Pai Gow Poker rules

Casinos make a lot of money from the games that they offer. One of the games that you can play from an online or brick and mortar casino is Pai Gow Poker. This is sometimes referred to as Doublehand. It differs from Pai Gow in that gamers use cards to play in place of Chinese dominoes known as pai gows. It is an interesting game that you should try playing. For you to enjoy the game, you have to understand its fundamentals so that you can win.

How you can play Pai Gow Poker

The game involves 52 cards and a joker. The maximum number of players in the table should be 6 plus a dealer. As you play, you should aim at beating the banker. In this case, the banker can be a player at the table, the dealer or even a player-deal team. The game starts with the dealer issuing seven cards to each player. The dealer shuffles the cards and distributes them facing down. The remaining four cards go to the discard pile.

Each of the seats is numbered from 1-7 starting from who the banker is. The dealer chooses a random number to determine who gets the cards first. They then use a counterclockwise direction to deal the cards to the different players. Once you receive your cards, you should come up with two poker hands including the big and small hand.

The big hand is the five card high while the small hand is the two card low. In the game, your high hand should beat the low hand. For instance, if the two card hand consists of a pair of aces, the high hand should be better than the two card hand. In the event that the two card hand outranks the five card hand, the hand can be forfeited depending on the rules of the house.

After setting your hands, you should let your two card hand go in front of the five card hand. The dealer then reveals the banker’s hand along with your hand. Pai Gow Poker has three possible outcomes. A lucky player can win both hands thus winning the bet. The dealer can also win both hands making the player lose the bet. In some cases, the player can win one hand and the dealer the other hand. This leads to a draw or a tie.

Since the house must earn from each game, the casino takes a certain percentage as commission when a player wins the game. While some of the casinos take up 5% of winnings, others have a flat fee per each hand depending on how much money you bet. A player can increase their winnings by using the side bets. Pai Gow poker allows you to make two side bets or a side bet on trips. Though side bets can be quite rewarding, you should be careful with them since they can make you spend more than you intended on the game. Some of the casinos offer their players generous bonuses which translate to high payouts.