The Basic Premise of Pai Gow Poker
Of all the casino table games found online, Pai Gow Poker is among the youngest based on its history. The game was first introduced in Las Vegas in 1985. It was patterned after a similar game played with Chinese dominos. The card or poker version involves the use of 52-card, which are dealt seven cards to all the participants, including the dealer. The objective of the game is to make two hands that can beat the dealer's two hands. If the player wins both hands, they win the bet minus a 5% commission. If they win one/lose one, it comes back a push. If they lose both hands, the dealer wins, and the bet is swept away. …show more content…
The Low Hand
As indicated above, the player's objective is build the 2 best hands possible from the 7 cards dealt.
The "low" or "front" hand is made up of 2 cards. The player has to follow a specific set of rules that will help define which cards are suppose to be selected to make up the low hand. The rules dictate that the player's best single card or pair has to be placed in the five-card hand. After that, the player is allowed place any 2 cards they want up front, trying to make the best 2-card hand possible. The best possible two-card hand would be two Aces while the best hand without a pair would be the
Ace-King.
The High Hand
The "high" or "behind" hand is made up of the remaining 5 cards. The 5 cards are to be used to form the best 5-card draw poker hand possible. Again, the card selection process is defined by rules. If the player has no pair or better, they must place the highest single card in the high hand and then proceed to make the best low hand possible. If they have a pair, the pair must go in the high hand before selecting cards for the low hand. If the player has two pairs, the highest pair must be played in the high hand before deciding whether to keep the second pair in the high hand or moving it to the low hand. If they land a hand better than two pairs, decisions have to be made about where to place cards, staying focused on trying to create the two best hands possible in order to beat both of the dealer's hands for an outright win.
By now, you can begin to see how complicated this game becomes from a strategy standpoint. If you have any doubts about how to play your hand, the online Pai Gow games have a button called "house-way." By clicking on the button, the best best hands will be automatically created "by the book" on your behalf.