| Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow poker is basically an American version of the Chinese game, Pai Gow. It is played using playing cards having poker rankings instead of the normal Chinese dominoes. It was Sam Torosian and Fred Wolf who had devised this new game to overcome competition to their casino, Commerce Casino, in the early 1980's. And the game Play Pai Gow poker became an immediate crowd puller that spread throughout the world.
Pai Gow poker is played with a normal deck of 52 cards and one joker. The game is played between six players and the dealer where the objective of Pai Gow poker is to beat the banker who may be the casino dealer or any of the players on the table. Then a player is given seven cards each, face down, where the objective is to form two poker hands; where one is a five-card poker hand which is ranked more than the other a two-card poker hand. This hand is referred to as the hand 'in front' while the five card hand, the hand 'behind' and placed accordingly to each player. Four cards are not used in the game.
To start betting, betting positions numbered the first to the seventh are assigned from the player acting as a banker and running counter clockwise. Then a random number between 1 and 7 is selected either using dice or electronically. The deal starts with the person who is numbered first, and proceeds counter clockwise. If there are no players sitting in a numbered spot, cards are dealt to that position. These cards are then placed together with the other four extra cards.In Pai Gow poker, a pair and cards with high ranks are the only two-card highs. Different casinos have individual rankings. The hands that a casino claims to be a high may in fact be a low in another casino. So make sure you make yourself comfortable with the rankings of the casino before starting on your game of Pai Gow poker.
In Pai Gow poker, the joker is the bug of the game, which either completes a straight or flushes or acts as an ace in the five-card hand. However, it is always played an ace in the two-card hand. If the dealer's hand is beaten by both your hands, you either receive winnings or the equal amount of your bet where the bank takes a commission from the money. However, if the dealer's hands beat both your hands, he is the winner and a single hand is won by you, it's a tie where the banker retrieves the winnings.
You need two winning hands where there is a win in both hands to win in a game of Pai Gow poker. Make it a point to see if you have any flushes in your hand, and then arrange the hand correctly. The house usually has a 2.3% advantage for Pai Gow poker while the best bet of winning in a game of Pai Gow poker is by being its banker as it is the banker who wins the copies. This is why players can bank only for one or two rounds
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