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Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker is an Americanized version of PaiGow, an ancient Chinese game originally played with Chinese dominoes, while Pai Gow poker is played with playing cards using poker hand rankings.

Objective

The objective of the game for a player is to split seven dealt cards in his/her hand into two poker hands: a five-card poker hand and a two-card poker hand, so that beat the Dealer’s hands.

Cards

Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-card deck (standard 52-card deck plus a single joker). Cards are shuffled after each round.

The individual cards are ranked in the following falling order: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (low, but only when part of an A-2-3-4-5 Straight or Straight Flush).

Note: the Joker can only be used to complete a Straight, Flush or Straight Flush, otherwise it is treated as an Ace. For example, if your hand consists of 4-5-6-7-Joker-K-Q, Joker here is used to complete straight/straight flush (depending on the suit). Thus, Joker-4-5-6-7 combination is treated as 4-5-6-7-8, where Joker is 8, but not 3. Joker is always used to make the best possible combination.

Betting Tips

To: Tip:
Select a chip Click the required chip at the bottom right of the table
Place your bet Click the corresponding betting field
Increase your bet Every click on the betting field adds one chip of the selected value to your stack
Remove your bet
  • To remove your bet in window mode, click the betting field with CTRL held
  • Select X-chip and click on the betting field
  • Just drag it away
Remove all the placed bets Click the CLEAR button
Play again Click NEW GAME to remove all the chips and cards from the table once the game is completed
Repeat your bet Click REBET to place the same stakes as in the previous round and start dealing

Betting Limits

  • Min/Max sign indicates minimum and maximum amount that can be placed on each betting field.

Play

Once your bet is placed click DEAL to start dealing cards. You are dealt 7 cards face-up, while the dealer is dealt 7 cards face down. You need to split 7-card hand into two poker hands: 5-card (high) and 2-card hand (low). You can arrange the hands yourself or use HOUSE WAY button to arrange the hand automatically by the rules of the casino.

If you arrange the hand yourself, select 2 cards by clicking them and then click ARRANGE button.

Note: your five-card hand must rank higher than the two-card hand.

If you want your cards to be arranged automatically, click HOUSE WAY button. Once your cards are arranged, Dealer’s cards are revealed and split into two hands. Your hands and Dealer’s hands are compared.

Game outcomes

  • If each of your hands beats the dealer’s corresponding hands, your bet is paid 1:1 minus 5% of the bet that goes to casino.
  • If only one of your hands beats the dealer and the other loses, then you push. In other words, any combination of win and loss across both hands results in a push. In this case your bet is returned to you.
  • If one of your hands ties to the dealer and the other hand wins, you push.
  • On each hand, ties go to the dealer.
  • If one of your hands loses to the dealer and your other hand ties to him then you lose.
  • If both of your hands are copies of the dealer’s hands (both hands tie), then you lose. All copies go to the dealer.

Hands ranking and comparing

When comparing two-card and five-card poker hands, hands are ranked first by category and then by individual cards.

The two-card hand can be either a pair (One Pair) or two individual cards (High Card). The highest two-card hand is a pair of Aces and the lowest two-card hand is a 2-3.

A pair is always higher than any set of two cards of different rank (2-2 is higher than A-K).

Between two One Pair hands, the one in which a pair card is higher, wins (J-J is higher than 6-6).

While comparing two High card hands, the highest ranking cards are compared, if those are equal, then the value of the second card is considered (Q-A is higher than Q-J).

The five-card hand is ranked as in Poker, except that an A-2-3-4-5 straight is the second highest straight. The five-card hands are compared according to the categories, from highest to lowest. Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower category (so, for example, any Three of a Kind beats any Two Pairs). In case of a tie between hands in the same category, the rank of the highest individual card (“kicker”) determines the winner.

House Way rules

The Dealer is generally required to set their hands in a pre-specified manner, called the "house way". You can also use the House Way on your hands, by clicking the House Way button.

The "low" refers to the two-card hand and the "high" refers to the five-card hand.

Combination in the Hand Dealt Rule Applied Exception
High Card Set the highest card in the high hand and the second and third highest cards in the low hand
One pair Set the pair in the high hand and two highest singleton cards in the low hand
Two pairs Play Two Pairs in the high hand Split two pairs in the following combinations:
  • One pair is 7’s or greater and no ace singleton.
  • Pair of jacks or better + 6’s or better + an ace singleton.
  • Pair of aces a+ any other pair.
Three pairs Place the highest pair in the low hand
Three of a kind Set Three of a Kind in the high hand Always split three aces, playing a pair of aces in the high hand and ace-high in the low hand
Full house Play Pair in the low hand and Three of a Kind in the high hand In case of [Full House (consisting of any three of a kind + a pair of 2’s) + Ace/King] combination, Ace/King must be played in the low hand and Full House in the high hand
Full house with Three of a kind and Two pairs Play the highest of two pairs in the low hand
Three of a kind twice Play the higher pair in the low hand and the smaller three of a kind in the high hand
Straight
Flush
Straight Flush
Royal Flush
Play Straight/ Flush/ Straight Flush/Royal Flush in the high hand
  • Play as a Two pairs if the following combinations:
  • Any two pairs + an ace singleton.
  • Pair of jacks + a pair of 6’s.
  • Pair of aces + any other pair.
  • With a six- or seven-card Straight or Flush put the highest hand possible in low while maintaining the straight or flush in high hand.
  • Play Straight or Flush over straight flush to improve low hand to Jack or better.
  • Play Straight or Flush over royal flush to improve the low hand to King or better.
Four of a kind Play according to the rank of the Four of a kind:
  • 2 through 6: Always keep together.
  • 7 through 10: Split.
  • Jack through king: Split.
  • Aces: Split.
Do not split in case of an Ace or better
Do not split in case of a pair of 10’s or higher.
Do not split in case of a pair of 7’s or higher.
Five Aces Play a pair of Aces in the low hand and three aces (or a full house) in the high hand. If the hand contains a Pair of Kings, the mentioned pair should be played in the low hand.
Four of a kind and Three of a kind Split the Four of a kind to play a pair in the low hand and Full House in the high hand. IfThree of a Kind has a higher denomination than Four of a Kind – play the Four of a Kind in the high hand, with a pair from the Three of a Kind in the low hand.

Winning hands

Hand Description Sample
Five Aces The highest hand in the Pai Gow poker hierarchy includes 4 aces and a joker A A A A-Joker
Royal Flush Consists of the following cards: ten, Jack, Queen, King and an Ace all of the same suit A K Q J 10
Straight Flush Contains five cards in sequence, all of the same suit 5 4 3 2 A
Four of a Kind Contains four cards of the same denomination, one in each suit 10 10 10 10 5
Full House Three cards of one denomination and two cards of another denomination K K K 3 3
Flush Five cards all of the same suit A Q 10 5 3
Straight Five cards in sequence of any suit A K Q J 10
Three of a Kind Three cards of the same denomination and two unmatched cards 2 2 2 K 6
Two Pairs Two sets of two cards of the same denomination and any fifth card J J 10 10 9
One Pair Two cards of the same denomination and three unmatched cards 2 2 8 5 3
High Card All five cards of different rank and a variety of suits A K 5103

RTP (Return to Player) for this game varies from 97.27% to 99.80% depending on the stake made.

Malfunction voids all plays and pays!

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