Where To Play Face Up Pai Gow Poker
Face Up Pai Gow Poker™ is an exciting new commission-free Pai Gow Poker game, with a twist! Face Up Pai Gow Poker is played like traditional Pai Gow, except the dealer’s cards are dealt face-up. This game also features the optional Fortune Bonus ™ wager. The rules of Fortune Pai Gow Poker will be familiar to those of you who like to play Pai Gow Poker online or at land-based casinos. Like the original game, Fortune Pai Gow Poker uses a 52-card deck and a joker. It’s a battle between you and the house to create two winning poker hands out of seven cards.
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- Where To Play Face Up Pai Gow Poker
Pai gow (Chinese: 牌九; pinyin: pái jiǔ; Jyutping: paai4 gau2) is a Chinesegamblinggame, played with a set of 32 Chinese dominoes. It is played in major casinos in China (including Macau); the United States (including Boston, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada; Reno, Nevada; Connecticut; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Mississippi; and cardrooms in California); Canada (including Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta); Australia; and, New Zealand.
The name 'pai gow' is sometimes used to refer to a card game called pai gow poker (or “double-hand poker”), which is loosely based on pai gow.
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Rules[edit]
Starting[edit]
Tiles are shuffled on the table and are arranged into eight face-down stacks of four tiles each in an assembly known as the woodpile. Individual stacks or tiles may then be moved in specific ways to rearrange the woodpile, after which the players place their bets.
Next, each player (including the dealer) is given one stack of tiles and must use them to form two hands of two tiles each. The hand with the lower value is called the front hand, and the hand with the higher value is called the rear hand. If a player's front hand beats the dealer's front hand, and the player's rear hand beats the dealer's rear hand, then that player wins the bet. If a player's front and rear hands both lose to the dealer's respective hands, the player loses the bet. If one hand wins and the other loses, the player is said to push, and gets back only the money he or she bet. Generally seven players will play, and each player's hands are compared only against the dealer's hands; comparisons are always front-front and rear-rear, never one of each.
There are 35,960 possible ways to select 4 of the 32 tiles when the 32 tiles are considered distinguishable. However, there are 3,620 distinct sets of 4 tiles when the tiles of a pair are considered indistinguishable. There are 496 ways to select 2 of the 32 tiles when the 32 tiles are considered distinguishable. There are 136 distinct hands (pairs of tiles) when the tiles of a pair are considered indistinguishable.
Basic scoring[edit]
The name 'pai gow' is loosely translated as 'make nine' or 'card nine'. This reflects the fact that, with a few high-scoring exceptions, the maximum score for a hand is nine. If a hand consists of two tiles that do not form a pair, its value is determined by adding up the total number of pips on the tiles and dropping the tens digit (if any). Examples:
- 1–3 with 2-3: value 9 (nine pips altogether)
- 2–3 with 5-6: value 6 (16 pips; drop the 10)
- 5–5 with 4-6: value 0 (20 pips; ones digit is zero)
Gongs and Wongs[edit]
There are special ways in which a hand can score more than nine points. The double-one tiles and double-six tiles are known as the Day and Teen tiles, respectively. The combination of a Day or Teen with an eight results in a Gong, worth 10 points, while putting either of them with a nine creates a Wong, worth 11. However, when a Day or Teen is paired with any other tile, the standard scoring rules apply.
Gee Joon tiles[edit]
The 1-2 and the 2-4 tiles are called Gee Joon tiles and act as limited wild cards. When used as part of a hand, these tiles may be scored as either 3 or 6, whichever results in a higher hand value. For example, a hand of 1-2 and 5-6 scores as seven rather than four.
Pairs[edit]
The 32 tiles in a Chinese dominoes set can be arranged into 16 pairs, as shown in the picture at the top of this article. Eleven of these pairs have identical tiles, and five of these pairs are made up of two tiles that score the same, but look different. (The latter group includes the Gee Joon tiles, which can score the same, whether as three or six.) Any hand consisting of a pair outscores a non-pair, regardless of the pip counts. (Pairs are often thought of as being worth 12 points each.)
When the player and dealer both have a pair, the higher-ranked pair wins. Ranking is determined not by the sum of the tiles' pips, but rather by aesthetics; the order must be memorized. The highest pairs are the Gee Joon tiles, the Teens, the Days, and the red eights. The lowest pairs are the mismatched nines, eights, sevens, and fives.
Ties[edit]
When the player and dealer display hands with the same score, the one with the highest-valued tile (based on the pair rankings described above) is the winner. For example, a player's hand of 3-4 and 2-2 and a dealer's hand of 5-6 and 5-5 would each score one point. However, since the dealer's 5-5 outranks the other three tiles, he would win the hand.
