Pai Gow Poker offers much the same excitement and opportunities to win as Pai Gow Poker played in a brick-and-mortar casino.
And you may be surprised to learn that you have a slight advantage when you play Pai Gow Poker online.
We’ll explain why and provide a few additional tips to give you even more chances to win!
Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-CARD deck (the standard 52-CARD deck + joker). Players and dealers compete in both brick-and-mortar and online casinos. Each player receives seven cards and the Dealer does the same. Each player attempts to create the best two-CARD and FIVE-CARD hands they can from the seven cards received.
A pair of aces is the best HAND you can create with a two-CARD HAND. The best FIVE-CARD HAND is a royal flush. If you have better two-CARD and FIVE-CARD hands than the Dealer, you win. If the two-CARD and FIVE-CARD hands tie, it’s a push. If you have better two-CARD and/or FIVE-CARD hands than the Dealer, you win. The House takes 5% commission on all your wins.
There is no strategy for forming your seven-CARD HAND when it is initially dealt to you. Once formed, however, your best chance of winning is to split your HAND the same way as the House. When you split your HAND the House way, you’re guaranteed to employ the same tactics as the Dealer in separating your HAND. There are no other tactical differences in splitting your HAND. By reducing the House advantage to its minimum advertised rate of 2.8%, you will turn Pai Gow Poker into a game of chance.
You can never expect to outdo the Dealer by using any alternative strategy to split your HAND. As such, the House advantage for unskilled players is greater than 2.8% (and can reach up to 90%). If you split your HAND the House way, there will be no difference between you and the Dealer in terms of strategy employed in the game. You are now playing a game of chance. Therefore, it is crucial that you always play an online Pai Gow Poker version that enables you to split your HAND the House way. Although many versions of Pai Gow Poker, such as real time gaming’s Pai Gow Poker, have a House way that is sufficiently complex that they cannot enable players to utilize it.
In Pai Gow Poker, you don’t attempt to make your high FIVE-CARD HAND as strong as possible. Rather, your ultimate goal is to create the strongest possible high HAND and low HAND. Frequently, in order to strengthen your low HAND, you need to sacrifice some of your high HAND strength. Remember, if you possess a pair of aces as part of your high HAND and lose your low HAND, you lose.
Utilizing a basic strategy based on the original seven cards you were dealt will likely reduce the House advantage by approximately two-tenths of a percent. In most cases, you will end up splitting your HAND exactly the same as the House would split your HAND. Although this isn’t true every time, these instances where you do not split your HAND similarly to the House will ultimately result in you being successful long-term. Here is the basic pai gow House strategy utilized by the vast majority of players:
Split the highest CARD into your two-CARD high HAND and place the next two-highest cards in your two-CARD low HAND. The House way dictates that you split all high CARD hands in this manner. You obtain no advantage over the Dealer.
Place one of the PAIRS in your high HAND and the two-highest cards remaining in your low HAND. Again, this is also the House way and provides no advantage.
Keep both PAIRS in your high HAND if they are lower value PAIRS (2’s through 6’s) or medium value PAIRS (7’s through 10’s) and include the highest CARD remaining in your low HAND. Place one pair in each HAND if you are holding two higher-value PAIRS (jacks through aces) or a pair and a medium-value pair. Include the highest pair in your high-HAND. Regardless of the variations in House ways that exist, nearly always you will split your HAND utilizing the same rules as the Dealer.
Regardless of what type of THREE PAIRS you hold, always include one pair in your two-CARD HAND and place the remaining two PAIRS in your high-HAND. This is how everyone splits THREE PAIRS — it is always done this way and results in no advantage.
Always include THREE of a KIND in your high-HAND unless you hold THREE aces. Then place one ace in your low-HAND and place the other two aces in your high-HAND. These are the House ways followed in almost all games.
Only once-in-a-lifetime situations occur when you receive straights or flushes where you have sufficient strength in both hands to defeat the Dealer by not splitting your hands according to the House way. Typically, you will want to include all straights and flushes in your high-HAND and include the remainder of your cards as your low-HAND. With regard to your high-HAND being very difficult to defeat, your low-HAND may be quite weak and unable to overcome.
