How to Play Pai Gow Poker: Welcome to the Game
With the variation of poker games throughout casinos around the world, Pai Gow Poker has been popular. It is a lot of fun and a bit different from your traditional poker game for a few different reasons. Today, we are going to discuss everything you need to know about How to play Pai Gow Poker.
Objective of Pai Gow Poker & What Makes It Different
The objective of Pai Gow Poker is to create two separate poker hands with the seven cards the player was dealt. They will need to create a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand. The dealer will be using a 53 card deck (standard 52 cards plus one joker). The joker, however, will be used as a wild card but can only be used as a high card if in sequential order.
It is also important to know that instead of facing off against the entire table like traditional poker, the player is playing only against the dealer.
Game Rules
The dealer will begin by rolling dice if you are playing at a table to determine which player will get drawn the first hand. The players will wager and then be able to view their cards. The low card hand can either be a pair or a high card rank, and once the player puts their cards down, they are no longer allowed to alter them.
The dealer will then play his hand to form the best pairing. The high hand must have a higher ranking than the lower hand; otherwise, it will be considered a foul hand, and that will cause you to lose automatically. The player must have a better hand than the dealer on the high hand and the low hand to win. If you win one of the hands and the dealer wins the other, it is considered a push, and the player is awarded whatever they wagered initially.
Pai Gow Poker Strategy & Hand Rankings
Now that we know exactly how to play, it is important to know which hands will be better and how much you would win if any of them occurred on a winning hand to plan the best pai gow poker strategy. It is important to note that some of these payouts will be based on all seven cards together, while others will be based on the five card high hand. We will list each hand from low to high and their payout. If not noted as anything else, it is an even payout for the player.
- High Card: If there is no other pairing, it will be based on the highest card in the hand.
- Pair: This means that two of these cards have the same value with different suits
- Two Pairs: The hand would consist of two different two-card pairs
- Three of a Kind: This would be three cards of the same value, all in a single hand. This would pay out $3 for every $1 spent
- Straight: A straight is five cards in sequential order regardless of their suit. The player would win $2 for every $1 wagered
- Flush: A flush has five cards, all in the same suit in a single hand. For every $1 wagered, the player would net $4
- Full House: A full house is a three of a kind and a pair combined in a single hand. If the player wagered $1, they would net an additional $5
- Four of a Kind: A four of a kind is having all four cards of the same value on a deck or three of a single card and a joker. The player would win $25 for every $1 wagered
- Straight Flush: A straight flush is having all five cards in the same suit in sequential order. If the player has a straight flush, they would win $50 for every dollar wagered.
- Royal Flush: A royal flush is an ace, king, queen, jack, and 10 in a single suit. The player would win $150 for every dollar bet.
- 5 Aces: This would mean the player would have all four aces on the deck plus the joker as a wild card to be the fifth ace. This would win you $400 for every $1 you bet.
- Wild 7-card Straight Flush: This would be a straight flush but with the use of all seven cards with the potential of using the joker in the hand as well. If you had this hand, you would win $1,000 for every $1 wagered.
- Royal Flush & Royal Match: This is the combination of a royal flush and having the king and the queen of a second suit as your seven cards. If you manage to have this hand, you will win $2,000 for every $1 wagered.
- Natural 7-card Straight Flush: The natural seven card straight flush is the straight flush but without the use of a joker. This would net the player $8,000 for every $1 wagered.
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Now that we know everything about Pai Gow Poker, it is time to get into the action. Make sure to have some money in your bankroll, and let’s take advantage of some dealers and win cash in Pai Gow Poker! Remember, if you want to know more about Slots Paradise, check our social media and join our community.