Pai Gow Poker Simple Strategy
Pai Gow Poker Simple Strategy
Because Pai Gow Poker games are usually not progressive games, the only chance you can win a good sum of money is if you put larger bets than may be your usual diet for other casino games, and gradually increase your bets according to the betting guidelines of pressing the bets. Therefore allow yourself to have a bigger bankroll. A minimum bet of $25 is a good starting point, and means you will require at least $400-$600 as your session stake. The game can be played for lower amounts in many casinos, however in this section, I will use the example of the $25 bet as the minimum betting unit.
-Make your first bet. If you win, your net win will be $25 minus the 5 percent commission, for example a total net win of $23.75 (in most casinos, quarter will not figure in such divisions, and therefore the commission will instead be rounded off to the next-lowest or next-highest amount, in this case $1 instead of $1.25, therefore, your net win will be $24). In the event of this first win, increase your next wager by half of the net win amount, in the above example, by $10. Your next bet will therefore be a total wager of $35 (single dollar fractions won't be accepted in most games whose table limits are $25 and up). If you win again, consecutively, press your next bet by half the net win again, and so on.
-If you lose a wager, decrease the amount of the next wager by half the previous gross loss amount, until you reach the base minimum wager of $25 (or whatever that unit limit may be in your own particular game situation).
-Whenever your cards contain two pair, split these pairs into Low and High if you have two pair whose value is 7s or higher, unless you have an Ace-up option with the second-highest card to the Ace being at least a King, Queen, or Jack. But think about this, especially if you have two strong pair, such as any two pair higher than 10s. Splitting such high pairs is a better way of playing.
-Whenever your cards contain two pair whose highest value is 6s and lower, never split them regardless of whether you have an Ace-up or not. Keep the two-pairs as your High Hand and play whatever the other highest two cards you have as the Low Hand.
-If you have a set of cards which can make a straight or a flush, but also make two-high pairs, split the pairs and don't play the straight or the flush, unless you also have either an Ace-up or another pair which you can use as your Low Hand.
-If your initial set of seven cards contains a natural "Full House", but without any additional pair, never keep the Full House as the High Hand, but instead always split it into a Low hand of the pair and a High Hand of the three-of-a-kind. This is a powerful hand, and will win most of the time. Playing it the other way will likely result in a push, when you would have had a winner if played the way I indicated.
-Any time you have a hand which contains three pairs, always take the highest of the pairs and play it as the Low Hand, keeping the two-pair combination of the lower pairs as your High Hand.
-Always remember that the Joker card can be used as an Ace, or to fill in for any missing cards to complete a straight or a flush.