Pai Gow Poker Joker Rules
The deal is Pai Gow is more sophisticated than other poker games: The dealer deals seven hands of seven cards, discarding the remaining four cards. Each card is dealt one at a time, face-down. The dealer rolls three dice then counts the players at the table, starting with themselves and moving clockwise, up to the number rolled by the dice. One 52-card deck is used plus one Joker, which can be used only as an Ace or to complete a straight or any flush. After individual wagers are placed in the circle in front of the Players, the dealer then rolls the dice to determine which Player is dealt cards first.
The game of pai gow poker and online pai gow poker in particular is played between two people; the player (you) and the dealer. Play begins with both the player and the dealer being dealt 7 cards each from a deck of 53 cards. The deck of 53 cards is comprised of 52 standard playing cards as well as a single joker that acts as a wild card. The rules of Fortune Pai Gow Poker will be familiar to those of you who like to play Pai Gow Poker online or at land-based casinos. Like the original game, Fortune Pai Gow Poker uses a 52-card deck and a joker. It’s a battle between you and the house to create two winning poker hands out of seven cards.
Pai Gow Poker basics
5 cards and 2 cards
The rules of Pai Gow Poker are relatively simple: each player receives seven cards and splits them into two separate hands - a hand of five cards, called 'the back', and a hand of two cards, called 'the front'.
NB The five card hand must always rank higher than the two.
Win both hands
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See all Pai Gow bonuses »If both hands beat the dealer's hands, the player wins even money or 1:1 for their bet (though the bank takes a 5% commission from your winnings). If both hands lose, the dealer takes the bet. If you win only one of the two hands, the round finishes in a tie and your bet is returned to you.
Winning both hands in Pai Gow Poker is not as easy as it may seem. Quite often, you'll have to compromise one hand in order not to lose, rather than to win (this is explained fully in our page on Pai Gow Poker Strategy). As a result, you should consider the game as an evens chance bet, suited to lower-risk players who enjoy turning a steady profit without risking too much.
Compared to, for example, Baccarat , Roulette, or the insanely exciting Sic Bo, it can be a little slow for high rolling, high-risk gamblers, who often prefer the following variation:
Bonus / Fortune Pai Gow Poker
Bonus Pai Gow Poker (sometimes called Fortune Pai Gow) is played in exactly the same way as normal Pai Gow Poker, except that you're given a bonus payout of up to 8000 times your bet if you place a bonus bet and your seven cards hand contains a winning combination - regardless of how you set the front and back. The winning combinations and bonus payouts are given in our Pai Gow Poker Odds table.
The reasons that Bonus / Fortune Pai Gow is more suited to higher-risk players are:
a) you're betting twice as much per game (the bet and the bonus bet) and
b) in the event of a tie, the bonus bet is not returned to you.
But if, for example, your seven cards contained four of a kind, you would receive a bonus payment of 25 times your bonus bet, regardless of your winnings in the 'normal' play.
The odds against getting these hands are larger than the payouts, giving a consequently higher house edge, but the possible payouts suit those who enjoy taking more of a risk.
Pai Gow Poker terms explained
The back - 5 card hand
The Five card hand is ranked according to standard poker rules. If you're not sure about these standard rankings, or just need a reference point, click on our Poker Hand Rankings page.
The front - 2 card hand
The two card hand has to rank lower than the five card hand. Again, standard poker rules apply: a pair of Aces is the highest pair, a pair of 2s the lowest. If the hand is not a pair, it is ranked as a high, named after the highest card i.e. J9 is a jack high. If two 'high' hands have the same highest card, the next highest card is used to determine the winner e.g. if both players have Ace high, one player with AQ and the other with A9, the player with AQ wins.
Joker Card
The joker can be used to complete a flush, straight or straight flush, or can act as a single Ace.
House Way
The House Way is the set of rules that a traditional casino would instruct its dealers to use when setting their hands. In land based casinos, knowledge of this would form the basis of a winning strategy (see our Pai Gow Strategy page). Some online casinos offer a 'house way' button. By pressing this, your cards will automatically be set for you using the same rules the dealer/casino uses. Obviously, this negates the edge you may achieve by setting hands manually.
Pai Gow Poker (pronounced pi gow) combines the elements of the ancient Chinese game of Pai Gow and the American game of poker. A relatively slow-paced game, Pai Gow Poker is played with a traditional deck of 52 playing cards, plus one joker. The joker can be used only as an ace, or to complete a straight, or a flush.
Each player at the table is dealt seven (7) cards which they will use to construct two (2) separate hands of two (2) cards and five (5) cards.
The five-card hand must be higher than the two-card hand (for example, if the two-card hand is a pair of sevens, the five-card hand must contain at least a pair of eights or higher).
The object of the game is for both of the player's two-card hand and five-card hand to rank higher than both of the Banker's two hands. Should one hand rank exactly the same as the Banker's hand, this is a tie and the Banker wins all tie hands.
If the player wins one hand, but loses the other, this is considered a 'push' and no money exchanges hands. Winning hands are paid even money, less a five percent commission. Losing hands lose the money wagered.
Normal poker rankings will be used. Any exact copy hand (tie) will be given to the banker. Exact copy hands occur when both the player and the banker's cards (in either the two-card hand or five-card hand) are the same value.
How to Play Pai Gow Poker in Las Vegas
Basic Rules: The Pai Gow Poker deck will consist of 53 cards which includes a Joker. The Joker is wild when used in straights, flushes and straight flushes. If used alone the Joker becomes an Ace.
The dealer shuffles the cards and deals seven hands of seven cards each, face down in front of the dealer's tray. The dealer checks that exactly four cards are left over, then places those cards in the discard holder.
A dice cup containing three dice is shaken by the Banker to determine who receives the first hand. Before the dice are uncovered, all bets must be in the betting circle. In Pai Gow Poker, the Banker's position is always 1,8 or 15. The dealer counts from the Banker's position. The cards will then be placed by the dealer in front of each player-including the dealer-in a clockwise rotation from the starting ping indicated by the dice.
Each player arrange the seven cards dealt to them into the two hands, one hand will contain five cards and is known as the high hand; the other hand will contain two cards and is the second highest hand. The house dealer does not look at the cards until all players and player/Banker have set their hands in the designated space face down. The house dealer then turns his cards over and sets his hand in front of the tray face up. The player/Banker's hand is compared to the house dealer's hand first.
Pai Gow Poker Joker Rules Game
Winning hands are left lying face up next to the betting circle. For losing hands, the wager is picked up by the dealer and the cards are placed in the discard holder. Losing wagers are set in the center of the layout. If the player wins one hand and loses the other, this is considered a push and no money exchanges hands. Tis is the part that makes Pai Gow Poker slower than other games of chance. There are frequent rounds (up to 40% of rounds, in fact) in which no one wins and playing time is simply extended.
Note: If a player touches his hand after the banker has exposed his hand, that player's hand is considered a loser. Any hand 'Set Foul' (if the two-card hand is higher in ranking than the five-card hand, or if the two-card hand contains more or less than two cards) is also considered a loser.
Pai Gow Poker Tips & Strategy
Here's a great tip from expert player Matt Villano to avoid losing in a streak:
Every casino table game can get streaky; pai gow is no exception. Because the push rate is so high (again, north of 41 percent), it's a good rule to leave the table if you lose three hands in a row.Strategy-wise, you should generally try to create the highest two-card hand that you can. Most times, your remaining cards will still form a higher five-card hand.
Pai Gow Poker Rules Strategy
This website encourages you to play responsibly by betting within your limits and by recognizing that over time the house will come out ahead.