However, if you can make two high-PAIRS from your cards, then divide the high-PAIRS equally between your hands. You will be giving up a straight or flush for a single-pair high-HAND and a single-pair low-HAND.
It is extremely rare that you have a six-CARD straight or flush and can make a pair without losing the straight or flush. In such instances, include one pair in your low-HAND. Otherwise, divide the highest CARD from among the six-CARD straight or flush into your low-HAND.
Divide a full House so that you have THREE-of-a-KIND in your high-HAND and a pair in your low-HAND. If you have a full House consisting of two PAIRS or two THREE-of-a-kinds, include one of each in your low-HAND. This is also universally how all rng pai gowsplit full houses.
If you do not possess a pair and are holding a low FOUR-of-a-KIND, include the FOUR-of-a-KIND in your high-HAND and include the next two-highest cards in your low-HAND. Divide FOUR-of-a-KIND so each HAND holds one pair if you are holding a medium or high FOUR-of-a-KIND. However, if you are holding FOUR aces (which includes having a joker), then include one ace in your low-HAND and THREE-of-a-KIND in your high-HAND.
Also, if you are holding FIVE aces (you have the joker), then divide them evenly — THREE-of-a-KIND in your high-HAND and two aces as a “bullet-proof” low-HAND. Again, regardless of how many variations exist for dividing FOUR-of-a-KIND within rng pai gow games, nearly all will employ similar strategies for doing so.
Develop an advanced strategy for splitting hands for playing Pai Gow Poker using a HAND-by-HAND strategy instead of using either House-way or basic-strategy. You can potentially cut down on the House advantage further by several tenths of a percent. Depending upon how lucky you get, you may be able to beat the House at online Pai Gow Poker.
A HAND-by-HAND strategy controls how each individual HAND is divided between both hands to maximize advantage over the Dealer. You will find numerous HAND-by-HAND strategies available for Pai Gow Poker — everywhere: books, magazines & on-line resources. one major benefit of playing Pai Gow Poker on line is that there is time and opportunity for consulting with an on-line cheat sheet prior to dividing each HAND.
Finally, while side Bets offered by Pai Gow Poker seem promising with huge payouts, side Bets are generally poor Bets with enormous House edges — normally above 8%! If you decide to take part in side betting, look for side Bets with minimal House edges (approximately 8%) like dealer's Bonus & Fortune Bets – which award based on the highest 5-CARD possible combinations in either player’s or Dealer’s 7-CARD combination.
Pai Gow Poker combines aspects of traditional American poker with traditional chinese paigow. It uses a 53-CARD deck (standard 52-CARD deck + joker). The objective of Pai Gow Poker is for both player and the dealer to create the best possible 2-CARD & 5-CARD poker combinations from their respective 7-cards.
Some methods for increasing the possibilities of winning at Pai Gow Poker include using House-way for splitting hands, creating optimal hands for both low & high hands and developing an advanced strategy utilizing HAND-by-HAND cheat sheets.
House-way for Pai Gow Poker implies that after receiving your 7 cards, that you split them strictly according to pre-determined rules established by the House — identical to how they split their own HAND. This reduces the House advantage down to its lowest possible amount (typically 2.8%), allowing Pai Gow Poker to become a game of chance solely.
There are strategies for dividing different types of hands that greatly affect your probability of succeeding in Pai Gow Poker — such as straights & flushes — although they vary depending on the specific type of HAND provided by the dealing process. To illustrate: it is important to always split an entire House so that THREE-of-a-KIND exists in your high HAND & a pair exists in your low HAND. Dividing hands differently based on particular deals made will certainly improve your overall performance.
Although Pai Gow Poker side Bets provide massive rewards, generally speaking they represent terrible wagers with large House edges — typically greater than 8%! If you decide to participate in side-betting; select Bets with smallest House edges (nearly 8%) — e.g., Dealer’s Bonus & Fortune Bets — that reward based on highest 5-CARD combinations achievable either in player’s or Dealer’s set of seven cards
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