Free Online Pai Gow

Michael Shackleford: Hi, my name is Mike Shackleford with the Wizardofodds.com website, and I'm here with Angela Wyman and Dan Lubin to try to teach you about Pai Gow poker. Before I get started, a word of explanation. This table here is for easy Pai Gow, which is a little bit different than standard Pai Gow poker, so we're going to pretend this is standard Pai Gow poker, and we'll talk about easy Pai Gow later. Shall we learn by an example?

Dan Lubin: All right, everybody gets a packet of seven cards. Let me look at your hand.

Michael: The object is to separate your seven cards into a five-card high hand according to poker rules, and to two-card low hand. The way the low hand works is a pair of aces would be the highest hand. If you don't have a pair, then it goes by the two singletons. The best non-pair would be Ace-King, and the lowest would be Two-Three.

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In your case, I see a pair of queens. Pair hands are really easy to set. You play the pair in the high and the two highest singletons in the low. Let's see what I got. I got the joker. There is one joker in the deck in Pai Gow poker. This can be used to complete a straight, a flush, a straight-flush. Otherwise, it counts as an ace.

Fortunately, this is going to help me complete a straight two different ways. I could do a Nine-Ten-Jack-Queen-King straight using the joker as the queen, playing a Two-Seven in a low, which would be a horrible low hand. Or I can use the joker as an eight, playing a jack-high straight and king-high in the low. This is obviously the better way to play the hand. It's really unlikely that it's going to matter how high my straight is, but a king-high low is significantly better than a seven-high low.

Now the dealer turns over his cards, and he's going to separate them according to casino rules known as 'the house way'.

Dan: All right then, I have nothing. I have a four of spades, can't make the flush. I have an ace-high Pai Gow, and the ace is the strongest, so it goes into the five card. When I don't have a pair or better, then the second and third cards go up into the low hand, and this is my hand.

Michael: Dan has what's called a 'Pai Gow hand', meaning he can't even make a pair, so he's going to play the two highest singletons in the low hand.

Dan: My low hand beats your low hand – King-King, but my ten kicker beats your two kicker, so I win on the low said, but your straight beats my high card high side, so you win, and a split decision is a push.

Michael: Right. I win on the high, lose on the low, so that results in a push.

Dan: Her ace beats my king, and her pair beats my singleton ace, and she wins.

Michael: One of the two ways the house has advantage in Pai Gow poker is that when you win, you have to pay a 5% commission. Angela bet a 100 USD, so she won 95. When in doubt, ask the dealer how would the house set this hand, and the house way is usually the right way.

Angela Wyman: That's a great tip.

Dan: But not always. Generally.

Michael: Okay. Let's see what you got.

Angela: I'm having one pair of hand. The pair should go in bottom, and then my highest single card would go on the top, so I got the Ace-Ten on top, pair of nines on the bottom.

Michael: Exactly. Two highest singletons are on top. Let's see what I got here. I have a full house. Full houses are really obvious. Unless there's other straights or flush muddying the waters, you always separate them, playing the pair in the low and the three of a kind in the high.

Dan: There is one exception. If you have a low pair like fours, or threes, or twos, and you have an Ace-King, then you would play the full house together to be straight or flush on the dealer's high side, with the Ace-King being very strong. But most people just always split it up.

Question 1 - [04:28]

Michael: Can you be specific about this house way exception about splitting up before house?

Dan: Since an Ace-King is about as strong as a pair of twos on the low side, and a full house is significantly stronger than a three of a kind, which is what you have after you split it up, if you have an Ace-King and a pair of twos, keep the full house together, the jacks and the twos Ace-King up. Else you would just split off the pair part

Michael: So, you're saying, if you have an Ace-King singletons and your pair is fours or less, then you play the two high singletons in the low.

Dan: Exactly.

Question 2 - [05:03]

Michael: And don't some houses just always split up the full house?

Dan: Yes. In other words, the exception is so rare that if you always split a full house, it almost always plays the same.

Michael: Okay, let's see what you got.

Dan: Let's see what I got. I got Joker-Queen. Now, this is interesting. I've got three pairs.

Question 3 - [05:24]

Michael: You played the high pair in the low, right?

Dan: Right. There's some cases where, if you have a medium pair and two low pairs, you took the middle pair up, because if you're facing a two pair hand on a bottom, you want to beat that too. But as a simple rule of thumb, if you have three pairs, you put the highest pair up, and play a two pair hand on the bottom. My queens meet your eights on top, and your three of a kind beats my two pairs on the bottom, and the split decision is a push.

