The perfect poker twist!

Learn a new variation of poker to spice up your online gambling experience. Pai Gow is the perfect twist to the game you love, and easy to learn with this basic guide featuring everything from the poker rules to an overview of the game itself.

Pai Gow Poker is an Americanized poker adaptation of the ancient Chinese domino game, Pai Gow. Although it is somewhat slow in relation to other poker variations, it has a great house-edge (2.6%) and is perfect for those looking for a challenge at the tables. Here we will overview the poker rules and all relevant information to anyone wanting to try Pai Gow.

The Objective
The aim of the game in Pai Gow is to create a 2-card-hand and a 5-card-hand out of the 7 cards dealt throughout the course of the game, whereby the 5-card-hand must rank higher than the 2-card-hand according to the poker rules of this game. In Pai Gow, the player wins if both his/her hands beat those of the dealer.

Hand Rankings & Rules:
• The 2-card-hand is called the “front 2” and the 5-card-hand is called the “back 5”.
• Pai Gow uses a 52 card deck plus a joker, which can be used as either an Ace or to complete a straight or flush.
• The front 2 can be either a pair or high cards. The highest ranking 2-card-hand is a pair of aces, and the lowest is a 2-3.
• The back 5 is ranked according to standard poker rules for hand rankings.
• When a player and the dealer have identical hands they are called “copies”. In this event, the dealer always wins.
• If a player wins one hand and loses the other, he “pushes” and receives half of the bet. There are often many pushes in Pai Gow.
• If the player loses both hands he/she will lose the entire wager.

How to Play the Game:
1. Each player is dealt 7 face-down cards.
2. Players are given time to arrange their cards into 2 and 5-card-hands.
3. The dealer then reveals and arranges his 7 cards into 2 and 5-card-hands according to a fixed set of rules called “the house way” (that is relevant only to him).
4. In a clockwise order the dealer then reveals each of the player’s hands and determines the winner according to the Pai Gow poker rules.