Pai Gow is a multi-player game where the deal rotates around the table, much like Poker. One of the traditional rules is that the dealer also acts as banker for that hand. In online rule is simplified to the player versus house model. Pai Gow Poker is a mixture of the ancient Chinese game of Pai Gow with classic American Poker.

It is played with a standard 53-card deck including a Joker. The Joker can only be used as an Ace, or to complete a Straight or a Flush. An interesting element of Pai Gow Poker is that any player can request to be the banker. In this instance, all players compare their hands to the bank player rather than the house dealer. The bank player wins all ties, pays any winners from their own pocket, and collects any losing wagers.

The objective of the game is for the player to have both hands to rank higher than those of the banker. In most if the player wins on one hand but loses on the other, it is a push or foul and no money changes hands. If one hand ranks the same as the banker’s hand, it is a tie but in this case the banker wins. The house wins if both of the dealer’s hands are winners, or if one hand wins and the other hand is a draw. The commission is collected on losing hands or ties. Winning hands are paid even money, less than a five percent commission, which is deducted from your payout.

So, the apart from the commission, the payoffs on all winning wagers are basically at even money. Losing hands lose the amount wagered. The house advantage is about 2.5 percent. However, when the player is the banker, the house advantage is close to even. For example, if the player wins, the house takes a 5 percent commission and you get $4.75 of the $5.oo winning bet.

The dealer distributes seven cards to each player forming two hands. One hand is a two-card hand called the low or front hand, and the other is a five-card called the high or backhand. The goal is to beat the dealer on both hands. The backhand is ranked as in poker with the exception that A-2-3-4-5 is the second highest straight beating K-Q-J-10-9 hand. The front hand is singles or a pair, with A-A being the highest.

There are a few additional rules. First, your front hand should not beat your backhand. If it does, this is called a foul and both hands lose. Second, the Joker can be used as a wild card to complete a Straight, a Flush, a straight Flush or a Royal Flush; otherwise it is treated as an Ace.

The dealer distributes seven cards to each player. After individual wagers are placed in the circle in front of the players, the dealer then rolls the dice to determine which player is dealt cards first. They are arranged into two hands, a 2-card hand and a 5-card hand. The five cards must be placed in the highest cards section and the remaining two cards must be placed in the low cards section. The five-card hand must always be the highest –scoring hand. If you place the highest-scoring cards in the low cards section, you will lose automatically.

The players make their best five card and two-card poker hands to compete with the dealer’s two hands. The five-card hand must be higher than the two-card hand. For example, the 2-card hand is a pair of fours; the 5-card hand must contain a pair of fives or better. A winner is declared when both of the player hands beat the dealer’s respective hands.