A Basic and Easy Way to Learn How to Play Pai Gow Poker

Let us teach you the basics of how to play Pai Gow poker. It is very easy to learn how to play Pai Gow poker. First, here are a few facts:

Pai Gow or Pai Gow poker is also known as double-hand poker. The Pai Gow lesson we're going teaching you is actually the American version of China’s Pai Gow. the Americanized Pai Gow is played using normal playing cards that have the same value as poker, rather than Chinese dominoes which was how Pai Gow is played in its original form.

Two gentlemen are credited for re-crafting the game of Pai Gow into Pai Gow poker and they are Sam Torosian and Fred Wolf who are said to be the makers of Pai Gow poker and Super Pan 9.

So, how to play Pai Gow and what is needed to play the game? You just need an ordinary 52-card deck that includes a single Joker card. There can be six players on a table, plus the one person who is dealing; these are the people needed in playing Pai Gow. The players' objective is to defeat the house or the banker ( the banker can be the casino dealer or any of the players of the table).

how to play Pai Gow Poker

The main goal in playing Pai Gow poker is for a player to create two poker hands from a seven card hand given by the dealer – this includes a five card hand and a two card poker hand.

The rules of Pai Gow poker states that the five card hand value must be over and exceed the two card hands. The two card hand is called the ‘in front;' it can also be called ‘on top.’ Other names for it are the low hand, the minor hand, small hand or hair. On the other hand, the name of the five card piece in Pai Gow poker is called behind, high hand, big hand, bottom hand or big. Since they are in front of the player, this is when the player is finished setting them.

How the Deal is Made

The cards in Pai Gow are shuffled and distributed to the table with the seven cards given to the player dealt face down. There will always be four cards that are unused in the deck no matter how many people are participating in the Pai Gow poker game.

One to seven are the betting positions assigned to the players beginning with the player that acts as the dealer or the banker; the game moves counter-clockwise around the table.