Play Pai Gow Poker Online for Real Money
Kerry Pierce | December 7, 2022 | Updated on: March 18th, 2024
Pai Gow Poker, also known as Double Hand poker, is a popular version of Pai Gow or Pai Gows played with cards instead of dominoes. This exciting game based on the Chinese game, Pai Gow, was invented in 1980 and differs slightly from other top poker games such as Texas Hold’Em or Caribbean Stud.
Learn how to play Pai Gow Poker at Australia’s best online casinos. While the game has a high house advantage, with this guide, you get a deeper understanding of the game to develop your Pai Gow strategy and the best chance of winning real money.
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Pai Gow Poker Rules
To play Pai Gow Poker, it is important to know the rules of the game. Here is an overview of the basic pai gow poker rules:
- Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards plus the joker card and takes place on a table with six players and a dealer.
- The dealer is also known as the banker.
- The game essentially consists of two separate poker hands, a five-card hand and a two-card hand, ranked according to traditional poker rankings
- The dealer deals seven cards face down to all players and four community cards are left face down.
- The joker is a wild card and it can act as Ace, or to complete a straight or a flush.
- Once the dealer collects the unused hands, each player can then set their two Pai Gow hands.
- The highest two-card hand consists of two ace cards and the highest five-card hand consists of five ace cards plus the joker card.
Online Pai Gow Poker
The objective of Pai Gow is that the two cards in the player’s hand are both one rank higher than the two hands of the banker. Thus, the hand consisting of five cards must imperatively be higher than that of the banker. In addition, the player’s two-card hand must be greater than the banker’s. When the player’s hand is at the same rank as the banker’s, it is called a tie or copy. All copy hands are won by the banker.
Pai Gow Poker Winning Hands
Pai Gow Poker Hands | Payout | |
Five Aces | Four Ace cards plus a joker card. | 8,000:1 |
Royal Straight Flush | A hand of five cards of the same suit in numerical order, 10, J, Q, K, A. | 2,000:1 |
Straight Flush | Five cards of the same suit in numerical sequence. | 1,000: 1 |
Four of a Kind | Four cards of equal rank. | 400:1 |
Full House | Three cards of the same rank and two different cards of the same rank. | 150:1 |
Flush | Five cards of the same suit regardless of the sequence. | 50:1 |
Straight | Five cards in numerical sequence regardless of suit. | 25:1 |
Three of a kind | Three cards of the same value. | 5:1 |
Two Pair | Two different suits of two cards of equal rank. | 4:1 |
One Pair | Two cards of the same value. | 3:1 |
High Card | A hand that contains no combination and is classified by its highest card to determine the value. | 2:1 |
Pai Gow Poker House Way
The House way is the method of predetermined setting of the dealer’s hands according to the cards he has received. It can differ from casino to casino and should be clearly visible for players to read.
No Pair
- By placing the 2nd and 3rd high cards in front.
A pair
- Place two high cards in front followed by a pair in the back.
Two Pairs
- With Ace card: If the Ace card is present, place the two pairs on the back.
- With King card: If the King card is present, place the two pairs on the back.
- Three Pair: Place the top pair in front.
Three of a Kind
- ACES: Place the Ace card and the high cards in front.
- KINGS AND BELOW: place the other two highest cards in front and a set in the back
- TWO SETS: Always place the pair from the top set in front.
Straight/Flush
- ONE PAIR: Place the straight or flush on the back.
- TWO PAIRS: Place the cards according to the two pair rules.
- ONE THREE OF A KIND: Place the pair in front and a full hand in the back.
Full house
- Place the highest pair in front
How to play Pai Gow Poker Online Real Money
Here are all the steps of the game to help you play well at the best Pai Gow online:
- Place your bets.
- First, the croupier starts dealing 7 cards to each spot on the table and even the vacant spots without a bet.
- Each player who received the seven cards must establish his hand by arranging the cards with a high of 5 and a low hand with the two remaining cards.
- Place your cards face down in the indicated area on the table, once you are happy with the arrangement of your cards.
- Subsequently, the dealer turns over his seven cards and places his hand visibly according to the House Way.
- Each player’s hand is then compared to the dealer’s hand to determine the winner with the highest five-card hand and the lowest two-card hand.
- You win if both of your hands are better than the dealer.
History of Pai Gow Poker
It was in 1985 that Sam Torisian, a casino owner, invented Pai Gow Poker by combining an ancient Chinese game, Pai Gow, and the poker card game. Ever since this game was introduced to casino halls in America, it has conquered casinos around the world and even online casinos. Pai Gow Poker consists of two hands of poker and to win you must have a hand of two Aces and a hand of five Aces plus a joker card.