Online Pai Gow Poker
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Pai gow poker strategy
Universally recognized as good Pai Gow Poker strategy is to be the banker as often as
you can, because ties always go to the banker and therefore, the banker has a statistical edge.
Even though it is the banker who must pay a 5% commission on all wins,
commissions are calculated only after all wins have been measured against all losses.
Once you have located a casino that allows players to be the banker, try to select a
table with relatively few players who are making bets much higher than your usual minimum bet.
The fewer the players, the more frequently you can be the banker.
Then you want to split your hands according to an optimal strategy. The house's dealer,
actually, must split his hands according to the "House Way." House Way rules can be quite
complex and can vary from casino to casino though they of course always represent a close to
optimal strategy. It is recommended that you procure a copy of the casino's "House Way" and
play according to its required hand divisions.
Below you will find a general and simplified guide to setting your Pai Gow Poker hands.
Setting Pai Gow Poker Hands
|
Your Hand |
Set Your Five Card Hand |
Set Your Two Card Hand |
|
No Pair |
Highest card |
Second and third highest cards |
|
One Pair |
Pair |
Next two highest cards |
|
Two Pair with Pair of Aces |
Pair of aces |
Other pair |
|
Two Pair |
Normally split. Unless your high pair is Jacks or 10's and you have an ace, keep the two pair together and place the ace in the two card hand. If your high pair is nines or lower and you have a ace or a king, keep the two pair together and place the ace or king in the two card hand |
|
|
Three Pair |
Second and third highest pairs |
Highest pair |
|
Three of a Kind |
If you have 3 aces, play one ace in the two card hand and the pair of aces in the five card hand. With all other's keep the three of a kind together in the high hand |
|
|
5, 6 or 7 Card Straight |
Keep the lowest cards to complete the straight |
Two highest cards that keep the five card hand's straight |
|
Straight and Two Pair |
Disregard the straight and play as two pair |
|
|
5, 6, or 7 Card Flush |
Keep the lowest complete flush |
Two highest cards that keep the five card hand's flush |
|
Flush and Two Pair |
Disregard the flush and play as two pair |
|
|
Flush with Full House including the Joker |
Disregard the flush and play as a full house |
|
|
Full House |
Three of a kind |
Pair |
|
Three of a Kind and Two Pair |
Three of a kind with the lower pair as a full house |
Higher pair |
|
Four of a Kind - 2's through 6's |
Four of a kind |
Next two highest cards |
|
Four of a Kind - 7's through Jacks |
Split them except if you have a king or ace you can play in the two card hand |
|
|
Four of a Kind - Queens, Kings and Aces |
Always split |
|
|
5, 6 or 7 Card Flush |
Keep the lowest cards to complete the straight flush |
Two highest cards that keep the five card hand's straight flush |
|
Flush and Two Pair |
Disregard the straight flush and play as two pair |
|
|
Five Aces including the Joker |
Place a pair of aces in the two card hand |
|
|
Five Aces with a Pair of Kings |
Place the kings in the two card hand |
|
For the advanced player, there is a book which is a sine qua non of the field,
Stanford Wong's "Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker." It contains very in-depth
analysis of the most favorable hand setting strategies as well as guidelines for
playing in such diverse locales as California card houses, where groups of players
called "corporations" sometimes bankroll the games, and in Nevada casinos.
At the end of the book are some useful quizzes and practice hands.
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