What do we have got here? You have an Ace-Ten losing to my pair, and your pair of nines is toast to my two-pair.

Michael: Let's try another hand. What do you think you should do?

Angela: I have one pair, so the pairs go on bottom, my Ace-King on top.

Michael: Yes. I have garbage. This is again called the Pai Gow hand. I don't even have a pair, so I am going to play the second and third highest singletons in the low, because I have to play the highest hand in the high.

Dan: I have one pair, no straight, no flush. That's the pair, and that's the ace. My ace beats your ten, and my pair of kings beats your high card sequence. And Ace-King beats Ace-Ten. There's a often lot of face-offs, but my pair of kings beat your pair of sixes. Split decision is a push.

Michael: Okay. Let's play another hand, shall we?

Dan: All right.

Angela: Thank you. I've got the two pair hand.

Michael: Two pairs are the trickiest hand in Pai Gow poker. You could keep the two pair together in the high hand and have a pretty strong high hand, and play two singletons in the low or you could separate the two pair, playing the higher pair in the high and the low pair in the low. So, there's a tradeoff – do you want to play a strong high hand, or strong low hand? There's no one way that works for every situation. You have to consider the both of the pairs and your highest singleton.

I'm going to explain a rule that's in my book and on my website, called 'the nine-fifteen rule'. Here's how it works. For the two pairs, you count the number of points in each pair. Twos through tens, counting hit value, jacks being 11 points, queens 12, kings 13, and aces 14. in this case, we got two points here, 11 points here. Two plus 11 means 13.

Here's what my rule says to do. If you have nine points or less, then if you had a king, or a singleton you would play that high singleton in the low. Otherwise you would maintain the two pairs. If you have 15 points, to 10 points, then if you have an ace singleton, you would play the ace in the low and the two pair in the high. Otherwise you would separate the two pair. If you had 16 points or more, then you always separate the two par. So usually you're going to be separating the two pair, but there are exceptions. This is one of those exceptions.

And it's intuitive. Why? Here we got a pair of twos in the low. You can significantly increase the high by playing the two pair, and you're not significantly decreasing the low by playing an Ace-Eight, because Ace-Eight is not that much worse than a pair of twos. So, my advice is to play the Ace-Eight in the low hand, but two highest singletons and hope for the best.

Dan: I have four diamonds with the joker, I got a pair of threes, so I can't make the straight. I have a pair of three solid bottom and an Ace-King on top, and she's got Ace-Eight, and jacks and twos, and she's a push, 'cause my Ace-King is over her Ace-Eight on the top and we'll just push this round.

Over her Ace eight on the top and we just push this round

Mike: All right, shall we play another game.

Angela: Absolutely.

Mike: Let's see what you got. Another two-pair hand. So, you've got Queens and threes. So that would be 12 points for the Queens. Three points for the threes. So that's 15 points. So, if you have an A Singleton then you play the two highest singletons in the low. So, you meet my exception therefore maintain the two pair by the Ace, King and 11. Let's see what I've got. This is complicated. So, remember the Joker can be used to complete a straight four flush. So, there's two viable ways I could play this hand. I can use it to complete the flush, and I'm going to have a great high hand and a horrible low hand. This is almost certain I'm going to push and I could also use the joker to complete a straight. So, I've got seven, six, five, four, three.

Dan: and a two.

Mike: I've actually got a seven card straight which would be great for some side bets but we're not talking about that right now. So, I'm going to make my best possible low hand which would be this and play the low straight. So, my choices are flush and a horrible low hand or a straight and a mediocre low hand. Now correct me if I'm wrong, Dan, but when you can play a straight or a flush you go with the way resulting in the highest low hand.

Dan: Yes. That's right. And I've got Ace, King, nine, eight, eight, seven, five. I just have a pair of eights, and an Ace King. The split decision is a push. And it's a push it's got. Two pairs on the bottom, Ace King on, and we copy on top.

Question 4 - [12:03]

Mike: So, Dan, tell us what a copy is.

Dan: All right. The copy is a hand that is equivalent. It's not better. It's not weaker. It's the same.

Mike: It's exactly the same.

