Pai Gow Poker brings 2 hugely popular games, Pai Gow and Poker, together in a single exciting casino entertainment. Microgaming makes things even better by adding an extra Bonus Bet to the mix.
The Basics of Pai Gow Poker
In Pai Gow Poker you are dealt 7 cards, and you need to divide them into a Low Hand of 2 and a High Hand of 5. Online you’ll be playing against the Dealer alone, but if you ever get to play offline you might be up against as many as 7 tablemates. Pai Gow Poker uses standard card rankings and a normal 52-card deck, along with the Joker.
If you’re playing against the Dealer and you both get 7 cards, there are 39 in the deck that are left untouched. You can set your cards yourself, or you can check the House Way solution and set them as suggested. The Joker serves as a Limited Wild in the game, completing a Straight Flush, a Flush or a Straight an acting as an Ace is all other situations. The only exception to the usual Poker hand rankings that are used is that the highest possible hand is called 5 Aces, and is made up 4 Aces and the Joker.
The second-highest is a Straight Flush known as the Wheel, made up of the A2345 cards. Once your cards and the Dealer’s cards are set, the High Hands and the Low Hands are compared against each other. If both your Higher Hand and your Lower Hand beat the Dealer’s corresponding Hands, you win the round, and if both lose then you forfeit. If 1 Hand loses and 1 Hand wins a Push results, and if both Hands tie you lose your bet.
The Bet
If you choose to place the Bonus Bet, you need to do it at the beginning of play. It’s executed as soon as your 7 cards have been dealt, and before you divide them into the 2 Hands. Standard Poker rankings are applied, and the impressive payouts are as follows:
- Card Straight Flush: 8,000 to 1
- Royal Flush plus a Pair of Deuces: 2,000 to 1
- 7-Card Straight Flush using a Joker: 1,000 to 1
- Five Aces: 400 to 1Royal Flush: 150 to 1
- Straight Flush: 50 to 1
- Four of a Kind: 25 to 1
- Full House: 5 to 1
- Flush: 4 to 1
- Three of a Kind: 3 to 1
- Straight: 2 to 1
