The two-card hand, by its nature, can only be a pair or high card. The five-card hand can be any poker hand from a royal flush down to just a high card.

The only rule in arranging your hands in Pai Gow Poker is that the five-card hand must be stronger than the two-card hand. The two-card hand is often called the front or top hand, and the five-card hand is often called the back or bottom hand because of where they positioned on the table.

You must arrange these cards into two hands: a two-card hand and a five-card hand. Pai Gow Poker StructureĪfter placing your bet, the banker will deal you and themselves seven cards each. To keep things simple, we will assume you are not playing as the banker through most of this guide. In this game, the banker can be another player at the table, but when playing Pai Gow Poker online, it is typically just you against the house. Like most casino table games, the object of the game is to beat the banker. Pai Gow Poker uses a standard 52-card deck plus one joker. Betting real money can help meet the playthrough requirements to earn bonuses.The closest you can come to the excitement of a real-world casino.Pai Gow is a more hands-on game and is a lot more fun than games where the player is less active.

Many other table games are only games of luck, and players have very little control over what occurs in the game. Many gamblers enjoy Pai Gow Poker, because there is an element of strategy, rather than simply luck. Compared to other casino table games, however, the house edge is relatively small. As a result, even with perfect strategy, the house has a slight edge. It is unusual for a dealer to have an identical hand to the player for the five-card hand, but for the two card hand, a combination of Ace-King, for example, is not uncommon. The other way that the casinos make money on Pai Gow Poker is in the rule that lets the dealer win a tied hand.

This rake is usually 5% of the winnings, meaning that if the player bets $100 and wins, the casino will return $195, rather than the full $200. Most casinos take a small rake when the player wins. If the dealer wins one and the player wins one, it is a push, and the money is returned to the player. If the player wins both hands, the player wins. If the dealer wins both hands, the house wins. The dealer's five-card hand is compared to the player's five-card hand and the dealer's two-card hand is compared to the player's two-card hand. After arranging the hands, players are shown the dealer's hand, and the hands are compared.

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