Pai gow Poker rules

Paigow Poker Rules

Paigow Poker Objectives

The objective of Pai-Gow Poker is for both of the player's two hands (denoted the high and low hands) to rank higher than both of the banker's two hands. The player receives seven cards and makes two traditional poker hands - one of five cards (the high hand), another of two (the low hand). The rankings of the two hands are based upon a basic poker ranking. Thus, the highest two-card hand is two aces and the highest five-card hand is five aces (four aces + the joker).

How to play Paigow Poker

The player begins by placing a wager on the Pai-Gow table. To do this, click on the chips at the bottom center of the game screen. This will automatically select the minimum bet amount. The wager amount can be increased by left-clicking on the chips at the bottom center of the game screen. The wager amount is decreased by right-clicking on the chips.

Once the wager is placed, the player presses the "Deal" button. The dealer deals the player seven cards face up and himself seven cards face down. One standard deck of 52 cards plus one joker is used.

The joker is not wild but can be used only as an ace or as a card to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush. Jokers are turned into aces unless completing a straight. If used in a flush, the joker becomes the highest missing card in the flush suit

After the player has his seven cards, he must form two hands. The low hand must contain two cards and the high hand five cards. To do this, the player must select the two cards that he wishes to be in the low hand by left-clicking on them. Cards may be unselected by clicking them again. Selected cards will shift up out of the line of player's cards on the game screen.

Note:
When forming hands, the rank of the five-card high hand must be higher than the rank of the two-card low hand. If this is not true a messagebox will be displayed asking the player to re-split their hand. Once the player has set both hands, pressing the "Done" button will end the hand. The dealer will split his cards according to fixed house rules and will then compare the player's hand rank with his own. To win the wager, the player's low and high hand must both rank higher than the dealer's low and high hand, respectively. If one of the player's hands is higher in rank than the dealer's and the other is lower or equal, this is a tie and the player's wager is returned. Otherwise, the player's wager is lost. If both hands are identical, the dealer also wins.

Paigow Poker hand ranking

Hand	Description
Four aces + Joker	A, A, A, A, Joker
Royal Flush	A, K, Q, J, 10 (all same suit)
Straight Flush	K, Q, J, 10, 9 (all same suit) to A, 2, 3, 4, 5 (all same suit)
Four of a Kind	Any four of the same number or face cards
Full House	[Three of a Kind] + [any pair]
Flush	Any combination of cards but all same suit
Straight	A, K, Q, J, 10 to A, 2, 3, 4, 5
Three of a Kind	Any three of the same number or face cards
Two Pairs	[One Pair] + [One Pair]
One Pair	Any two of same number or face cards
High Card	None of the hands listed above. Your highest card, ranked from highest to lowest as follows: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

Note:
When comparing two high hands or two low hands which are of identical poker and hand rank, the hand which contains the highest ranking card shall be considered the higher ranking hand. If the two hands are of identical rank after this comparison, the hands are considered a copy hand and the dealer wins.

Paigow Poker Payouts

Every time a player wins a hand he/she is paid even money less a 5% commission. No commission is collected on losing hands or ties. Thus, a $10 winning wager will return $19.50 (player's $10 wager plus $10 in winnings minus the $0.50 commission).

Betting Limits

It varies from casino to casino, but these are the normal betting limits:

$5 minimum bet.
$300 maximum bet.