Pai Gow Poker (also known as Double-Hand Poker) is an Americanized version of Pai Gow. Traditional Pai Gow is played with Chinese dominoes whereas Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards plus one joker. Pai Gow poker can be played with up to six players and a dealer with each player playing against the dealer.

The game of Pai Gow Poker was developed by Fred Wolf and Sam Torosian. When Fred Wolf was managing the Commerce Casino in early 80’s, he took a chance on subletting one third of the casino floor space of the Bell Club in order to introduce his newly developed game of Super Pan-9. In an effort to compete with some of the larger card casinos that were in the LA area, Wolf decided that he needed to innovate some new games in order to attract gamblers. The games of Super Pan-9 and Pai Gow Poker enjoyed immense popularity and soon spread amongst the other California casinos and beyond. These days, Pai Gow Poker can be found in casinos around the world.

How To Play Pai Gow Poker
In Pai Gow Poker, players must create two poker hands out of the 7 cards that they are dealt by the dealer; a two card poker hand and a five card poker hand. The hands must be constructed in such a way that the value of the five card poker hand exceeds that of the two card hand. The two card hand is known as the hand “on top”, the hand “in front” or the “minor”, “small” or “low” hand. The five card hand is known as the “high”, “bottom”, or “big” hand as well as the “bottom” or the hand “behind”.

The action begins with the dealer shuffling the cards and dealing 7 face down cards to the players and themselves. Each betting position at the table is assigned a number from 1 through 7 beginning from the player that is acting as banker and proceeding around the table in a counter-clockwise fashion. A number is then chosen randomly, either with dice or electronically, and the deal will begin with the position corresponding to the number and continues in a counter clockwise fashion.

If there are open seats at the table, the open positions will still be dealt their cards; however, the cards are thrown in the discard pile soon thereafter. Some casinos will deal a hand to a vacant position and that hand becomes known as the “dragon” hand. Once players have been dealt their hands, each player is asked in turn whether they would like to place an additional wager on the dragon hand. A player accepting the “dragon” hand is essentially playing two hands.

Pai Gow Poker Hand Rankings
The hand rankings in Pai Gow Poker are fairly straightforward:
Two Card Pai Gow Poker Hand: The two card Pai Gow Poker hands include high cards and pairs. That is to say that the best Pai Gow Poker hand is a pair of Aces and the worst Pai Gow Poker hand is [A][2].
Five Card Pai Gow Poker Hand: The five card Pai Gow Poker hands are ranked according to standard poker hand rankings. The only exception to this rule is that there are some casinos that will rank the 5 high straight ([A][2][3][4][5]) above the King high straight ([9][10][J][Q][K]). As mentioned above, Pai Gow Poker will have one of the Jokers in play. The Joker acts as a wild card of sorts. In the five card hand, the Joker can be used to complete a flush or straight; otherwise, it acts as an Ace. In the two card hand, the Joker will always act as an Ace. That having been said, there are certain California casinos in which the Joker is truly a wild card.

The Outcome
Once players have separated their 7 dealt cards into a 2 card and a 5 card hand, it is time to see whether they have one. If both of the player’s hands beat the corresponding hands of the banker then the player wins. If one of the player’s hands wins then it is a push. If both of the player’s hands lose to the banker’s hands then the player loses their wager.

Regarding both hands, if the player and banker have the same hand then the tie goes to the banker. For example, if both the player and the banker have made a two card hand of [A][5] then the banker’s hand wins. This gives the banker a nominal advantage.

In the event that the player commits a foul by making a two card hand that outranks their five card hand (for example, [A][A] and [K][10][8][4][3]) or by making up hands of incorrect number (not sure how someone could do that but…OK), there is a penalty. The penalty will either be that their hands must be re-arranged according to the “house way” or they will forfeit the round.

With casino-banked games of Pai Gow Poker, the banker is typically required to set their hands according to a specific model known as the “house way”. This prevents the dealer from utilizing strategy in order to defeat the players at the table. With player-banked games, the banker has the freedom to set up their hands as they wish. In the event that the player is co-banking with the house, then they must set up their hand according to the “house way”.

Casinos will take their cut (vig) from Pai Gow Poker in one of two ways. Most California casinos will simply charge players a flat fee of between $0.05 and $1 on each hand regardless of whether they win or lose. The rest of the casinos take a 5% commission out of the winnings.

Popular Variations Of Pai Gow Poker
With the popularity of Pai Gow Poker came a number of different variations of the game, the majority of which were developed between 2004 and 2009. One of the first Pai Gow Poker variants was Pai Gow Mania. The difference between Pai Gow Mania and traditional Pai Gow Poker is that with Pai Gow Mania, players may make two side bets instead one side bet per hand. Another Pai Gow Poker variant is Fortune Pai Gow. Fortune Pai Gow allows players to make a side bet with a 5 card hand of Trips or better. One of the more popular Pai Gow Poker variants is Pai Gow Progressive which is Pai Gow Poker with a progressive jackpot thrown into the mix.

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