Rules
- Players and dealer each receive 7 cards. They must form a 5-card high hand and a 2-card low hand.
- The high hand must outrank the low hand (e.g., a pair of Kings cannot be placed in the low hand if the high hand is weaker).
- The dealer sets hands according to a predetermined house way. Players can request help or guidance to avoid fouls.
- Outcomes:
- Win both hands → Player wins.
- Split (win one, lose one) → Push.
- Lose both hands → Dealer wins.
- The Joker is semi-wild: it acts as an Ace or can complete a straight/flush.
Strategy Basics
- Balance your hands: Don’t leave the low hand too weak; aim for two competitive hands.
- Pairs: Usually keep pairs in the high hand, unless splitting strengthens both hands.
- Two pairs: Often split between high and low unless small pairs with strong kickers.
- Trips: Keep in the high hand; send strongest two kickers to the low, except Aces (house way may split).
- Bankroll: Pushes are common (~40% of hands), so swings are slower than games like blackjack.
Common Setting Patterns
- One pair: Keep in high; strongest side cards in low.
- Two pair: Split unless both are small and kickers are strong.
- Full house: Break into trips + pair (trips high, pair low).
- Straights/flushes: Usually keep intact unless splitting strengthens low significantly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What’s the house edge in Pai Gow Poker?
- The house edge is about 2.5–2.8%, mostly from the dealer banking advantage. Commission-free variations may adjust this.
- Why are there so many pushes?
- Because players need to win both hands. Many rounds result in each side winning one, leading to pushes (about 40%).
- What happens if I set my hands incorrectly?
- This is called a foul hand. The dealer will reset your cards to the house way, and you automatically lose.
- Can I bank the hand?
- Some casinos allow players to act as the banker, rotating among the table. This slightly lowers the house edge but increases variance.
Why this figure is attributed rather than computed
Pai Gow Poker resists enumeration for a different reason than Ultimate Texas Hold'em. The arithmetic is not the obstacle - seven cards from a 53-card pack is a large but finite number of hands. The obstacle is that the answer depends on a rule set that is not universal. Every hand has to be split into a high hand and a low hand by the house way, and the house way is the casino's own document: they differ between properties, and the edge moves with them. Add the 5% commission and the rotating bank, and the figure becomes a property of the table rather than of the game.
That is the same reason keno is published here as a pay table rather than as a game, and the reason slots carries no figure at all. Where the inputs are the operator's rather than the deck's, a computed number would be a guess with a decimal point on it.