Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker is a unique combination of Pai Gow Chinese Dominos game along with the combination of poker. Sometimes referred to as 2-handed poker, Pai Gow Poker was introduced to American Casinos in the early 1980’s by Fred Wolfe, a land-based entrepreneur. If you know the basics of playing regular poker, than Pai Gow Poker shouldn’t be too hard to learn. Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-card deck, which includes one Joker. However, the Joker can only be used as an extra A or to complete certain hands. There are some basic rules to follow when playing Pai Gow Poker that need to be learned so that you don’t look foolish if you attempt to play in a land-based casino.

The object of the game of Pai Gow Poker is pretty simple; make your best 5-card hand along with your best 2-card hand out of the 7 cards that will be dealt to you. These hands are usually referred to as “High” or “On Top” hand for the 5-card hand, and “Small” or “Low” hand for the 2 card hand. After this, both of your hands must beat the dealer’s two hands to win. If the player’s hands only beat one of the dealer’s hands, the game is a push or tie, and bets are returned to the player. The player loses if both the dealer’s hands beat both the player’s hands. A push or tie happens often, so before you jump right in head 1st, you may want to learn some basic strategies that will help you become a better overall player.

One of the most important rules to follow is that your smaller hand can NOT be greater than your bigger hand. For example, a high hand with the value of just ace high and a low hand of a pair of 6’s is not allowed, since the low hand holds a higher value than the high hand. There are some tips that can help you understand some of the higher percentages of playing Pai Gow Poker. Many strategy guides have been written over the years all claiming to give you a better edge to winning at Pai Gow, however, no strategy is a sure bet. Keep in mind that playing the strongest 5 card hand isn’t always the best option when playing this style of Pai Gow Poker. For instance, if a player is dealt A-A-K-K-K-5-4, instead of playing the obvious full house for the 5-card hand, and 5;4 high card for the 2-card hand, a player will want to consider playing K-K-K-5-4 as a 3-of-a-kind for the 5-card hand, while playing A-A for the 2-card hand, making both hands strong. This gives you a better overall chance of winning both hands against the dealer. The more you play Pai Gow Poker, the more knowledge will be learned on how to play both hands overall. Online casino play gives players the option to play their games for free, without risking any money, and can learn a great deal a lot cheaper than trying to learn in a land-based casino losing hundreds of dollars.