Dan: The same in terms of poker value. And in that case the coin toss gives it to the one who is banking which in this case is The House. Now since The House is banking the game The House wins this copy. So, The House wins the top by the copy rule. And your hand on the bottom is better than my hand because you have two pairs. I have one pair so it's a split decision, and it's a push. You don't lose.

Question 5 - [12:43]

Angela: Okay, Mike. But that raises a question for me. You're saying the tie goes to the banker. Is the banker always the same person? The dealer is not always the banker right now?

Mike: Yes. To make things even more confusing, the dealer is not necessarily the banker in both Pai Gow Poker and Pai Gow Tiles. The way it works is that the players have the opportunity to bank in turn. And if you wish to bank, and it's your turn to then you're going to be playing against every other player at the table as well as the dealer. So, this gives you an advantage because you are now going to win on any copies.

Dan: So, if Angie was banking, she would have won that hand.

Mike: Exactly. So, my advice is that you should bank whenever the turn comes your way and you're comfortable with how much the other players are betting. Now, if you're a hundred-dollar player here and somebody else is betting a thousand dollars that might be more than your comfortable with losing, in which case, you just got to decline it.

Dan: You would also be banking against other people at the table. You are not playing against the dealer with the amount of money you have on your spot. You are banking against the amount of money on everybody else's spot. And if get a really bad hand that loses to the rest of the table, you pay the rest of the table.

Mike: Often times you'll be playing by yourself in which case there's absolutely no reason to decline banking. And you may be wondering, 'How much is the dealer going to bet against me?' He is going to bet the same amount that you bet against him the last time the dealer was banking.

Dan: Right. So, if you were betting a hundred dollars a hand and you felt, 'Well, I'm losing some money. Let me drop down to $10.' Then right after that hand you get the bank, you can't say to me, 'I want to bank for a hundred.' I'll say, 'Your last hand was 10 bucks. That's the most you can bank.'

Mike: Another good thing about banking is that if there's a bunch of players, the 5% commission applies to the total net win not on the hand by hand basis which works to your advantage. Mathematically speaking, the house advantage when you're not banking is about 2.5%. When you are banking it's right around break even because the effect of winning on copies almost exactly offsets the 5% commission. If you want to bank and you should want to bank you have to be vigilant sometimes about invoking your right when it's your turn. Hardly any players even want to bank so the dealers almost never will ask you, 'Do you want to bank' when it's your turn. And there will be a white pock that moves around the table to show whose turn it is but sometimes the dealer doesn't use it or it's not clear whose turn it is. In that case never hesitate to tell the dealer, ask the dealer, it's my turn to bank.

Dan: Right, if nobody had banked in the past three hands or two hands on a busy table, on a full table and the dealer forgot to move the button, the first person who requests to bank without any other player objecting should be able to bank.

Mike: And if any of this is not clear, it's all on my website.

Pai Gow Online Guide

Pai Gow is a popular casino game that puts an interesting twist on classic poker games. The game revolves around players creating two poker hands, so you should have good grasp on hand rankings. As such, playing Pai Gow online is the perfect game for poker lovers who want to test their skills but without any direct competitors. It's also a great game to play as a first step before getting involved in regular online poker cash games.

Our recommended list of the best Pai Gow sites as of November 2020:

Contents

• 2 How To Find The Best Pai Gow Sites
• 3 The Best Online Pai Gow Bonuses
• 5 How To Play Pai Gow Poker Online

How To Find The Best Pai Gow Sites

At Best Online Casino Sites, we've made it our mission to keep you informed about where you can play Pai Gai online with great bonuses and exceptional service. Our expert reviewers have scoured the web with very specific criteria in mind to ensure that you can have the best online gaming experience possible. These are the aspects we consider:

Licensing And Security

It's important to us that our players are only wagering on Pai Gow at legitimate online casinos. That's why we thoroughly examine every website and ensure that they are licensed in a jurisdiction like Curacao, Isle of Man or Malta. These gaming commissions work hard to ensure that players are protected by specific security protocols, and you can always rest assured that your best interests are being looked after.

Bonuses And Promotions

Every online casino offers bonuses and promotions, but not all of them are particularly generous. As such, we only recommend sites that offer lucrative welcome bonuses that are best suited to Pai Gow and table game players. Here, you'll find online gaming sites that provide players with many different offers and opportunities to claim bonus cash.

