Casino Bonuses - Casino Games - Pai Gow Poker

Playing Pai Gow Poker Online

It would be good to learn some basic Pai Gow strategy before playing. It is extremely important that you know how to split the hands in Pai Gow Poker or you could easily have your hands void. There are two hands in Pai Gow, one with five cards (which is called the highest hand) and one with two cards (which is called the lowest hand). You must set up your hand so that the highest hand has a better poker hand than the lowest poker hand. You will be paid based on how your two hands match up against the dealer's two hands. If you win one hand, but lose the other, it will result in a push. If both your hands lose, than you will lose your wager. If both your hands are higher than the dealer's hands, than you will win your wager minus 5% commission fee.
    The house edge is 2.5% unless you are playing with a bonus. If you are playing with a bonus at our top three ranked casinos you will reduce the house edge to 1.8%, 1.5% or 1.1%. This is of course you are setting up your hands correctly while you play Pai Gow Poker.

Top Online Casinos with a Pai Gow Bonus

Top Pai Gow Poker Bonus

The Sun Palace Casino allows you to play with a Pai Gow bonus with a great pay out percentage. The pay out ratio is 98.9%, but that is for deposits of $100 or less. Bonuses will have a 25% match on the part of deposits over $100. Making a deposit of $600 will require you to work off your bonus at 136 times your bonus instead of the regular 72 times your bonus. That is almost double the rate for a $100 deposit and it gets even harder the more you deposit. If you are making a $100 deposit you will be able to play here with a 1.1% house edge. That will work out to a loss of 1.1 cents for every $1 wagered. If you were wagering $90.91 per hand, you could expect to lose an average of $1 per Pai Gow Poker hand.

Pai Gow Poker Bonus: 125% up to $125
Deposit $100 and get a $125 bonus.
Wagering requirements: 72 x bonus
Play through 40 x bonus x ($125 + $100) = $9000/$125 = 72 x bonus.
Pay out %: 97.5%
Expect to lose 2.5 cents for every $1 wagered.
Pay out with bonus: 98.9%
$125 Bonus x 72 = $9000 play through, $9000 x (97.5%) = $8775 winnings, $8775 + $125 bonus = $8900, $8900(payouts)/$9000(wagers) = 98.9%

How to Play Pai Gow Poker

Most of the hands are a push, which will result in having your bet refunded back.  You also have just as good of a chance of winning your hands than the dealer does.  How does the casino make any money then?  Well the casino will charge a 5% commission whenever you win both poker hands.  Experienced Pai Gow Poker players, and sometimes even beginners, can play for hours with only a small hit to their bankroll.
    Before you start playing you will need to select how much you want to wager.  When you are ready you will need to click on the deal button, so that your seven playing cards can be dealt.
    Now it is time to set up your two hands.  Click on the two cards you want to use for your second highest hand and then click on the split button.  Make sure your hand is set up probably or you will lose on both of your hands.
    The proper way to set up your hand is to make sure your highest hand has a better poker hand than your second highest hand.  As long as you get this right, your hands won't be voided, but there are a few tips that can increase the chances of you coming out ahead.  You should try to win both hands whenever possible, but if not try to have a lock on one of the two hands so you won't lose.  Some example hands include;
Hand 1 = AAK9984, the best split would be AA994 and K8.  Sort them this way to give you two pair for your highest hand and a reasonable second highest hand.  You might lose on one of these hands, but you should win the other hand.  You might be even to win them both.
Hand 1 = AAJJ753, the best split would be AA753 and JJ, because otherwise your second highest hand would be a 75 which would almost be a guaranteed loser and your two pair might lose as well.  The pair of jacks for the second highest hand is almost guaranteed to win and the pair of Aces might win as well.
Hand 2 = AK99744, the best split would be 99447 and AK, because the AK is almost as good as a pair and you still have two pair for your best hand.  Otherwise you would have to only a small pair for the highest hand and your second highest hand would only be marginally better than the AK.
    Some things to remember is that there are 53 cards in the deck.  There is a regular 52 card deck plus a Joker.  The Joker can only be used for a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Flush or a Straight, otherwise it is used as an Ace.  PaiGow Poker is great for maintaining your bankroll.  If you structure your hands probably you should be able to win at least one of the two hands most of the time.  Also if the dealer and the player set up their highest and second highest hands so that they have the same poker hand, then the dealer will win the poker hand that ties.
    The bonus game, if available, can add a bit of excitement to the game of Pai Gow Poker.  Your bankroll will go up and down a lot more in the bonus game, but it does add a lot of fun to this game.  You will be paid out according to your seven card hand.  The top hand is a seven card straight flush, which will pay you out at 8000 times your wager.  There is a variety of prizes for different hands.  You must have a five card straight or better to be rewarded a prize.  That may seem somewhat tough, but you get seven cards, so you will have two extra cards to use to make that hand.  The bonus game can be found inside casinos running on Microgaming software.

Pai-Gow Payout Table