How To Play Online Casino Pai Gow Poker
Pai gow poker is a popular choice at traditional and online casinos. It is a game steeped in ancient Asian history but has been modernized by exchanging the traditional Chinese tiles for regular cards and fashioning hand rankings on the game of poker.
Pai gow is played on a small table, around the size of a blackjack table, with up to six players plus the banker. Despite the presence of other players, however, the game is played against the house. Played with a standard deck of 52 cards, pai gow includes the use of a Joker, which acts as an Ace or wild card to complete certain hands.
To begin playing after players place their bets, the cards are shuffled and the dealer deals seven different stacks – each containing seven cards. The number of stacks is not dependent on how many players are around the table. Players then view their stacks and divide them into two different hands – one containing five cards and another containing two.
On a specially demarcated area on the pai gow poker table, players place their hands – the five card hand behind the two card hand. The object is beat the banker’s hand. If both the player’s hands beat the banker, he wins. However, if only one wins and one loses, this is considered a ‘push’ and nobody wins. If the banker’s hands beat both the player’s hands, the player loses. If both the banker’s hands match the player’s hands exactly, this is considered a tie, although the banker wins.
Players should take into account that their five-card hand needs to be of a higher value than the two-card hand. Also, it is worth remembering that the house usually takes a 5% commission on all winning hands to maintain an edge.
It is possible to improve your odds at pai gow poker by learning the game’s basic strategy. This is a list, usually in chart form, which has mathematically calculated the best hands to make with the cards dealt. So, for example, if you were dealt no pair, the basic strategy tells you to use your highest card in the back hand and the second and third highest in the front.
