Pai Gow Moments

Here are more details about some of the online pai gow poker rooms which were included in last post’s list.

Golden Casino
A well known name in the world of online casinos, Golden Casino is a relatively new addition.  You can find the standard games but they also offer some new innovative ones, including pai gow poker.  What I like about this online casino is their matching sign up bonus up to $500.  It doesn’t end there, though.  From time to time, you can expect re-deposits and other bonuses.

Spin Palace Casino
With a huge sign up bonus of $1000, who wouldn’t want to play in this online casino?  There is no doubt about it, Spin Palace Casino is one of the most popular online casinos.  They have over 250 games to choose from with perhaps the best selection of video poker games.  More so, they support 4 major currencies and 8 languages.

Casino Las Vegas
Get $400 matching sign up  bonus and 25% of your referral’s first deposit at Casino Las Vegas – one of the most loved online casinos.  Their graphics are really good but they have a small selection of games.

Casino King
If you like the medieval ambiance, then this online casino is for you.  They also offer a pretty good matching bonus of $300.  In addition to that, you can get 25% of your referral’s first deposit.  Not bad, no?  However, if you are from Brazil, Canada, or Denmark, you would be required to wager 25 times the total of your deposit and bonus.  Not cool at all.

With the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, a lot of poker rooms and online casinos have halted their dealings with American players.  Whether this is a welcome turn of events for them or not (I am sure it is more of the former), there are still some poker rooms which allow players from the U.S. to play.

This Act has made it even harder for people who like pai gow poker to find a place online to play for real money.  Here is a list that I hope will help for those who are looking for such online rooms.

1 Golden Casino       $550 (Max Bonus)         100% (Bonus Match)
SCORE: Max Bonus:80%, Graphics:81%, Games:77%, Deposit Methods:94%

2 Casino King       $300                 100%
SCORE: Max Bonus:72%, Graphics:80%, Games:70%, Deposit Methods:75%

3 Golden Palace Casino       $300             300%
SCORE: Max Bonus:77%, Graphics:68%, Games:80%, Deposit Methods:92%

4 Spin Palace Casino   $1000             0%
SCORE: Max Bonus:82%, Graphics:90%, Games:80%, Deposit Methods:80%

5 Swiss Casino   $400             100%
SCORE: Max Bonus:77%, Graphics:82%, Games:88%, Deposit Methods:82%

6 Casino Las Vegas   $400         100%
SCORE: Max Bonus:84%, Graphics:88%, Games:85%, Deposit Methods:74%

7 Casino On Net   $200         100%
SCORE: Max Bonus:79%, Graphics:72%, Games:76%, Deposit Methods:85%

8 Casino Tropez   $350         200%
SCORE: Max Bonus:85%, Graphics:80%, Games:91%, Deposit Methods:80%

This list is lifted off Gambling-Win.com.  In the next posts, let’s take a look at each of the online casinos in detail.

As I promised in the last post, I will pick up exactly where I left off in the House Way description of Dicedealer.com:

Make the low hand as high as possible. This includes playing the high domino in the low hand when given the choice. Exceptions:
 
If the low hand does not have a value of at least long 3 (a total of 3 with the long domino or higher) and a 7 or higher is possible in the high hand then make the high hand as high as possible. This includes playing the high domino in the high hand when given the choice.

If the two hands total 8-9 or more then play the high domino in the high hand.
2, 5, 6, 12: play 7, high 8.
High 8, low 8, high 4, any 7: play 2, high 5.
High 10, low 10, high 6, any 7: play 6, high 7.
High 10, low 10, high 6, low 8: play 6, high 8.
High 10, low 10, high 6, any 9: play 6, high 9.
High 10, high 8, 11, low 7: play 7, high 9.
High 4, low 4, gee (mixed 6), 5: play high 7, 9.
2 or 12, any 6, 5, gee: play 7, 9.
High 6, low 6, 11, gee: play 7, high 9.
High 8, low 8, any 7, 9: play high 5, 7.

At first glance, these combinations may seem to be too many and too complicated for one to understand and remember.  Through practice and use, it is not impossible.

