CALIFORNIA/ASIAN-STYLE GAMES

Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck plus one joker. The joker can be used as an ace, or to complete a straight, flush, or a straight flush. Pai Gow Poker can be played by up to seven players.

The game requires a player/dealer and all hands are compared to the player/dealer's hand. Before the deal, each of the players posts a wager. The dealer stacks seven piles of seven cards, one card at a time, and the remaining four cards are discarded. The player/dealer selects a pile of cards to start the distribution. The player/dealer then shakes three dice in a dice cup and counts around the positions at the table counter-clockwise. Counting from the player/dealer position, the sum of the dice determines who receives the first hand and where the action begins. The remaining hands go to the other players in counter-clockwise rotation. If the position is vacant, the hand is discarded.

All players except the player/dealer look at their cards and form two hands, a two-card front hand and a five-card back hand. Standard poker rankings apply with five aces beating a royal flush. For the two-card hand, any pair beats any two unmatched cards, but straights and flushes don't apply.

The player must arrange the cards so that the five-card hand ranks higher than the two-card hand. Otherwise, the hand is fouled and the player loses automatically. After all players have placed their two hands face down, the player/dealer's seven cards are set.

Beginning with the action button, all the players' cards are exposed and compared to the player/dealer's hand. The result between the player/dealer and each player is determined by comparing the player's five-card hand with the player/dealer's five-card hand and the player's two-card hand with the player/dealer's two-card hand.

1. If the player wins both hands, the player/dealer pays out the amount wagered.
2. If the player/dealer wins one hand and the player wins the other (push), no money is exchanged.
3. If the player/dealer wins both hands, the player/dealer wins the player's wager.
4. If the player and the player/dealer have the same hand(s), the player/dealer wins.