Pai Gow Poker

Basic Rules

Pai Gow Poker is a combination of Poker and an ancient Chinese game Pai Gow. Player receives seven cards, which he splits into two hands, a five card hand and a two card hand. The object is to beat the dealer.

How to Play

First, place a bet by selecting a chip and clicking on the Bet area in the middle of the table. Place multiple chips if you want. To remove a chip from the bet field, click on the Clear Bets button.

You receive seven cards. Leave five of them in the Highest hand and select two that go to the 2nd Highest hand. To send a card to the 2nd Highest hand, just click on it. To send it back to the Highest hand, click on it again. The five-card hand (or the Highest) must always outrank the two-card hand (or the 2nd Highest). If you are undecided about which cards to choose you can also click the House Way button to let the computer select your hands in the best way for you.

The dealer’s cards are revealed. If both the dealer’s hands are higher than yours, you lose your bet. If one of your hands is higher than the Dealer’s and the other is lower, the round results as a push and your bet is returned. If both your hands are higher than the Dealer’, you win even money on your bet (1 to 1) minus 5% bank commission. In case of an exact match between hands (called “a copy”) the tie goes to the banker.

House Way

The “front” refers to the two card hand and the “back” refers to the five card hand.

No pair: Place the highest card in the back and the next two highest cards in the front

One pair: Place the pair in back and the next two highest cards in the front

Two pair: Use the following groups to determine how to play a two pair:

2 through 6: Low pair

7 through 10: Medium pairs

Jack through king: High pairs

Low pair and low pair: Split unless holding a king or better, then play two pair in the back

Low pair and medium pair: Split unless holding a king or better, then play two pair in the back

Low pair and high pair: Split unless holding an ace, then play two pair in the back

Medium pair and medium pair: Split unless holding an ace, then play two pair in the back

Medium pair and high pair: Always split

High pair and high pair: Always split

Pair of aces and any other pair: Always split

Three pair: Always play highest pair in front.

Three of a kind: Always play three of a kind in back unless they are aces, then play a pair of aces in back and one ace in front.

Three of a kind twice: Always play highest pair in front.

Straights, flushes, straight flushes, and royal flush:

With no pair: When choosing whether to play a straight, flush, or straight flush play the category which will allow the highest two cards in front.

With 6th or 7th card: Play the lower straight or flush in the back to place the highest cards in front.

With one pair: Play pair in the front only if a straight, flush, or straight can be played in the back.

With two pair: Use two pair rule.

With three pair: Use three pair rule.

With three of a kind: Play pair in front.

With full house: Use full house rule.

Full house: Always split unless the pair is twos and you have an ace and a king to play in the front.

Full house with three of a kind and two pairs: Play the highest pair in front.

Full house with three of a kind twice: Always play the highest pair in front.

Four of a kind: Play according to the rank of the four of a kind:

2 through 6: Always keep together

7 through 10: Split unless a king or better can be played in front

Jack through king: Split unless an ace can be played in front

Aces: Always split.

Four of a kind and a pair: Play pair in front.

Four of a kind and three of a kind: Play pair in front from the three of a kind.

Five aces: Split aces and play three aces in back and two aces in front unless you have a pair of kings, then play five aces in back and kings in front.

Game Controls

Begins a new game

Clear the Beats

Repeat your previous bet

Instructs the dealer to deal the cards

Activates Insure for Half your original bet

Splits your hand

Instructs the dealer to deal you another card

Indicates to the dealer that you do not want any more cards

The Game Interface

Every game contains the following areas and/or buttons:

Balance and Bet Displays:

At the bottom left are two displays which show your current total Balance – the money that is available to you for betting, and your current Bet – the amount you have riding on the current hand or play.

Message Display:

At the center of the window at the bottom are displayed game messages, such as if you’ve won a hand, how much you’ve won, etc.

