Pai-Gow Card Game Rules.

Overview

The actual game of Pai-Gow is played with domino-like black tiles. Each player receives four tiles and has to decide how to arrange them to make up two "hands" of two tiles each. Should the player go all out and try to win on both hands? Or should he play it safe and win on one hand for sure, and likely lose on the other so as to break even and avoid losing on both hands? This type of decision-making is at the heart of this Poker Game. The difference in this game is that cards are used instead of tiles, and instead of exotic Pai-Gow arrangements, Poker-hand combinations are featured.

Number of Players.
Up to seven people can play Pai-Gow: one dealer against up to six players, who play for themselves. In casino play, the dealer remains standing and the players are seated. In a home game, everyone is seated.

The Pack.
The standard 52-card pack is used, plus a joker, which serves as a "bug." It can be used as an ace, or a fifth card needed to fill a straight, flush, or straight flush. (In Philippine casinos, the joker not only stands for an ace, but is also any J, Q, or K, too.)

In addition to the playing cards, three standard dice are required.

Object of Pai-Gow.
The goal is to form two winning Poker hands from the seven cards that are dealt: a hand of five cards, called the "back" hand, and a hand of two cards, called the "front" hand. To win the bet, both of a player's hands must beat both of the dealer's hands. If both hands lose to the dealer, the player loses the bet. If one hand wins and one hand loses, it is a standoff, and no chips are paid out or collected.

Poker Rankings.
A basic knowledge of Poker is required to play Pai-Gow Poker. The hands rank as in regular Poker, from five aces down to no pair. One exception is that while A, K, Q, J, 10 is the highest straight, A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is the next highest straight, beating K, Q, J, 10, 9. This straight is often made with the joker, which is why it ranks so high. For the two-card hand, straights and flushes do not count. Thus, the highest "front" hand is a pair of aces, and the lowest is three-high (3,2); a pair of deuces ranks just ahead of A, K.

The Shuffle and Cut.
The dealer shuffles the cards thoroughly and selects one player for the cut. That player separates the pack into two parts, and the dealer completes the cut.

The Deal.
The dealer deals seven hands in a line in front of himself, one card at a time, face down, until seven hands of seven cards each are dealt. (In some casinos, an electronic device shuffles the cards thoroughly and deals the hands in groups of seven cards at a time until seven hands are dealt.) The remaining four cards left in the pack are counted by the dealer and then stacked face down against a clear, L-shaped plastic shield in the discard area near the dealer's racks of chips.

Positioning of the Hands.
In Pai-Gow, the dealer selects one of the players to throw the three dice, which are used to randomly choose which player gets which hand of seven cards. The total of the numbers on the dice determines who will get the first hand. If these numbers add up to 1, 8, or 15, the dealer gets the hand, and the player to his right gets the second, and so forth around the table, counterclockwise.

If the numbers are 2, 9, or 16, the first player to the right gets the first hand, the next player gets the second hand, and so forth. If the numbers are 3, 10, or 17, the second player to the right gets the first hand, and so forth.

The dealer simply counts his position as "one," the player to his right as "two," the next player as "three" and so on, to determine how the hands are distributed. If there are fewer than six players against the dealer, the absent positions still get hands, just as if players were sitting in the vacant seats, but after all the hands are distributed, any absent hands are taken away (still face down) and placed in the discards.

Sometimes a shaker is used in Pai-Gow to mix the three dice, and the dealer removes the lid on top of the shaker to reveal the three dice. (The electronic card shuffler/dealer also incorporates a random-number generator with the same odds as three dice thrown manually, and the digital number displayed on the device similarly indicates which player will get the first hand, with the remaining hands distributed counterclockwise around the table.)

Setting the Hands.
Each player picks up his hand and arranges it to make two poker hands, keeping in mind that the hand of five cards must outrank the hand of two cards. When a player is satisfied with his arrangement, he places the "back" hand (five-card hand) face down, farthest from the dealer in the vertical rectangle provided on the table's layout. The "front" hand (two-card hand) is placed face down horizontally in the horizontal rectangle, which is in front of the vertically-placed hand.

