How To Play Pai Gow Poker
Gaming | 5 MIN
Pai Gow Poker is a seven-card table game where you split your hand into a five-card high and two-card low, then try to beat the dealer on both. Below you'll find the complete pai gow poker rules, the full House Way strategy for setting hands, the key pai gow poker strategy principles, and the pai gow poker house edge and payout structure.
What Is Pai Gow Poker?
Pai gow poker (often shortened to just pai gow) is a casino table game played with a standard 52-card deck plus one Joker. Each player receives seven cards and must split them into two separate hands: a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand. The five-card hand must always outrank the two-card hand in poker value.
If you're wondering how do you play pai gow poker, to win, you must beat both of the dealer's hands. If you win one and lose the other, it's a push and no money changes hands. This frequent push outcome is what gives pai gow its reputation as a bankroll-friendly game. Understanding the pai gow poker rules and the pai gow rules for setting your hands is the foundation of how to play pai gow poker effectively.
How Do You Play Pai Gow Poker? Setting Your Hands
Learning how to play pai gow starts with the House Way, the standard method dealers use to set their hands. It's available to any player who prefers the dealer to arrange their cards. Below is the complete House Way showing the pai gow rules for every common hand type.
House Way Reference
| Hand | House Way |
|---|---|
| No Pair | Highest card in the high hand; second and third highest in the low hand. |
| One Pair | Pair in the high hand; next two highest cards in the low hand. |
| Two Pair | Split, lowest pair in the low hand. Exception: keep both pairs together if you have an Ace/Joker for the low hand. Always split if high pair is Jacks+ and low pair is 7s+. Always split Aces and any other pair. |
| Three-of-a-Kind | Keep in the high hand. Exception: split one Ace to the low hand if trips are Aces. |
| Straight/Flush/SF | Two highest cards in the low hand; keep the complete hand in the high hand. With one pair, put the pair in the low hand if the straight/flush is preserved. |
| Full House | Always split, pair goes in the low hand. |
| Four-of-a-Kind (2s–6s) | Never split; play in the high hand. |
| Four-of-a-Kind (7s–10s) | Split unless an Ace can go in the low hand. |
| Four-of-a-Kind (Jacks–Aces) | Always split. |
| Five Aces | Split, two Aces in the low hand. |
Note: A-2-3-4-5 is considered the second highest straight in pai gow poker. The Joker completes a straight, flush, or straight flush, otherwise it counts as an Ace.
What Is the Best Pai Gow Poker Strategy?
The most important pai gow poker strategy principle is balancing both hands. A common mistake is stacking everything into the high hand at the expense of the low hand, but since the pai gow poker rules require you to win both hands to get paid, a weak low hand turns potential wins into pushes.
When in doubt, ask the dealer to set your hand the House Way. The House Way isn't mathematically perfect in every situation, but it's close to optimal and eliminates the risk of costly misplays. The key decision points in pai gow poker strategy are two-pair splits and whether to break straights or flushes to strengthen the low hand.
What Is the Pai Gow Poker House Edge and Payouts?
The pai gow poker house edge is approximately 2.84%, which includes the standard 5% commission charged on all winning hands. This is one of the lower house edges among casino table games, and because approximately 41% of pai gow hands result in a push, your bankroll lasts significantly longer than at faster-paced games.
The pai gow payouts are even money (1 to 1) on winning hands, minus the 5% commission. For example, a $100 winning bet pays $95 after the $5 commission. The commission structure is the house's primary mathematical edge in pai gow poker.