If the scores are tied, and if the player and dealer each have an identical highest-ranking tile, the hand is ruled a copy and the dealer wins. For example, if the player held 2-2 and 1–6, and the dealer held 2-2 and 3–4, the dealer would win since the scores (1 each) and the higher tiles (2-2) are the same. The lower-ranked tile in each hand is never used to break a tie.
There are two exceptions to the method described above. First, although the Gee Joon tiles form the highest-ranking pair, they are considered to have no value when evaluating ties. Second, any zero-zero tie is won by the dealer, regardless of the tiles in the two hands.
Strategy[edit]
The key element of pai gow strategy is to present the optimal front and rear hands based on the tiles dealt to the player. There are three ways to arrange four tiles into two hands when no two of them form a pair. However, if there is at least one pair among the tiles, there are only two distinct ways to form two hands.
Using the tiles shown at right, the following hands and scores are possible:
- A and B (0), C and D (0)
- A and C (5), B and D (5)
- A and D (3), B and C (7)
The player must decide which combination is most likely to give a set of front/rear hands that can beat the dealer, or at least break a tie in the player's favor. In some cases, a player with weaker tiles may deliberately attempt to attain a push so as to avoid losing the bet outright. Many players rely on superstition or tradition to choose tile pairings.
See also[edit]
Face Up Pai Gow Odds
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pai Gow. |
- Pai gow lore at Wizard of Odds website (Michael Shackleford)
Where To Play Face Up Pai Gow Poker For Free
Face Up Pai Gow Poker is pai gow poker new game variant mostly found at Las Vegas Casinos and is played with a fully-exposed dealer hand. It is more fun and exciting to play. This game has no commission on winning hands as all main wagers push when dealer has an ace high “pai-gow” hand.
The Player has the option of making a bonus side bet which pays up to 30 to 1 when the dealer and the player’s hand both have an ace high “pai-gow” hand. This game also offers Fortune side bets and is linked in to Las Vegas Station Casinos Progressive Jackpot.
Where To Play Face Up Pai Gow Poker
So in this game the players get to set their hand after the dealers expose their cards face up and to set their hand whereas in traditional Pai-Gow poker, players must set their hand before the dealers expose their cards. Hence the name “Face Up” poker.
Rules to play Face Up Pai Gow
A single 53-card deck is used, consisting of the usual 52 cards, plus one joker. The joker is semi-wild. It may be used as an ace, or to complete a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush.”
Standard poker ranking rules are followed with one strange exception known as “the wheel” which is considered the second highest straight. Some casinos have dropped this ridiculous rule, but most still cling to it.
Play starts with the player making a bet. The player may also make an optional Push Ace High side bet at this time. The dealer will deal the player and dealer seven cards.
There is no player banking. The dealer cards will be exposed face up. The dealer will then set his cards into a 5-card High Hand and a 2-card Low Hand, according to specified rules known as the “house way.” The poker value of the High Hand must be greater than the Low Hand.
If the best five-card hand the dealer can make is an ace high, then the outcome is an automatic push, regardless of the player cards. This is known as an “ace-high pai gow.”
Otherwise, the player will separate his seven cards into a five-card high hand and two-card low hand. As with the dealer hand, the high hand must be of higher poker value than the low hand.
The five-card hand is ranked according to conventional poker rules. The only poker hand in the two-card hand is a pair or no pair, after which the individual cards determine the value based on the value of the highest ranking card first.
After the player has set his hand, then player and dealer high hands will be compared, and their two low hands. In each case, the hand with the higher poker value wins. If the hands are of equal rank, for example both two-card hands are ace/king, then the dealer wins the tie.
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Where To Play Face Up Pai Gow Poker
If the player wins both comparisons, then the player will win even money on his bet. There is no commission. If the player wins one and loses one, then the bet shall push. If the player loses or ties both, then the player shall lose his wager.
The best feature of the game
This game has no commission on the main bet if you win. That is why all main bets push when dealer has an ace high “pai-gow” hand. Remember though, players have the option of making a bonus side bet on the dealer getting an ace high hand. This bonus side bet can get paid up to 30 to 1 when the dealer and the player’s hand both have an ace high “pai-gow”! This game also offers Fortune side bets and is linked to our Station Casinos Progressive Jackpot! For just one dollar, you can win the big Progressive Jackpot!
Where can you find this game to play?
This game is now fast becoming popular at many Las Vegas Casinos. You can find them even at few casinos in California. You can play at Palace station casino, New York New York Casino, Mandalay Bay Casino, Grand Sierra Reno, Park MGM, Luxor and many other casinos in Vegas. The minimum bet is $10 or $25.