button with no bet on the
table will start the next deal using
the currently selected chip amount as
your bet.
Playing the Game
After
the cards have been dealt, you must then
select two of the initial seven cards
to create your low hand. Click on
the card that you want to move to your
low hand, and it will quickly slide from
your high hand to your low hand.
You may also click on any card already
in the low hand to return it to your high
hand.
Once you have both cards in your low
hand selected, the Done button
will illuminate. Click the Done
button to indicate that you are satisfied
with your two hands and are prepared
to complete the game. The game
ends with the selection of the banker's
low hand, followed by the revealing
of the banker's two hands.
At
the end of the game, each hand will
be sorted and labeled with its highest
rank. The status bar along the
bottom of the screen will indicate which
hands win as well as the overall outcome
of the game.
Each
time you left-click inside the BET circle
near the base of the pai gow poker table,
you will place your current bet amount
on the table -- adding to any chips
that might already be there. To
remove your current bet amount from
the table, right-click inside the circle.
