We’re sure you’ve heard about pai gow poker, a quirky version of poker that, apart from its name, has nothing to do with the Chinese game pai gow. This version of poker was created in the United States around the 80s. So, let’s figure out how to play pai gow poker, and start with the rules comparing them to the usual poker.
First of all, you will play against the dealer and not the players, that is, your victory depends only on your combination and the dealer’s combination, while other people next to you also do not depend on your combination.
The game uses a deck of 53 cards (standard 52 cards + Joker). Joker can be used by the player to complete combinations:
- Straight
- Flush
- Straight Flush
- Three of a kind
Players make a standard bet, if you play in fortune pai gow poker players have the option to bet on Fortune Bonus. Fortune Bonus is a kind of attempt by players to guess which combination they will get or beat.
So, at the beginning of the game, the dealer will determine who will receive the cards first with three dice, for an ordinary player it is not very important, so we will not discuss this topic.
Then the dealer will deal seven cards to all players as well as to himself. In some versions of the game, the dealer will deal cards to empty spaces, after the cards are dealt to all players the dealer will take away the unused cards.
Then the players divide the cards into two groups: the first one is low, of two cards, and the second one is high, of five cards. Two combinations of seven cards should be collected so that the high one is better than the low one.
As soon as all the players have divided the cards, the dealer will open his cards and do the same. Then the dealer will start to open the player’s cards and compare the combinations.
In order to understand how to play pai gow poker you also need to know what rules are used to check hands.
- if both combinations of the dealer are weaker than yours, you win and get money
- if both dealer’s hands are stronger than yours you lose your bet
- if one of the combinations loses and the other wins, it is called Push, you do not win, but you do not lose and the game moves on to the next round
Fortune Bonus is checked after the hand is checked. Different bets pay off differently and have nothing to do with whether you win or lose. This aspect of the game is used often but is not part of the standard pai gow poker rules, so if you are interested in this aspect read about “Fortune Bet Pays”.
In conclusion, we want to tell you that pai gow poker is a very interesting version of regular poker that allows you to relax a little and not try to play mind games against other players, but just calmly collect combinations.