Pai Gow Poker Guidelines
Posted in Poker on 01/12/2010 12:22 am by Jessie
Now let’s learn some different styles of poker other than texas hold’em, seven card stud, five card draw and omaha hi-low. Yes, pai gow poker. Now you must be thinking that pai gow sounds a bit Chinese; yes you’re correct, this game is a mixture of the Chinese game pai gow and our own American poker
Certainly this isn’t one of the most acclaimed forms of poker but still commonly played. It can be enjoyed by up to seven players. It’s played with one deck of 52 cards, including a joker. Interestingly, the Joker can be used only as an ace, or to finish off a straight, flush, a straight flush, or royal flush. The critical aspect here to clearly recall is other than the usual ranking of hands we’ve an additional winning hand that is "Five Aces" (4 Aces and the Joker). Astonishingly, five aces beats all other hand including royal flush. Every player is dealt 7 cards. These cards are aligned to make 2 hands; a two card hand and a five card hand. The five card hand has to be stronger or be equal to the two card hand.
After setting up the two hands, the cards are positioned on the table face down. Once on the table, you are no longer allowed to switch them. The croupier will turn over their cards and make his hands. Each competitors hand is played against the dealer’s hands. Should the player take one hand and lose the other, this is referred to as "push" and no cash is lost or won. If dealer wins both hands then the player looses their wager and vice versa. Now if there is a draw, the croupier wins all. Once the hand is played, the next person clock-wise becomes the dealer and the next hand is dealt.