Pai Gow Poker Rules

Pai Gow Poker is a casino game based on the Chinese domino game Pai Gow, played with cards and poker hands. It was created by Sam Torosian at the Bell Card Club in Los Angeles in 1985, and reached the Las Vegas Strip by the late 1980s.

The game uses a standard 52-card deck plus one joker, 53 cards in all.

Up to seven hands are dealt at the table. One belongs to the banker, usually the casino dealer, who plays against every other player. Players do not play against each other.

Players shall not discuss their hands with one another at any stage.

The joker. In the five-card hand, the joker may be used as an ace, or to complete a straight, a flush or a straight flush. It is not fully wild. In the two-card hand it counts as an ace. Some casinos play the joker as fully wild; the house rules shall be posted at the table.

Five-card hand. The five-card hand ranks as in standard poker hand rankings, with two differences:

2.2(a) Five aces (four aces and the joker) is the highest hand in most casinos, above a royal flush.

2.2(b) In most casinos, A-2-3-4-5 is the second-highest straight or straight flush, ranking below A-K-Q-J-10 and above K-Q-J-10-9. Some casinos, notably in California and Michigan, rank it as the lowest straight. The house rules shall be posted.

Two-card hand. The only combinations are a pair and two unpaired cards. Any pair beats any two unpaired cards. Straights and flushes do not count in the two-card hand.

Before the deal, each player places their wager in the betting area. The table minimum and maximum are posted.

The dealer deals seven hands of seven cards, face down, one card at a time. The four remaining cards are set aside unseen and are not used.

A random number from 1 to 7 decides which seat receives the first hand. Traditionally the dealer throws three dice and counts round the table, starting from the banker's position; some casinos use an electronic device. The other hands follow in rotation.

Hands dealt to empty seats are discarded unseen.

Each player divides their seven cards into a five-card hand, also called the high or back hand, and a two-card hand, also called the low or front hand.

The five-card hand must rank higher than the two-card hand. If the two-card hand is a pair of aces, for example, the five-card hand must hold two pair or better.

A hand set the wrong way round, or with the wrong number of cards in either part, is a foul. Casinos differ on the penalty: some treat the whole bet as lost, others have the dealer re-set the hand by the house way. The house rules shall be posted.

Players place their two hands face down. Once the banker's cards are exposed, players may not touch their cards.

The house way. When the casino banks, the dealer sets the banker's hand by a fixed set of rules called the house way, so the dealer makes no choices. The house way differs between casinos, and many casinos will set a player's hand by the house way on request.

A hand that is exactly equal to the banker's hand of the same size is a copy. The banker wins all copies.

There is no dealer qualification rule. Every player's hands are settled against the banker's, whatever the banker holds.

Commission. Most casinos take a commission of 5% of each winning bet. Some, especially in California, charge a flat fee per hand instead. Commission-free versions of the game also exist, with their own rules.

In many casinos, players may take turns as the banker, playing against the other players and the dealer. The house usually offers the bank to each seat in rotation.

A player who banks may set their own hand as they wish. Where a player co-banks with the house, the hand must be set by the house way.

The banker has an advantage, because the banker wins copies. In a private game, fairness requires every player to deal and bank an equal number of times.