In Pai-Gow, each player at the table is responsible for setting his hands, and no one, except the dealer may touch the cards of that player. If requested by the player, the dealer may assist the player in setting his hands. Also, each player must keep the seven cards in full view of the dealer at all times. Once the player has placed his back and front hands accordingly in the vertical and horizontal rectangles, he is not permitted to touch the cards again.

Dealer's Setting.
The dealer takes his cards, and spreads them face up on the table, and proceeds to make a hand of five cards and a hand of two cards. The procedure for the dealer is according to a prescribed set of rules known as "The House Ways." Often the dealer, by the rules of play, must separate two pairs, so that instead of having the "back" hand be two pairs, this hand would instead be one pair, with the lower pair being used for the "front" hand.

Settlement.
With the dealer's five- and two-card hands in view of all the players, the dealer, beginning with the player to the right, exposes the front and back hands of each player and pays out or collects on each. For standoffs ("pushes"), the dealer usually knocks on the table or otherwise signals that there is no payout or collection. In that case, a player may either remove the bet he made or keep it there for the next round of play. Once all bets are settled, the dealer gathers in the cards and prepares them for the next round.

Decision-Making.
Often, it is a player's strategy to split pairs, or if he is able to make a full house, to use three-of-a-kind for the back hand and the pair for the front hand.

In Pai-Gow, when a player has three pairs in the seven cards dealt, the correct strategy is to use the two smallest pairs to make the back hand, and the largest pair to make the front hand. For example, with two kings, two jacks, and two 7s, and a 5, most experienced players would make up the back hand of two jacks, two 7s and a 5; and the front hand of two kings. In this situation the two-pair hand is likely to be a winner no matter what it is headed by, and the little hand of two kings is virtually unbeatable.

The skill and the fun of Pai-Gow is in deciding whether to make two fairly good hands to go for a win on both, or whether to try to just make a winner out of one hand, with the second one a likely loser, so as to give the maximum chance of not losing on both hands. It is important to note, though, that the back hand must be better than the front hand. If this rule is violated, the player's hands are fouled, and the bet is automatically lost.

The Joker.
The "bug" is obviously a very valuable card, as it will often help to make a straight or a flush, or a second ace for two aces, or even a third ace for three aces. Many times, having the joker will make a hand of just ace high for the front hand, which is the difference between winning and losing. Example: With a holding such as joker, ¢À4, ¢À5, ¢¼5, ¢À6, ¢¾7, ¢¼7, a player could use the bug to make a straight (joker, 7, 6, 5, 4), but the little hand, comprised of 7, 5, would be a sure loser. A better arrangement would be to make two pairs for the big hand (7, 7, 5, 5, 4) and ace-high for the little hand (joker, 6). Now there is a good chance to win with both sets of cards.

Dealer's Edge.
When a player wins in Pai-Gow, the amount paid out is the bet made, less a commission. No commission is paid to the dealer when the player loses or when there is a standoff.

The commission is one of only two advantages the dealer has. The other is that if the dealer's back or front hand exactly matches the corresponding hand of a player, the dealer wins. Thus, if both the dealer and a player have K, 8 for their little hands, the dealer's little hand prevails, just as if he had K, 9 or A, 8 or better.

Rotating Dealer.
In Pai-Gow, a player is allowed to "deal"-that is, he banks the game. The casino dealer still handles the cards and chips, but the player acts as the bank. He plays against the other players as well as the dealer, who acts as a player, betting the last amount that the player-banker bet on the previous hand. In some games, the chance to be dealer can occur only every other hand, and then only if one of the players is interested in banking the hand.

If two or more players wish to bank, the casino dealer chooses one of them; and the other players, in turn, get the chance to bank the game later. The player as banker must have enough chips in front of him to cover all of the wagers made by the other players.

Pai-Gow Rules According to the US Playing Card Company

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