The Rules

The object of pai gow poker is to beat the dealer in two poker hands that you create from seven cards you’re dealt. The table can have up to six players and a dealer. Pai gow poker is played with a standard fifty-two-card deck plus one joker. The joker is used either as an ace or as any card needed to complete a straight or flush. It cannot be used as a wild card in other ways. The usual poker rankings are used in pai gow poker, with one exception–five aces (four aces plus the joker) is the highest hand possible.

When you approach the pai gow table, you should first be aware of the minimum-maximum betting limits for the table. After claiming a seat at the table, place your bet in what’s called the betting circle. The dealer then shakes a container with three dice to determine which players will be dealt to first. Each player’s position is assigned a number from one to seven, including the dealer’s position. Position number one is located to the right of the dealer. When the total on the thrown dice exceeds seven, subtract seven from the total and the difference indicates the person who will be dealt first. For example, if the total on the dice is twelve, the player in position number five will receive the first hand.

The dealer then deals everyone seven cards face down, starting with the player whose number came up on the dice throw. Each player then sorts his or her cards from highest to lowest. Then players sort their cards into a five-card hand (high hand) and a two-card hand (low hand). This is called setting the cards.

The following is the rank of pai gow poker hands, which is the same as for regular poker with the exception on the highest hand:

When you sort your seven cards into two hands, the five card hand must rank higher than the two-card hand. This means, for example, that if you are dealt two pairs, you must put the higher of the two pairs in your five-card hand. If a player has a higher-ranking two-card hand than his five-card hand, then the player automatically loses his or her wager. (This is known as a foul hand.) For example, if you sort your seven cards into J-J for the low hand and A-K-Q-8-5 for the high hand, you lose. After creating your two hands, place them face down in their correct spots on the layout: the two card hand in the box marked “low hand” and the five-card hand in the box marked “high hand.”

Remember that your five-card hand (high hand must rank higher than your two-card (low hand) according to the poker hands chart above. You want each to be as good as your seven cards allow. The best possible low hand would be a pair of aces. Below are some examples of pai gow hands and how you should set them:

These three examples should help you understand the basics of splitting the seven cards into a high hand and a low hand. Remember that the joker can be used as an ace or as any card needed to complete a straight or flush. To show how a joker can alect a hand, let’s change example three above by dealing a joker instead of one of the threes.

How do you win at pai gow poker? To win your bet, you must beat the dealer on both the high hand and the low hand. You lose if the dealer wins both hands. If you and the dealer have hands of the same ranking (which usually only happens in the two-card low hand), it’s called a copy. The dealer or banker wins all copies. Most hands in pai gow poker are pushes (ties): you win one hand and the dealer wins the other hand. In those cases, neither player nor dealer wins and the bet remains on the table. The player can pick it up, leave it for the next hand, or add to it.

In determining who wins the five-card hand, the standard poker hierarchy prevails with the addition of the unique pai gow hand of five aces (four aces plus the joker). In terms of the low hand, the hierarchy also prevails, although with only two cards it’s impossible to have anything other than the lowest two ranks of hands: a pair or a high card. It doesn’t take much to win the low hand. Many times the low hand will be won by whoever has the higher card. For example, if you have in your low hand a seven and a Jack and the dealer has a five and an eight, you win. Since neither hand holds a pair, it’s a battle of high cards and your Jack beats his eight.

Each player plays against the dealer or banker. After each player has set his or her high hand and low hand, the dealer or banker sets his hand. Dealers have strict rules on how they set their hands: they have no choices. If a player is banking a game instead of the casino, the player banking the game is free to set the hand any way he or she wishes, just like the other players, as long as the two-card hand is lower than the five-card hand.

While the players are setting their cards, the dealer’s cards remain face down on the table. If the casino dealer is banking the game, then the dealer can help set your hand. So if you get con-fused, be sure to ask the casino dealer what would be the right play. The dealer is allowed to help you because he has no idea what cards he has at this point, since he doesn’t look at his cards until all the players have sorted their hands into high hand and low hand. Because the dealer must follow strict rules in setting his hand and because he doesn’t know what’s in his hand, he can help players who request assistance without the possibility of bias.

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. For example, if you bet $25 and both your hands beat both the dealer’s hands, you’ll win $23.75 ($25 minus 5 percent commission, or $1.25), plus, your $25 bet will remain in the betting circle. It’s important to make your bets in increments of $5. When bets aren’t in $5 increments, the casinos will round up the commission to the nearest $0.25, so you lose a little more of your winnings. This 5 percent commission is how the house makes its 2.3 percent advan-tage-along with the fact that dealer wins all ties or copy hands.