How To Play Pai Gow

Learning how to play Pai Gow poker involves memorizing a few simple rules. Players in Pai Gow poker must form two hands out of seven cards. The hands formed in Pai Gow poker are a two-card hand and a five-card hand. To win in Pai Gow poker the player must beat the dealer on both of these two hands. Players are not playing against each other in Pai Gow poker, but instead playing against the dealer.

1. Determine who will get which deck of cards when playing Pai Gow poker. To do this, the dealer deals seven decks of cards, with seven cards in each deck, and discards the final four cards. The deck includes one joker which is either wild or an ace depending on the casino's rules. The dealer then rolls three dice. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, the dealer counts in order in a clockwise rotation around the table until he reaches the player based on the number rolled on the dice. This means if there are four players including the dealer, the first player is number five, if the result of the dice is higher than four, with the order continuing clockwise. The player selected gets the first deck of cards and the remaining decks are distributed with any unused decks discarded.
2. The players and dealer form their two-card and five-card hands. Each casino has specific rules for how the dealer must form his hand, and these vary from casino to casino. Players may form their hands into any combination of a two-card and five-card hand they wish.
3. Reveal the hands and determine the winners in Pai Gow Poker. To win any wagers made, the player must have a higher ranking two-card hand than the dealer and a higher five-card hand than the dealer. If the dealer wins one hand and the player wins the other, it is a push and the player receives his bet back. If the dealer wins both hands, the player loses his bet. Any ties on a hand are considered to be won by the dealer.