Pai Gower Poker - How To Play
This is a relatively new game, and it's rapidly becoming a casino favorite. It's based on the ancient Chinese game of pai gow, but is played with a deck of playing cards instead of tiles. Actually, the game is a combination of pai gow and good old American poker, so if you can play poker, you can play pal gow poker. If you can't play poker, you can still play pai gow poker after you read this list of all the winning poker hands starting with the best hand you can make.
• five aces (there is one joker in the deck that can be used as an ace)
• royal flush (ace, king, queen, jack, 10 in the same suit; the joker can also be used as a wild card to complete any straight or flush)
• straight flush (any five-card run: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, for ex-ample, of the same suit)
• four-of-a-kind (four kings, four 3s, etc.)
• full house (three-of-a-kind and a pair)
• flush (five cards of the same suit)
• straight (any five-card run)
• three-of-a-kind
• two pair
• one pair
• high card
Now that you know the winning poker hands, let's play pai gow poker. The dealer deals the cards into seven hands with seven cards in each hand. (The remaining four cards are placed in the discard rack for the remain¬der of the hand.) The dealer then shakes the dice bowl, which contains three dice. This is to determine who receives the first hand. The numbers on the three dice are totaled and the dealer counts counterclockwise around the table, starting from the dealer's position, determining who gets which hand based on the dice total. This is to ensure random distribution of the cards, and it's part of the Oriental flavor of the game.
Each player then arranges the seven cards dealt to him into two separate hands: five cards in his highest hand and two cards in his second highest hand. Once the two hands are formed, each player places his cards face down in the positions indicated on the layout.
After each player has set his two hands, the dealer turns his cards over and sets his two hands the same way: five cards in his highest hand, two in his second highest hand. Now the dealer turns the other hands over one at a time, starting with the player on the dealer's immediate right. In order to win, both your hands must beat both the dealer's hands. In order to lose, both your hands must lose to both the dealer's hands. If you win one hand and lose one hand, it is a push, and no money changes hands.
Keep in mind that your second highest (two-card) hand has to be lower than your highest (five-card) hand, and that is the only hard rule you must follow. If you make your second highest hand higher than your highest hand, it is called a "foul hand," and you lose automatically. Click for pai gow poker strategy.
