Pai Gow Poker - Pai Gow

Pai Gow Poker is a mixture of the ancient Chinese game of Paigow and American Poker. The goal of the game is to split seven randomly dealt cards into two poker hands (a five-card hand and a two-card hand) with both hands beating the dealer's two hands.

Pai Gow Poker  - The Basics

Pai Gow Poker is played with a deck of 53 cards: a standard 52-card deck plus one Joker. The Joker is not a true wild card and has specific rules. The card only acts as a wild card to complete a straight or flush. Otherwise it is considered an Ace.

The game is played by general poker ranking rules (see below) with the exception that, for straights and straight flushes, A-2-3-4-5 is the second-highest hand after A-K-Q-J-10. A hand with 6-5-4-3-2 becomes the lowest possible straight or straight flush.

Pai Gow Poker Hands (ranked Highest to Lowest)

Pai Gow Poker  - Hand Description
5 Aces - 4 Aces + Joker
Royal Flush - A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit
Straight Flush - 5 consecutive cards of the same suit
4-of-a-Kind - 4 cards of the same rank
Full House - 3-of-a-Kind + another Pair
Flush - 5 cards of the same suit, regardless of rank
Straight - 5 consecutive cards, regardless of suit
3-of-a Kind - 3 cards of the same rank
2 Pair - 2 pairs
Pair - 2 cards of the same rank
High Card - A hand which contains none of the above

Pai Gow Poker  - The Play

You begin by placing your wager on the table. You will then receive seven cards face up. The dealer will be dealt seven cards face down. You must now split your seven cards into two hands. The first hand is referred to as the "high hand," and consists of 5 cards. The second hand is referred to as the "low hand" and consists of only 2 cards. You must divide the cards so that the 5-card hand ranks higher than the 2-card hand.

Dead Hand A dead hand results when you fail to divide the seven cards properly into a high and low hand. For example, if you place your two best cards in the low hand, the your hand is considered "Dead." You will not lose your wager if you mistakenly create a "Dead Hand," but will be warned to rearrange your cards.

Pai Gow Poker  - The Payoff

After the dealer hand has been arranged, the four hands are compared as follows:
High Hand vs. High Hand Low Hand vs. Low Hand

The house wins if...

• the dealer wins both hands.
  
• the dealer wins one hand and the other hand is a copy hand.
  
• both hands are copy hands.

Copy Hand When the player and the dealer have identical hands, that hand is referred to as a "copy hand." Unlike in blackjack, where a copy hand results in a push, in Paigow Poker the dealer wins copy hands.
Example: Dealer: Low Hand Ace of Hearts - Player: Low Hand Ace of Spades
Dealer: Jack of Clubs - Player: Jack of Diamonds
These hands are identical. The Dealer wins the hand.