Online Pai Gow Poker

How not to get burned while playing pai gow poker

People have had all kinds of fun with Pai Gow poker.

One gamer at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas got the chance to play cards next to the actor Verne J. Troya, who plays "Mini-Me" in the Austin Powers movies and who played himself in "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas." The star was continually hounded for autographs while playing and at one point had $500 out on a bet when somebody came up and asked whether he had ever met Madonna.

Then there was the case of Robert Gomez. Implicated in a scheme to steal money from a car dealership, at 6a.m. on June 10, 2002 he was arrested in Larry Flynt's Hustler Casino in Gardena, California. He was at a Pai Gow Poker table, playing with $818,000 in chips.

The mother of all Pai Gow Poker stories would seem to be that of what transpired in the Imperial Palace casino in Las Vegas on July 3, 2004. A small blaze in the casino escalator sent smoke into the casino and into the upper-floor restaurants. Though a smoky haze was filtering into the gaming area, people seemed more interested in play than in saving their lives. A certain Brad Jones told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was playing Pai Gow Poker when smoke started to infiltrate the area. He and other gamblers just watched the smoke thicken more than 10 minutes, expecting the casino staff to react. "After 15 minutes, it (the smoke) turned black, and when it turned black, it started pouring through the doors." At about that time, firefighters rushed in, Brad Jones and the other casino patrons as well as the staff were evacuated.

We are the first to say you should have fun playing Pai Gow Poker. But for goodness sake; part of your gambling strategy has to be to stay alive and therefore, if you notice that a casino has caught fire, do not divide your 7-card deal into two hands, do not order a drink, do not whistle "Stand Up For Jesus" in whole notes; leave the premises.