Pai Gow Poker originated in Ancient China and is a game becoming more popular at the casino due to the increase in poker players. The game is similar to Full Tilt Poker and uses the same hand values for the most part so if you know how to play poker then learning how to play Pai Gow Poker is an easy task to accomplish.
The game begins with the dealer shuffling up a full 52 card deck with 1 wild card included in the deck as well. The dealer deals out seven cards to every player including himself and then players need to make the best possible five card hand and two card hand that they can. The five card hand always needs to be better then the two card hand so keep this in mind when you’re making your two hands. If you happen to have the wild card it’s important to know that the wild card can only be used as an ace or as a fifth card in a straight or flush.
Once every player at the table has split up there seven cards into two separate hands then the dealer will split up there seven cards into the best two hands possible. The highest five card hand possible is five aces with the wild card, but apart from that the hand values are the same as in regular poker. The two card hands can obviously only be a high card or pair and is simple to rank.
When the dealer has split up there hand the players will all turn there hands over and the dealer will determine whether you win, lose or push. Most hands in Pai Gow Poker are pushes between the dealer and player so it’s a great game to play for awhile without losing much money. To win you need to win both the five card hand and two card hand versus the dealer. The dealer wins if he wins both hands or if he wins one hand and the second hand is a push. If none of the above applies then the hand is a push and the player gets his initial wager back.
Most Las Vegas Casinos payout 1:1 on all bets in Pai Gow Poker and just take a 5% commission from how much you wager at the tables throughout your session. They do this so that they don’t need to calculate a rake after every hand because it would require breaking up chips every hand and wouldn’t work very well. You most likely won’t win much money at FullTilt Poker and you also won’t lose much money for the most part in Pai Gow Poker, but if you’re not smart you could lose. You always want to try and have a pair in your two card hand so that you push the pot if your five card hand doesn’t win.
Pai Gow Poker is often played in high limits at the casinos amongst Asian people, but the game has been evolving more and it seems more poker players are trying it out. If you want to play the house rather then other players then Pai Gow Poker allows you to do this.