Cashier Button:

If you are playing for real, a Cashier button will be displayed in the bottom left above the Balance display. Clicking on this button will cause a popup window to appear containing the Cashier interface, allowing you to make quick deposits into your account.

Option Button:

Clicking on the Options button in the lower right area of the screen will show you the Game Options window. You may customize the game in the following ways:

Game Speed:

The games have a speed setting between 1 and 5. The default setting is 4. Faster speeds cause the card animations to speed up so that you may play quicker.

Chip Ballon:

By default, small balloons appear over bet chips on the table which show the value of the chip pile. You may turn these off here.

Sound Effect:

You may toggle sound effects like card and chip sounds, roulette wheel, sic bo tumbler

Voices:

Toggle dealer announcements like ‘You Win’ and ‘Dealer etc. Has…’ here.

History Button:

Clicking this button will cause a popup window to be displayed that contains a comprehensive account of all your bets and results for the current game. You may also access this information in the games web site in the Main Page, ‘History’ section

Help Button:

Clicking on the Help button causes a popup window to be displayed that contains the Help for all the games in the web site. The current game will be displayed initially, but you may view instructions for other games by choosing it in the drop down menu at the top of the page. These instructions are also in the Main Page, ‘Help’ section of the games web site.

The Game play Secuence

Every one of our games is played by opening the game, choosing table limits, betting, playing, and observing the result of your bet and game play choices. We’ll briefly describe these stages of game play, and show you what you need to know to be an expert player! Here are descriptions of each of these parts of the game play process: Starting the Game: After you select a game from the game menu, a window will pop up

This is the game window. You will see the game table, the game console, and several buttons.

Choosing Table Limits:

Before starting the game you may be presented with a window which offers you three choices of table limits. These are the limits that will be imposed on your betting – you may not bet more than the maximum, or less than the minimum. These bet limits apply to EACH bet area. So in Blackjack, the limits apply to each bet position individually. If you are not requested to choose a table limit the game has been assigned a limit by the casino and is displayed on a plaque on the table.

Placing your Bet(s):

After you choose your table limits, the limits window will disappear (the table limits will continue to be displayed on the plaque to the right of the chip area on the table). Along the left side, bottom of the table are a series of chips, each one with a different value marked on its surface. On the table there are one or more bet areas. These areas are shown as a slightly lighter circles or areas. In Roulette, Sic Bo, Keno and some other games you may have to move your mouse cursor to see the many bet areas.

To place a bet

click on a chip, then click in the bet area. The chip with the value you selected will appear in the bet area. The amount on the chip will be deducted from your Balance and added to your Bet. To remove a bet, Control-Click (press and hold the ‘ctrl’ button on the keyboard and then click on the chip) on the chip. It will be removed from the table, and its value will be deducted from your Bet and added back to your Balance.

Deal/Roll/Spin:

Depending on the game you are playing, you must start game play by pressing the ‘Deal’, ‘Roll’, or ‘Spin’ buttons. These buttons will be located in the center at the bottom of the table. When you press the button, the dealer will deal the first cards, spin the tumbler, or spin the roulette wheel to start the game. Game play: How the game progresses depends on each individual game. Some games, like Blackjack, game play progresses through several stages where you must decide between many different plays. Other games, like Baccarat, have only one step – the cards are dealt and you either win or lose. The rules for each individual game cover game play in great detail. To view these rules, choose the game from the drop down menu at the top of this rules window.

Starting a New Game:

After you have completed the game, you may play again by clicking the ‘New Game’ button. If playing a card game the cards are reshuffled before each new game. At the beginning of the next game, you have the option to re-bet. This will place the same bets on the table that you placed in the previous game. Just click on the ‘Re-bet’ button! That covers the basic game play for all of the exciting games in our site. For specific game directions, select the game from the drop down menu above. Remember that you can always access the Help section by clicking on the ‘Help’ button in the games, or by clicking on the ‘Help’ menu item in the site main page web site.