Game Selection

Even if you're only interested in playing Pai Gow, you should be able to try something new if you should so choose. So, our recommended casinos feature a wide range of table games that you're sure to enjoy if you already Pai Gow. Our gaming experts keep an eye out for the sites with the best selection of Pai Gow variants, as well as similar games like Caribbean Stud and Casino Hold'em.

Safe Banking And Quick Cashouts

Banking is an important aspect when playing casino games like Pai Gow online. So, we make sure that the sites we recommend only offer the most secure deposit and withdrawal methods, so you never have to worry about where your money is going. We also keep an eye out for Pai Gow sites that offer fast withdrawals that can be processed in 24 hours or less.

The Best Online Pai Gow Bonuses

When you're playing Pai Gow online, there are plenty of ways for you to earn bonus cash. Here are some of the most generous promotions available at online casinos that will provide you with some extra money to wager on this exciting game:

Welcome Bonus

At online casinos, you can claim a welcome bonus that will provide you with a match on the amount of your first deposit. So, if you deposit $100 at a casino with a 100% welcome bonus, you'll be given an additional $100. Welcome bonuses sometimes also come with free chips that you can use to play table games like Pai Gow.

No Deposit Bonuses

No deposit bonuses can be pretty rare in the online casino market, but they're out there. These bonuses don't require you to spend any money and are paid out as small cash bonuses to your casino balance. They are generally never more than $5 or $10, but they can get you off to a great start.

Reload Bonuses

Reload bonuses are just like welcome bonuses, except they are available to existing players rather than new ones. These types of bonuses allow you to claim a match on your deposit on certain days of the week. The match amount ranges from 25% up to 100%. Reloads are usually offered on designated days of the week, so you should mark your calendar if you don't want to miss out.

Leaderboard Promos

Leaderboard promotions are good fun if you're planning to play lots of Pai Gow. At some online casino, you can earn points as you play games. At the end of the week (or month), the players with the most points win bonuses and cash prizes.

Giveaways

Prize draw giveaways are special events that are hosted occasionally at online casinos. Like leaderboard promotions, wagering a certain amount of money on casino games and slots will earn you entries into the draw. At the end of the promotional period, a winner is chosen, and a wide variety of prizes are up for grabs, like holidays, cash, jewelry and gadgets.

How To Meet Your Wagering Requirements

Just about every online casino bonus that you claim will come with wagering requirements, which tell you how much money you have to wager before your bonus can be withdrawn. Most online casinos express this as a multiple, stating that your wagering requirement is, for example, 40x.

What this means is that you'll have to wager your bonus amount 40 times before it can be withdrawn. So, for example, if you claim a $10 bonus with a 40x wagering requirement, you'd have to spend $400.

There is a twist when it comes to table games like Pai Gow, however. These types of casino games online contribute a small portion to your wagering requirements, and it's usually never more than 10% or 20%. So, if we were to continue with the example above, for every $4 a slots player has to spend to clear their bonus, a Pai Gow player would have to spend $40.

This means that it can take quite a while for table game players to clear their online casino bonuses. So, it's important that you keep an eye out for online casinos that offer the lowest wagering requirements. The good news is that most online casinos will release your bonus little by little. So, for every $5 you clear, you should be able to withdraw it.

How To Play Pai Gow Poker Online

Online Pai Gow is a simple poker game that is played against the dealer. Like all table games, the aim is simple: beat the banker. In order to do so, you have to make two poker hands with your seven cards:

• One high hand made up of 5 cards (also called the back hand or big hand)
• One low hand made up to 2 cards (also called the front hand or small hand)

Then, there are three possible outcomes:

1. The Player Wins Both Hands, And Wins The Wager

2. The Dealer Wins Both Hands, And Loses Their Wager

3. The Player Wins One Hand And The Dealer Wins One Hand, And No Money Is Exchanged

The overall concept is incredibly simple but there are a couple of things to remember. Firstly, your big hand must always be worth more than your small hand. For example, if your two-card hand is a pair of kings, your five-card hand must have aces or higher. If you set your hand incorrectly, then your bet is either forfeited to the casino, or it is reset according to house rules. This all depends on which casino you're playing at.

When setting your two-card hand, you'll only have high-card hands and pairs. In the five-card hand, you can use any hand, all the way up to a royal flush. If there is a Joker in play, then it can only be used to complete a flush or a straight.

