Pai Gow Poker is well-known in the United States but almost being forgotten in some countries. What’s the deal with it, where can you play it, and what Pai Gow Poker rules?

Pai Gow Poker is a slot machine based on the Chinese domino game Pai Gow. Pai Gow is a Chinese name that means ‘to make nine’. Initially, dominoes were used to play the Pkv Games.

Pai Gow was discovered in the 1980s by an American casino manager who saw potential for it in his establishment. He renamed the game Pai Gow Poker after changing the rules and replacing the dominoes with playing cards. 

Because poker was already well-known in the United States, whereas the strange Chinese game was not.

What Pai Gow Poker Rules

Pai Gow Poker is played with a total of 53 cards, including 52 standard cards (13 diamonds, 13 clubs, 13 spades, and 13 hearts) and a joker.

The winning card combinations are nearly identical to those found in poker. Almost. It’s the Ace that makes the difference. 

The Ace is both the highest and the lowest card in poker. For example, in poker, if you have a ‘Street’ with an ‘Ace’, your chances are as follows:

1. Highest Possible Street 

You have the cards 10-JQKA on a street. Congratulations on having the highest street in the neighborhood.

2. Low Possible Street

You have the cards A-2-3-4-5 on a street. Congratulations are a little less since you have the shortest street in the city.

It’s a little different in Pai Gow Poker, because the Ace is the highest card in a street from Ace to Five for the Chinese. This straight beats a 9-10-JQK and lower straight.

Seven Cards

Hm, let’s get started. Each player and the bank each receive seven cards, but the bank’s cards are hidden for a while.

After that, each player divides their cards into two ‘hands.’ One hand contains five cards, while the other contains only two.

Can you choose which hand gets five cards and which gets two cards at random? That’s not the case. The value of your five-card hand must be higher than the value of your two-card hand. 

Simultaneously, it’s a good idea – but not always – to split your seven cards so that you have the most possible combinations in each hand.

We’ll divide the cards in the example below so that the five-card hand has two Kings and the two-card hand has two Sixes.

Are you worried that you won’t make the best decision? Don’t worry: if you’re playing at an online casino, you can always choose to let the computer make the best decision for you. Then select the ‘House way’ option.

The Joker

Are you still standing there? Wonderful!  If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll be thinking to yourself, ‘Yes, yes, that’s all very nice, but I believe there was also a joker in the game.’

Absolutely correct! The Joker, unlike in many other card games, does not count for every card you want. Unfortunately. With the Joker, only a straight or flush can be completed. The joker counts as an Ace if you can’t or don’t want to.

Showdown 

Okay, we’ve got seven cards, which we’ve divided into two hands. It’s time to face the facts: will we win or will we lose?.

The bank is the one who first reveals its cards. The dealer divides his cards into two hands in a predetermined manner, which is known as the ‘house way.’

After that, the two hands you have are compared to the bank’s. You win if both of your hands are higher than the dealer’s. You win if your bet is less than the bank’s 5 percent commission. 

You have two Kings and two Sixes in the example below, while the bank has two Fours and an Ace-Jack. As a result, both of your hands are higher. Your bet of $5 will be returned to you, plus $4.75 in winnings.

Nothing happens if you have one higher hand and one lower hand; you keep your bet. If you have one higher hand and one hand that is equal to the bank, this is also true.

If your two hands are equal to the bank’s, you lose. You lose if you have one lower hand and one equal to the dealer’s. Unfortunate.

Pai Gow Poker has a payout percentage of 97.15 percent. It’s not quite as good as blackjack, but it’s comparable to roulette, so it’s not a bad wager.

As you have followed, what Pai Gow Poker rules is kind of different from the general poker that you often play as this involves China terms.

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