In one of our posts, we talked about the House Way.  This is the means by which the house is expected to play.  The problem is, some casinos have different House Ways.  Here is one common way casinos follow this rule.  It would do you good to know about it.  I have lifted this version of the House Way from Dicedealer.com, where you can actually play pai gow tiles online.

Always keep pairs together except:
Split supreme pair with 6-4, 6-5, or 6-6.
Split 2s or 12s to make 6-8 or better. Also split with 9&11.
Split 9s with any two of 2,10,12.
Split 8s with any two of 2,10,11,12. Also split with 9&11.
Split 7s with any two of 2,10,11,12.
 
Play 2 or 12 with a 7,8, or 9. With both a 2 and 12 play the 12 in the high hand. Play high 9 over wong and gong and gong over wong except:
 
Play wong over gong when fourth tile is 11.
Play wong over high 9 when fourth tile is 11.
Play gong over high 9 when fourth tile is any 4 or when third and fourth tiles are low (mixed) 8 and 5.

Due to space constraints, I would have to spread this topic into two posts.  Don’t worry, I will make sure that the next post will pick up exactly where this one has left off.  In the meantime, do go over these rules and tips again and again until you think that you know them by heart.  Then you can move on to the next half.

I am sure some of you can relate to this guy.  He is a self confessed “snob” when it comes to card games.  Well, it would be better to say he WAS a snob.  In one of his articles, author and card game lover Frank Scobelete tells his readers of how he used to ignore table games that he considered new.  Among these games, he mentioned 3 card poker,  Caribbean Stud, and the like.  The main reason he ignored these is the fact that the house edge is quite high for these games – not at all a bad reason, isn’t it?

Yet today, he finds himself laughing – not at others, not at card games, but at himself.  Why?  Simply because he is now “addicted” to a card game he used to scoff at – Pai Gow Poker.  So what does he love about this game?

First he says that he loves it because of the slow-ness of the game.  With the pace of the game, any player can take his time to make decisions.  More than this, if a player suddenly does not know what to do, he can opt for the house way, which the dealer will show to him.

Another good thing for Scoblete is the fact that when plays, other players rarely bank.  That makes it great for him because he loves doing that.  Though the house edge may be a bit high, banking cuts that a bit.

These are only a few reasons that this guy fell for pai gow poker.  If you are anything like him, you just might find it a surprise as well!

In the past few posts we have been looking at strategical points as presented by Fortune Palace.  Here is the last installment, which talks about the House Way and the Bonus Bet as offered in their casinos.  Enjoy!

The House Way

The House Way is the set of instructions each casino gives its dealers on how to set their seven card hands. Most online casinos offer a House Way button so that you can automatically take advantage of this set of rules.

What’s important here is understanding that the House Way isn’t set to win all the time, but to keep losses down so that the casino wins in the long term. In other words, the House Way is a safety option, probably best suited to new players and low-risk punters.

Another important point is that some House Way buttons (ie at Golden Palace) automatically play the hand once it’s set. Others (Spin Palace, Ruby Fortune) set the hand but give you the option of whether to play it that way or not. This may not seem much but it affects your overall strategy.

The Bonus bet

If you bet on the bonus, then you’ll win up to 8000 times your stake if your seven cards contain a bonus hand (Straight or above). The payouts are big, but don’t come anywhere near the odds against, so the house edge is substantial.

This won’t suit low and medium risk punters. However, if you’re a high-roller, and prepared to take the risk, the Bonus bet adds enormously to the fun and excitement of Pai Gow Poker.

It’s the way we play!

Here is the second installment of Fortune Palace’s Optimal Pai Gow strategy.  With this post, hopefully you will be able to complete and apply this optimal strategy for winning at pai gow poker.

2 pair:
Always split, unless:
1. Two pairs of 6s or below - don’t split.
2. The hand contains an ace - play the ace behind.

3 pair:
Always play the highest pair in front.

3 of a kind:
1. If three Aces, play a pair of Aces behind and Ace high in front.
2. Otherwise, play the three of a kind behind and the remaining high cards in front.

Straight, flush, straight flush:
Set the back as whichever hand gives the better front.

Full house:
Set the three of a kind behind and the pair in front.