How To Win At Pai Gow: Strategies And Tips

It's pretty simple to play Pai Gow poker online, but securing a positive outcome requires some strategic thought. There are a number of ways to increase your odds of winning by using Pai Gow strategies and tactics. It all depends on how you set your hand:

If you are dealt one pair there is only one thing to do. You should always play the pair in your five-card hand, and play your two highest cards in your two-card hand.

If you are dealt two pairs, you should split them with the higher pair going into your five-card hand and your lower pair going into your two-card hand. The exception to this rule is when you've been dealt a pair of 7s or higher with no single ace or a pair of Aces and any other pair.

Pai Gow Poker Odds

When you're dealt three-of-a-kind, keep them in your back hand. However, if you have three-of-a-kind Aces, you should put two in your back hand and one in your front hand.

Should you happen to be incredibly lucky and are dealt a full house, you should split. The pair should go in the front and the trips should go in the back.

Any straights, flushes, straight flushes or royal flushes should go in your back hand. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, if you're dealt:

• A pair of jacks and a pair of 6s
• A pair of aces and any other pair
• Two pair and a single ace

Pai Gow Poker Free

Four-of-a-kind hands can also be quite complex. If you are dealt four cards of the same value in your hand, then you should play according to their rank:

• 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s should be kept together
• Split if you have 7s, 8s, 9s or 10s
• Jacks, Queens and Kings should be split unless you also have a pair of 10s or higher
• Aces should be split as well, unless you have a pair of 7s or higher

Pai Gow Side Bets And Variants

If you want a chance to win more money while playing online Pai Gow, you can play some interesting Pai Gow poker online variants that allow you to place sides. You can play an extra wager that will provide you with extra prize money under certain circumstances. The most popular Pai Gow side bets and variants are:

• Fortune Pai Gow: a side bet placed on the value of all seven of the player's cards. Payouts worth up to 8000:1 are available.
• Jackpot Pai Gow: by placing a side bet, you make yourself eligible for winning a progressive jackpot if you land a 7-card straight flush
• Pai Gow Insurance: if you can't make a pair or better with your cards, then you've been dealt what is called a 'non-hand'. If you place Pai Gow insurance that would pay you a prize if this situation occurs. Otherwise you'd lose your bet.
• Lucky 8s: when you place a side bet in Lucky 8s, you'll be able to receive a payout of 8888:1 for a natural 7-card straight flush, and a bonus payout is also available if you land quad 8s with a joker.

These side bets should be played with caution. It can be easy to whittle away your bankroll by trying to get lucky based on any of the special circumstances listed above. As such, you shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket and spend your entire bankroll on these variants. Every so often, indulge yourself and play some side bets but be sure to stick to the standard gameplay if you've got limited funds.

Pai Gow: Put Your Poker Skills To Use

Sometimes you want to play poker but you don't want to compete against other players. In those situations, playing online Pai Gow is perfect. You have the perfect opportunity to exercise your poker skills while vying for the chance to win some impressive payouts.

There are plenty of great places to play Pai Gow poker online, and many destinations offer up some amazing promotions that allow you to claim bonus cash. At Best Online Casino Sites, we'll help you find those locations so you can have the best online gaming experience possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

The low hand (or front hand) is the two card hand and the high hand (or back hand) is the five card hand.

Yes, depending on the legal gambling age in your jurisdiction, Pai Gow can be played by individuals who are at least 18 years old. If your state or country requires that you are 21 years of age, you must comply with this regulation.

Yes, Pai Gow players can find a bonus online. However, you need to check the wagering requirements first. Most bonuses only offer 10% of the amount staked back in wagering contributions as opposed to 100% for slot games. The reason behind this is that casinos usually try to keep the bonuses focused on slot titles.

Similar to video poker, Pai Gow remains one of the most profitable titles presently out there. The game allows you to build your bankroll according to a strategy and in increments. While you won't be able to wager huge sums like in Texas Hold'em, the game is still a very popular pastime and a preferred option to those who seek to play at a casino with a bit of strategical thought.

Pai Gow is the least volatile game that any casino can offer. Online china shores slot machine to play for free. This will still depend on the version of the game, but in general, the classic version will disburse steady but small profits.

The probability of that happening is to assume that another player also has a royal flush which is about 1 in 290 billion chance.

Winning hands are paid at 19:20 so it depends how much you stake. However, there is also the house commission to account, which is usually around 5%. This means that if you win $10, the house will take a $0.50 bite out of your profits, disbursing $9.50 in net winnings to you.

Yes, many casinos have a free practice mode to help you learn the ropes.