Pai Gow Poker - One of the best games for casual players!
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 3:09 pm
First I'll tell you the story of Pai Gow Poker and how it came to be. Asian players will say it originated in the Far East - and indeed the Chinese version of the game - played with Pai Gow tiles (dominos) did originate in Asia. But the Americanized version - played with cards instead of tiles - was invented in a California card club - legal poker casinos in the Bear State. The game was created by Sam Torosian, a struggling casino owner, who felt the game would save his failing casino. The game was an instant hit, but Torosian failed to get the game patented. As a result, he's never earned a dime off a game that has found its way into virtually every casino in the US.
The beauty of Pai Gow for craps players? First, it's a sit down game and a great place to give your feet a rest. Second, it's played at a very slow pace. While the house edge on this game varies depending on the house rules, think in terms of around a 5% vig. But since the game is played slowly the average player loses less per hour than he would at a faster paced card game such as blackjack. It's a game you can play at the $5 - $10 level with a realatively short bankroll. Or, if you want to play the high roller game, you can play relatively pain-free at the $25 level. Well bankrolled players can play at the $100 level with little fear of busting out. Nevertheless, you should always play within your gaming budget. Don't risk what you can't afford to lose.
Pai gow poker is played with a standard 52 card deck plus one joker. You play heads-up against the banker. The player or players each compete against the banker to make the best possible hands. You start out by making a wager. Next the dealer rolls a die to determine which player gets dealt his cards first. Each player receives seven cards. Then each player arranges hiscards into a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand is ranked as in poker. The two-card hand is scored by pairs beating two singletons, then by the individual ranks. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces, and the lowest is 3-2.
If you have problems figuring out how to set you hands at first - don't sweat it. Just lay your cards down and ask the dealer to help. She'll arrange the cards according to a fixed set of rules. That is the same way the dealer arranges her cards, by the way. Once all that is done the player's five-card hand is compared to the dealer's five-card hand, the higher hand wins. Then the player's two-card hand is compared to the dealer's two-card hand.
Okay, here's how this all washes out. If there's a tie - it goes to the banker. If the player beats the dealer with both hands the player wins even money, less a 5% commission. If the player wins one and loses one the bet is a push. If the player loses both the player loses the entire wager.
What makes this game work for the player is the fact that there are a lot of "ties" or "push" decisions where the initial wager is simply returned to the player. You're getting "on the comp clock time" while you're sitting there with a free drink in your hand making new friends and having a little fun. Life is good.
Okay, here's the other secret of Pai Gow poker. If you have enough bankroll to pay off the players if they win, you can elect to be the Banker. Since the rules favor the Banker slightly, this is a good thing. When a player is the banker the dealer will still play, betting an amount equal to the last bet the player made when the dealer was banking. Be the banker as much as possible because you collect the 5% commission on ties.
The keys to winning at Pai Gow are in your hands. Learn how to set your hands and be the banker (if you can afford it) as often as possible. If you're not sure how to set those hands you'll find handy information on the Wizard of Odds site. Here's a link to a nifty graph that will help you in that department:
http://wizardofodds.com/paigowpoker/appendix1.html
Sam Torosian, the inventor of Pai Gow Poker, never made a dime off the game. With good money management skills you should do significantly better. Learn to play Pai Gow on-line for free at most of the free gaming and on-line casino portals. Here's one that should work for you:
http://www.quickflashgames.com/games/cl ... gow-poker/
The beauty of Pai Gow for craps players? First, it's a sit down game and a great place to give your feet a rest. Second, it's played at a very slow pace. While the house edge on this game varies depending on the house rules, think in terms of around a 5% vig. But since the game is played slowly the average player loses less per hour than he would at a faster paced card game such as blackjack. It's a game you can play at the $5 - $10 level with a realatively short bankroll. Or, if you want to play the high roller game, you can play relatively pain-free at the $25 level. Well bankrolled players can play at the $100 level with little fear of busting out. Nevertheless, you should always play within your gaming budget. Don't risk what you can't afford to lose.
Pai gow poker is played with a standard 52 card deck plus one joker. You play heads-up against the banker. The player or players each compete against the banker to make the best possible hands. You start out by making a wager. Next the dealer rolls a die to determine which player gets dealt his cards first. Each player receives seven cards. Then each player arranges hiscards into a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand is ranked as in poker. The two-card hand is scored by pairs beating two singletons, then by the individual ranks. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces, and the lowest is 3-2.
If you have problems figuring out how to set you hands at first - don't sweat it. Just lay your cards down and ask the dealer to help. She'll arrange the cards according to a fixed set of rules. That is the same way the dealer arranges her cards, by the way. Once all that is done the player's five-card hand is compared to the dealer's five-card hand, the higher hand wins. Then the player's two-card hand is compared to the dealer's two-card hand.
Okay, here's how this all washes out. If there's a tie - it goes to the banker. If the player beats the dealer with both hands the player wins even money, less a 5% commission. If the player wins one and loses one the bet is a push. If the player loses both the player loses the entire wager.
What makes this game work for the player is the fact that there are a lot of "ties" or "push" decisions where the initial wager is simply returned to the player. You're getting "on the comp clock time" while you're sitting there with a free drink in your hand making new friends and having a little fun. Life is good.
Okay, here's the other secret of Pai Gow poker. If you have enough bankroll to pay off the players if they win, you can elect to be the Banker. Since the rules favor the Banker slightly, this is a good thing. When a player is the banker the dealer will still play, betting an amount equal to the last bet the player made when the dealer was banking. Be the banker as much as possible because you collect the 5% commission on ties.
The keys to winning at Pai Gow are in your hands. Learn how to set your hands and be the banker (if you can afford it) as often as possible. If you're not sure how to set those hands you'll find handy information on the Wizard of Odds site. Here's a link to a nifty graph that will help you in that department:
http://wizardofodds.com/paigowpoker/appendix1.html
Sam Torosian, the inventor of Pai Gow Poker, never made a dime off the game. With good money management skills you should do significantly better. Learn to play Pai Gow on-line for free at most of the free gaming and on-line casino portals. Here's one that should work for you:
http://www.quickflashgames.com/games/cl ... gow-poker/