2 sets of 3-of-a-kind:
Split the higher set into a pair and a single  - play the pair in front and play the smaller 3-of-a-kind behind. For example, with K,K,K,10,10,10,5 you should play K,K and 10,10,10,K,5.

Four of a kind:
1. If 2 to 6, play it behind.
2. If 7 to 10, split into pairs, unless a pair or an ace and a face card can be played in front.
3. If J to K, split into pairs, unless the hand also contains a pair of 10s or higher.
4. If Aces, split into pairs, unless a pair of 4s or higher can be played in front.

Royal flush:
1. Play behind.
2. If Royal flush with two pair, split as per two pair rule.
3. Split, if an A, K or a pair can be played in front and a straight or flush behind.

Five Aces:
1. Split, unless a pair of Ks can be played in front.

For every game there is more than one way to win.  The same thing goes for pai gow poker.  Many players have come up with their own strategy – both experts and budding players alike.  In order to be good at pai gow poker, you either have to adopt one existing strategy or if you’re that good, come up with your own winning one.  Here is one strategy presented by Fortune Palace for its players.  They call it the optimal pai gow strategy.

Basic Strategy

The temptation for players of Pai Gow poker is to see hands in straight poker terms. The secret to winning Pai Gow poker is in remembering that you have to win both hands in order to win the bet. The player’s basic strategy in Pai Gow poker is therefore to set the two-card hand (front) as high as possible, whilst still leaving a higher five-card hand (back).

If this isn’t possible, and would leave you with two weak hands, set a ’stopper’ or ‘blocker’ by setting the back hand as high as possible and leave a weak front hand. This won’t win, but will hopefully stop the bank winning, giving you a chance to bet again.

If your hand is just single cards (ie nothing - no pairs, straights, flushes) all you can do is set your 2nd and 3rd highest cards as the front.

If you have a single pair, put the highest two single cards as your two-card hand eg if your hand is K,10,10,9,5,3,2, split them into K,9 and 10,10,5,3,2.

These rules cover the majority of hands you’ll be dealt.

(to be continued)

In the last post we had a quick look at pai gow poker, its background and some basics. If you are someone who likes playing poker and are into variations and new things, then you would most definitely get into pai gow poker.

To make it easier to understand, pai gow poker is simply a variation of 7 card stud. To add a twist, it also has elements of pai gow tiles. Perhaps one of the main differences of pai gow poker from conventional poker is that it makes use of 53 cards instead of the usual 52. The additional card is the joker. Having the joker makes it possible to get 5 of a kind. What are the implications of this hand? In conventional poker, the highest hand would be a royal flush (5 sequential cards in the same suit, ten to Ace). In pai gow poker, though, since we have the 5 of a kind, this beats the royal flush. Ask any poker player who has tried pai gow poker and he will tell you that the 5 of a kind hand ups the excitement another level.

With some poker variations, you know that not all the cards in the hand are used to determine who the winner will be. In pai gow poker, all 7 cards are utilized. The dealer deals 7 cards to all the players face down. Once this is done, the cards are split into two hand – the high hand (5 cards) and the low hand (2 cards). Once a player has split his cards he is not allowed to touch them.

Over the years, as pai gow tiles continued to become popular in the East, some of the concepts leaked to the rest of world.  The result was two-fold.  One was that pai gow tiles were taken up by a number of enthusiasts.  That is what we have been talking about in the past months.  The other result is that the tile game evolved into something similar yet different as well.  This is what we know now as pai gow poker.

So how did pai gow poker come into existence?  Historians have traced the first games of pai gow poker back to the 1800s when the Chinese immigrants brought the tile game over.  However, perhaps due to the lack in equipment, cards were used instead of tiles.  Though pai gow poker has been around since that time, it wasn’t till the 1980s that it was offered in the casinos.

The objective of pai gow poker is to complete two winning hands that would beat the banker’s two hands.  In pai gow poker, each player is dealt 7 cards.  He has to make a hand out of 5 cards – this is called the high hand.  The remaining two cards also form a hand called the low hand.  The rankings of the hands are then played just like you would in customary poker.

How does one win?  If both the low and high hands are better than the banker’s hands, the player wins.  If the banker’s hands are better than both the player’s high and low hands then the banker wins.

In the next few posts let’s look at this game in some more detail.