Pai Gow Poker Rules Strategy Tips


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	Pai Gow Poker is a modern rules version of the ancient Chinese game called "Pai Gow" thats played with domino type game tiles. . In the 1800s, an Americanized version of the game called "Pai Gow Poker" was invented that combined the Asian game with Poker rules and used standard playing cards instead of the original tiles. . More recently, in the mid 1980s, an updated version of Pai Gow Poker was developed for the California card rooms and another version was also made for Nevada casinos. . Here we focus on the rules and strategy of the widely played Nevada style game. . If you enjoy a challenging, slower paced game with a very reasonable house edge (about 2.6% against a skillful player), then you will probably like this one. Pai Gow is popular in casinos everywhere and can be played online for both free and real money.
	Pai Gow Poker - Nevada Style
	Nevada style Pai Gow Poker is played on a blackjack type table, with a 53 card deck (standard deck with a Joker). The Joker may be used as an Ace or as any part of a Straight or a Flush. The table layout (below) accomodates up to six players and a dealer. . The object of the game is to beat the "banker". The banker is usually the dealer (but can sometimes be a qualifying player). . . The 53 card deck hand values are same traditional poker except that five Aces is the highest possible hand (higher than a Royal Flush) and in Pai Gow, A 2 3 4 5 is the second highest Straight (just under A K Q J T). . Like most Poker games, Aces can be played as either high or low in Straights and Straight Flushes.
	Two card hands are also played in Pai Gow. . The highest two card hand is a pair of Aces. The lowest hand is 3, 2. (Consecutive denominations and two cards of the same suit, as in Straights and Flushes, do not add any value to these two card hands.)

	Play Procedure and Basic Rules

	First, all player bets are placed in the player number spots on the board. Then from an automatic shuffling machine, the dealer distributes stacks of seven cards to each of the players. The first player to receive cards is determined by a random number program with a lighted display in the center of the table (some casinos use dice to randomly pick first hands). The dealer then offers the "banker" job to each of the players. . If all decline the opportunity to finance the game for that hand, the dealer serves as the banker.
	All the players and the banker then "set" their seven cards into two face down hands, a five card "Highest" hand and a two card "2nd Highest" hand (often called the "High" and "Low" hands). . The five card hand must always be higher in value than the two card hand. . If a hand is accidentally or otherwise set with the two card hand higher in value than the five card hand, it is called a "Foul" hand and is an automatic loser. . For the player to win, . both of his two hands must be higher than the bankers two hands. The banker wins when both of his hands are higher than both of the player's. . If the wins are split between the player and banker, the hand is a tie or "push". You will find that there are a lot of pushes in this game.
	Exact tie hands are called "copies". As an example, both player and banker hold A,K two card hands or the same 6,5,4,3,2 straight as their highest five card hands. Both the two card hands and the five card hands are examples of copies. In Pai Gow, the banker wins all copies.
	After all the player's hands have been set, the dealer turns all the banker's cards face up. The banker then sets his hand. Then in order, starting with the player who received the first cards, the dealer turns up the player's set hands to either declare a push or pay the winnings to either the player or the banker.

	Even though the dealer wins all the copies (tie hands), Pai Gow is almost a break even game. To compensate for this, the house charges the players 5% of all player bets won. The 5% is collected when the player wins are paid. . . This plus the copies advantage boils down to about 2.6% overall house edge.
	Pai Gow Poker - Hand Setting Strategy

	This hand setting strategy will make perfect, optimal plays for about 95% of the hand setting situations that you will face. For the other unpredictable 5%, your plays will either be perfect or near perfect. "Front2" refers to setting your two card, second highest hands. "Back5" refers to your five card, highest hands.


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