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Pai
gow (pronounced pie-gow) poker originated some
time in the late 1800s when the Chinese helped
construct the U.S. railroads. The game is believed
to be a combination of American poker and pai
gow, a Chinese domino game.
Objective of the Game
To have
a 2-card hand and 5-card hand of higher rank
than the banker's 2-card hand and 5-card hand.
How
to play
Pai
gow poker is played with one 52-card deck and
a Joker. The Bets. Select an initial bet
amount and click Deal to begin the game.
There is a minimum bet of $5 and a maximum bet
of $100.
The Cards. Aces may be considered
high or low (i.e.. the ace can be used in an
A-K-Q-J-10 or 5-4-3-2-A straight). The
Joker can only be used to complete a Straight,
a Flush, a Straight Flush or a Royal Flush --
otherwise, the Joker is considered an Ace.
The Deal. Each player is initially
dealt 7 cards. The player then forms a
5-card hand called a high hand and a
2-card hand called a low hand.
The high hand must be equal to or higher
in rank than the low hand. The low hand
will always be either a pair or a high card
hand. See the following page for a list
of hands and their rankings.
To win, the player's two hands must both
have a higher rank than the banker's two hands
(i.e.. the high hand must beat the banker's
high hand, and the low hand must beat banker's
low hand). Should the player win one hand
and lose the other, the wager is considered
a push and is neither won nor lost.
In all other cases, the player loses.
When a player's hand and banker's hand are of
equal rank, it is called a copy, and
is won by the banker.
Pai Gow Poker Hands
Below are examples of
all the pai gow poker hands ranked from highest
to lowest. In pai gow poker 10-J-Q-K-A
is the highest straight, A-2-3-4-5 is the next
highest, followed by 9-10-J-Q-K, etc.
1.
Five Aces
2.
Royal Flush
3.
Straight Flush
4.
Four of a Kind
5.
Full House
6.
Flush
7.
Straight
8.
Three of a Kind
9.
Two Pair
10.
Pair
11.
High Card
A high card hand is valued only by its highest
card.
Banker's Strategy
The
following is a list of rules that are followed
when playing the banker's hand ("the house way").
These rules are followed regardless of how the
player has chosen to play his or her hand:
NO
PAIR: The highest card is played in the
high hand and the next two highest cards in
the low hand.
ONE PAIR: The pair is played in the
high hand and the next two highest cards in
the low hand.
TWO PAIR: Two pairs are handled differently
depending on the rank of the pairs.
"Splitting" a pair means to place the highest
ranking pair into the high hand and the other
pair into the low hand. Pairs are categorized
as follows: low pair (2's through 6's), medium
pair (7's through 10's), and high pair (Jacks
through Kings and Aces).
Pair
of Aces and Any Pair: Aces are played
in the high hand, and the other pair in
the low hand.
Low
Pair and Low Pair: The pairs are split
unless the hand also has a single King,
Ace, or Joker. In this case, both
pairs are played in the high hand and the
highest singletons are played in the low
hand.
Low Pair and
Medium Pair: The pairs are split unless
the hand also has a single King, Ace, or
Joker. In this case, both pairs are
played in the high hand and the highest
singletons are played in the low hand.
Low
Pair and High Pair: The pairs are split
unless the hand also has a single Ace or
Joker. When the hand has a single
Ace or Joker, both pairs are played in the
high hand and the highest singletons in
the low hand.
Medium
Pair and Medium Pair: The pairs are
split unless the hand also has a single
Ace or Joker. When the hand has a
single Ace or Joker, both pairs are played
in the high hand and the highest singletons
in the low hand.
Medium Pair and
High Pair: Pairs are always split.
High Pair and
High pair: Pairs are always split.
THREE
PAIR: The highest pair is played in the
low hand.
THREE OF A KIND: The three of a kind
in always played in the high hand unless they
are Aces. If the three of a kind consists
of Aces, a pair of Aces is played in the high
hand with the remaining Ace and the next highest
card in the low hand.
THREE OF A KIND TWICE: The highest three
of a kind is always broken and played as a pair
in the low hand.
STRAIGHT, FLUSH, STRAIGHT FLUSH, ROYAL FLUSH:
These hands are played differently depending
on the contents of the hand.
High
Card Only: If choosing between a straight,
a flush, or a straight flush, whichever
hand leaves the highest two cards for the
low hand is chosen.
One
Pair: The pair is played in the low
hand only if leaves a straight, flush, or
straight flush for the high hand.
