Play Pai Gow Poker

Single Pair or Straight Flush

In the case of a single pair and no straight or flush, the scenario is straightforward: select the two highest cards in the hand that are not part of the pair and put them in the low hand, with the pair (and the remaining three cards) and the high hand.

Two Pairs

In the case of two pairs, depending on the pairs themselves and the player’s own aggressiveness, one might choose to keep two pairs together in the high hand, or put the lower of the pairs in the low hand, as a pair in the low hand is quite strong, and greatly increases the chances of at least a push on the hand. Typically, if both pairs are 7’s or lower, it’s advisable to keep them together in the high hand and simply put the next two highest cards in the low hand. However, if those next two cards provide no realistic shot at winning (a 9-10, for instance), a player can choose to split up two pair.

Three Pairs

On the rare delightful occasion when a player fans open the cards and sees three pairs strategy is extremely straightforward: the highest of the three pairs is the low hand, with the remaining two pairs anchoring the high hand.

Full House

A full house is always broken up, with the pair going into the low hand, and the three of a kind into the high hand.

Straight or Flush

In the case of a straight or flush, the natural inclination is to simply play those five cards together, and simply play the remaining two as the low hand. In many cases, though, simply keeping a straight or flush together may cause the player to play an extraordinarily weak low hand that hurts their chances of actually winning. In many cases, splitting these hands up makes a lot of sense. For example, with a hand of 6-7-8-9-10, with an additional 9-10, it’s advisable to break up the straight and play the pair of nines as an extraordinarily strong low hand, and keep the pair of 10s in the high hand. Flushes can be treated similarly.

On the flipside, it’s worth noting that a straight or flush, when not broken up, increases the chances of escaping a hand with no worse than a push. Don’t worry, even if you split a straight or a flush, you’ll still be paid your fortune bonus! (More on this in a second).

3 of a kind

In an overwhelming majority of cases, three of a kind is kept together and played in the high hand. However, in the case of three aces, players are advised to play two aces as a pair in the high hand, and use the third to strengthen the low hand, as an ace in the low hand is quite strong. Plus, at this point the player knows exactly where three of the five aces (counting the joker) in the deck are.

4 of a kind

It’s also suggested that four of a kind be split up, with one pair going to each of the two hands.

When nothing comes together

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the hands that are commonly referred to as “pai gow.” These are the unfortunate scenarios in which nothing comes together. No pairs, no straight, no flush. In this case, the player simply takes their second and third highest cards and plays them as the low hand, while keeping the highest card in the high hand, and crosses his or her fingers.

Let’s run through an actual scenario that I encountered while playing Pai Gow for free online, and how played a hand for the best chance at a win. I was dealt:

• 8 of clubs
• 4 of spades
• King of hearts
• Ace of diamonds
• Ace of hearts
• 6 of diamonds
• 10 of hearts

The first thing that sticks out is my pair of aces. Since I don’t have a straight, a flush or three of another card, I knew that those would go into my stronger, high hand. Now I had to put together my low hand. Setting the aces aside, I saw that my two next-highest cards, a king and a 10, made for a fairly solid low hand. After all, after a pair and an ace-high, king-high is the best you can do in the low hand.

I confirmed my hands and let the dealer show their cards. The dealer had a high-card nine in the low hand (which I beat) and a straight in the high hand (which beat me), resulting in a push.

Let’s look at one more scenario. Here’s my seven-card draw:

• Joker
• King of clubs
• Queen of clubs
• 3 of hearts
• 7 of hearts
• 5 of hearts
• 2 of hearts

Remember, a joker is wild if and only if it completes a flush, straight, straight flush, or 5 of a kind. In this case, along with my four hearts, the joker completes a flush. This hand was now a no-brainer. I kept the flush together, and put my final two cards, a rather strong king-queen combo, into my low hand. The dealer flipped a low hand with a high-card queen (which I beat) and a high hand with a pair of fives (which I also beat). As both of my hands beat both of the dealer’s hands, I won the hand, received my near-1:1 payout (remember the 5% commission), and, thanks to the Fortune Bonus, got a little something extra.

Once you’re familiar with the gameplay mechanics and have a firm grasp of poker hands, Pai Gow is fairly easy to play. You just need to make smart decisions when you draw a good hand and give yourself the best possible shot at a win.