Pai Gow Poker

Game Objective:

Paigow Poker is a combination of the ancient Chinese game 'Paigow' - which is played with tiles - and the American card game Poker. We will use a standard set of house rules for the purpose of explaining the game. House rules may differ slightly from casino to casino.

The objective of Paigow Poker is for both of the player's two hands (denoted the high and low hands) to rank higher than both of the Dealer's two hands. The player receives seven cards and makes two traditional poker hands - one of five cards (the high hand), another of two (the low hand).

The rankings of the two hands are based upon a basic poker ranking. Thus, the highest two-card hand is two aces and the highest five-card hand is Five Aces (4 aces and a Joker). The two hands of the player are compared with those of the Dealer and the payoff determined.

To win, a player needs to win with both the hands, the High Hand and the Low Hand against those of the Dealer's. Also, a player may place a bonus bet of $1 and he will get a payoff on the strength of the seven cards based on the payoff table given below. The bonus payoff is made irrespective of the arrangement of the Player's High and Low Hands and also irrespective of the game result.

How to Play:

Select the amount you want to wager on a given hand.

Once the wager is placed, the dealer deals the player seven cards face up, and himself seven cards face down. One standard deck of 52 cards plus one joker is used. Joker can be used only as an ace or as a card to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush for any of the hands.

After the player has his seven cards, he must form two hands. The low hand must contain two cards and the high hand five cards. To do this, the player must select the two cards that he wishes to be in the low hand.

Once the player has selected the two cards, the Dealer's cards are revealed face up and arranged as a High and Low Hand. The formation of the high and low hands of the Dealer is done using the house way. The Dealer's cards are then compared with the player's cards.

If the player's low hand and high hands both beat those of the dealer, the player wins and is paid even money less 5% of his bet deducted as dealer commission (eg, if a player bets $100, and both his hands are greater than the dealer's hands, he will win $95).

If the player wins any one of the hands (Low hand or High Hand), but loses the other, the bet is a push and the bet is returned to the player.

If both the hands of the Player are identical in strength to the Dealer, his bet is a Tie, and the player loses his bet.

If the high hand set by the player is lower in strength than his low hand, the bet is termed 'Foul' and the player loses his bet.

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