How to Play

A casino banking game invented in 1985 that blends Chinese Pai Gow structure with poker hands; each player splits seven cards into a five-card and a two-card hand that must both beat the banker.

Pai Gow Poker is a casino banking game invented in 1985 by Sam Torosian of the Bell Card Club in Los Angeles, blending the hand-splitting structure of the Chinese tile game Pai Gow with standard poker hand rankings. It is played with a 53-card pack (52 standard cards plus one joker) at a semicircular table seating up to seven players plus the banker. Each hand, every player receives seven cards and must arrange them into two hands: a five-card 'high' or 'back' hand and a two-card 'low' or 'front' hand. The five-card hand must outrank the two-card hand. Players win their wager only when both of their hands beat both of the banker's corresponding hands; winning only one is a push (tie), losing or copying either means you lose. Two features distinguish the game: the joker is a semi-wild card that plays as an ace or completes a straight or flush in the five-card hand, and ties (called copies) always go to the banker. The house collects a 5% commission on winning wagers.

Players

One to seven players plus a banker. The banker is usually the casino dealer, but any seated player may accept the bank and compete against the dealer and the other seated players; the bank rotates in most casinos. The game is independent for each player: you compete only against the banker.

Card Deck

A 53-card pack: one standard 52-card deck (ace high to 2 low) plus one joker. The joker is partially wild: in the five-card hand it plays as an ace, or as any card needed to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush; in the two-card hand it always plays as an ace. Card ranking is standard poker rank with A high and A-2-3-4-5 (the 'wheel') counted as the second-highest straight behind the 10-J-Q-K-A Broadway straight.

Objective

Split your seven cards into a five-card back hand and a two-card front hand that both outrank the banker's corresponding hands. You win even money minus a 5% commission if both hands win; you push if you win one and lose one; you lose your entire wager if you lose or copy both (or copy either hand that the banker does not lose).

Setup and Deal

1. Each player places a single wager in the betting circle. The banker also wagers (against all players).
2. The dealer shuffles the 53 cards and forms seven face-down piles of seven cards each. Four cards remain unused regardless of how many players are seated.
3. A random number from 1 to 7 is generated (usually by rolling three dice and taking the total modulo 7); starting from the banker position and counting counter-clockwise, the pile at that number goes to the banker. The remaining piles are distributed counter-clockwise to the seats, whether or not a player is sitting there. Unused piles are returned to the shuffler.
4. Each player examines their seven cards in private and arranges them face-down into two stacks: the five-card back hand and the two-card front hand.

Gameplay

1. Setting the hand: Arrange your seven cards into a five-card 'back' (high) hand and a two-card 'front' (low) hand. The back hand must outrank the front hand. For example, if the front hand is a pair of 7s, the back hand must be a pair of 8s or higher (or any better category).
2. Two-card hand categories: The only possible two-card hands are a pair (e.g. Q-Q) or two unmatched cards ranked by higher card then kicker (e.g. A-K beats A-Q). Flushes and straights do not count in the two-card hand.A♠K♠
3. Five-card hand rankings: Standard poker, highest to lowest: five aces (four aces plus the joker), royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.
4. Fouling: If the two-card hand outranks the five-card hand, or if you fail to set your hand before the call, the hand is fouled. Depending on the house rule you either lose both wagers automatically or the dealer resets your hand according to the house way.
5. Reveal: After every player has set and placed their hand face-down, the banker turns over their seven cards and arranges them according to the fixed house way (a written table telling the banker exactly how to split every possible holding).
6. Comparison: The banker compares their back hand to each player's back hand, and their front hand to each player's front hand. Ties (called copies) on any hand go to the banker.
7. Outcome: - Win both hands: you win even money on your wager, minus a 5% commission. - Lose both hands (or lose one and copy the other): you lose your wager. - Win one and lose one (or win one and copy the other): the wager is a push and is returned to you. - Copy one hand and win or tie the other: the copy goes to the banker, so pushes and losses are resolved hand by hand.

Joker Rules

• In the five-card hand, the joker completes a straight, a flush, or a straight flush if it can; if it cannot, it counts as an ace.
• In the two-card hand, the joker always counts as an ace; it cannot be a wild card because there are no flushes or straights in two-card hands.
• Four aces plus the joker constitutes five aces, the highest possible hand in the game, outranking even a royal flush.

Scoring

• Win both: Wager is paid 1:1, less a 5% commission on the winnings. On a $20 bet, you collect $19 profit.
• Push: Wager is returned unchanged. Roughly 40% of all hands end in a push, which is why the game has such low volatility.
• Lose both (or copy both): The entire wager is collected by the banker.
• Commission: Some casinos charge a flat fee per hand instead of a percentage; a few California card rooms charge the fee regardless of outcome.

Winning

Pai Gow Poker is played hand by hand rather than to a target score. Each hand is a self-contained wager: win it, push, or lose it. Success is measured by bankroll gained over a session. A common house edge estimate with optimal setting is about 2.7%, making Pai Gow Poker one of the lower-edge table games in the casino.

Common Variations

• Fortune Pai Gow: Adds an optional Fortune side bet that pays according to the ranking of the best five-card hand formable from your seven cards, ignoring the split.
• No Commission Pai Gow (Commission-Free): Drops the 5% commission but the banker automatically wins when holding a queen-high Pai Gow (no pair, no straight, no flush, queen high) in the five-card hand.
• Progressive Pai Gow: Adds a $1 progressive jackpot side bet that pays on a seven-card straight flush, royal flush, or similar premium holdings across all seven cards.
• EZ Pai Gow: Another commission-free variant where the banker wins ties automatically and the 'EZ' bad-beat side bet pays when an opponent beats you on the five-card hand with a straight or better.

Tips and Strategy

• Set to maximise the front: Given a legal split, always aim to make the front hand as strong as possible without dropping the back hand below it. Strong fronts win more pushes.
• Two-pair splits: With two pairs, split them unless one pair is a low pair (2s through 6s) and you hold an ace or king singleton. With a pair of 7s or higher plus any lower pair, split; with small pairs only and an ace, keep both pairs together and put the ace up front.
• Three of a kind: Keep the three together in the back and put your two highest singletons up front, except with three aces, where you split off a pair of aces for the back and put an ace-plus-kicker up front.
• Full houses: Always split. Put the pair in the front and the three of a kind in the back.
• Straights and flushes: Keep them intact in the back unless doing so forces a weak front; the two highest cards outside the straight or flush go up front.
• Joker use: Treat the joker as an ace in a no-pair hand; pair it with your highest side card for the front and put your second-best combination in the back.

Glossary

• Back hand / high hand: The five-card hand. Must outrank the front hand.
• Front hand / low hand: The two-card hand.
• Banker: The position that covers every other bet at the table. Usually the casino dealer, but players may bank on request.
• Copy: A tie between the banker's hand and a player's hand of identical rank and card values. Copies always go to the banker.
• Fouling: Setting the front higher than the back, or failing to set on time. Results in an automatic loss or a forced house-way reset.
• House way: The printed rule sheet dictating exactly how the banker must split every possible seven-card combination.
• Pai Gow: A seven-card hand with no pair, no straight, and no flush. The term comes from the original Chinese tile game.
• Push: Winning one hand and losing the other. The wager is returned.