Pai Gow Poker is a casino table game in which the player is dealt seven playing cards and then creates two separate poker hands.
The object of the game is to beat the dealer with both poker hands and win money. One of the advantages to playing pai gow poker is that it is relatively uncommon for the player to lose with both hands. As a result, a limited bankroll can last a long time at a pai gow poker table.
More about Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker was invented sometime in the 1980s by a casino manager named Fred Wolf. He created the game to be loosely based on the ancient Chinese game called “Pai Gow.” In order to make the game appealing to the casual casino crowd, Fred Wolf designed pai gow poker to have much simpler rules and to use regular playing cards instead of Chinese tiles.
Today, pai gow poker is offered by most live casinos and online casinos. The game has proven to be quite popular thanks to the flexibility it offers the player and the low house advantage. It only takes a few minutes to get the hang of the game so pai gow poker appeals to a wide audience.
If you take the time to learn a little basic pai gow poker strategy, you’ll find it to be a good game for the bankroll. The house does have a small advantage, but you’ll find that the dealer doesn’t win outright very often compared to other casino table games. The payouts for pai gow poker are not massive, but that is offset by the low occurrence of flat out dealer wins.
Every internet casino we have reviewed offers pai gow poker at a wide range of betting limits. In most cases, the minimum bet per hand is just $1.00. From there, the betting limits go up to maximum wagers of about $500 per hand. This can vary from casino to casino, but we’ve found that $500 is about average for the maximum bet. Some online casinos will increase the real money betting limits even higher than that if you ask them.
If you’re new to pai gow poker, we recommend that you read through the rules and then try a couple of practice rounds on our free pai gow poker game. The rules of splitting hands may appear a little confusing at first but you’ll catch the hang of it pretty quickly. If you’re ever in doubt, you can always elect to have the house arrange your hands for you.