Two
pair: The hand is played using the two
pair rule.
Three
pair: The hand is played using the three
pair rule.
Three
of a Kind: A pair from the three of
a kind is played in the low hand.
Full
House: The hand is played using the
full house rule.
FULL
HOUSE: The pair is played in the low hand
unless the pair consists of 2's and the hand
contains an Ace and King singletons. In
this case, the full house is played in the high
hand and the Ace and King are played in the
low hand.
THREE OF A KIND AND TWO PAIRS: The highest
of the two pairs is played in the low hand.
FOUR OF A KIND: Four of a kinds are played
based on the rank of the four of a kind.
"Splitting" means to divide the four of a kind
into two pairs and play one pair in the high
hand and one pair in the low hand.
2 through 6:
The four of a kind is played in the high
hand and the next two highest singletons
are played in the low hand.
7 through 10:
The four of a kind is split unless a King,
Ace, or Joker can be played in the low hand.
Jack through
King: The four of a kind is split unless
an Ace or Joker can be played in the low
hand.
Aces: The
four of a kind is always split.
FOUR
OF A KIND AND A PAIR: The four of a kind
is always played in the high hand and the
pair is played in the low hand.
FOUR OF A KIND AND THREE OF A KIND:
The three of a kind is always broken and played
as a pair in the low hand leaving the four
of a kind in the high hand.
FIVE ACES: Three aces are played in
the high hand, and two aces are played in
the low hand unless the hand also contains
two kings. In this case, all five aces
are played in the high hand and the pair of
kings are played in the low hand.
Payouts
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. Remember
that the player's high hand must beat the banker's
high hand, and the player's low hand
must beat the banker's low hand in order to
win.
For
example, if you bet $25 and your hands beat
both the banker's hands, you'll win $23.75 ($25.00
minus 5 percent commission, or $1.25).
Placing
Bets
Each
time you left-click inside the BET circle near
the base of the pai gow poker table, you will
place your current bet amount on the table --
adding to any chips that might already be there.
To remove your current bet amount from the table,
right-click inside the circle.
You can change the amount you will be adding
or subtracting from your bet by selecting one
of the chips in the lower left corner of the
table. The chip with that is highlighted
in blue, it represents the amount by which you
will change your bet.
For example: If you wish to place a $25
bet, make sure the $25 chip in the lower left
corner of the screen is selected by clicking
on it. It should then be highlighted in
blue. You can now left-click in the betting
circle to place a $25 bet. If you left-click
a second time in the betting circle, you will
add another $25 chip to your bet for a total
of $50. You could then select the $5 chip
and click in the betting circle to increase
your bet to $55. Right-clicking in the
betting circle performs the opposite function
by removing the amount from your bet.
Starting the Deal
Once
the minimum bet has been placed, the DEAL
button will illuminate to indicate that it may
now be clicked to start the deal. Once
the DEAL button has been clicked, the
game will begin and you can no longer add to
or remove from your bet.
You may also notice that the DEAL button
may be illuminated, but you do not have a bet
placed on the table. In this case, clicking
on the DEAL button will quickly and automatically
start the deal by using the same bet used for
the previous hand. If, for example, you
wagered $10 on the previous hand, you may find
that the DEAL button is enabled even
though you have not placed a new bet on the
table. Clicking the DEAL button
will then start the next deal with the same
$10 starting bet. If you do not have sufficient
funds to repeat your previous bet, or this is
your first hand of pai gow poker during this
session, then clicking the DEAL button
with no bet on the table will start the next
deal using the currently selected chip amount
as your bet.
Playing the Game
After
the cards have been dealt, you must then select
two of the initial seven cards to create your
low hand. Click on the card that you want
to move to your low hand, and it will quickly
slide from your high hand to your low hand.
You may also click on any card already in the
low hand to return it to your high hand.
Once you have both cards in your low hand
selected, the Done button will illuminate.
Click the Done button to indicate that
you are satisfied with your two hands and
are prepared to complete the game. The
game ends with the selection of the banker's
low hand, followed by the revealing of the
banker's two hands.
At the end of the game, each hand will be
sorted and labeled with its highest rank.
The status bar along the bottom of the screen
will indicate which hands win as well as the
overall outcome of the game.
Each
time you left-click inside the BET circle near
the base of the pai gow poker table, you will
place your current bet amount on the table --
adding to any chips that might already be there.
To remove your current bet amount from the table,
right-click inside the circle.
