Game Rules

Help

Pai-Gow Poker

Rule Authority:

InterCasino Pai-Gow Poker is played and programmed according to Atlantic City Poker rules.

Authority:

New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Rule Exceptions:

none

Premise:

The premise of Pai-Gow Poker is for both of he player's two hand (denoted the high and low hands) to value higher than the bankers to hands. The player has 7 cards and creates two traditional poker hands from this - one with 5 cards, and another hand of two (a high hand (5) and a low hand (2)). The ranking of these two hands are then based upon the basic poker ranking. Therefore, the highest two-card hand is two aces and the highest five-card hand is 5 aces (4 aces+ a joker).

How to Play:

The player must begin by placing a wager on the Pai-Gow table. You must click on the chips on the bottom of the game screen to do this. The wager amount can be increased or decreased. By clicking on the left mouse button over the chips you can increase their value, and by clicking on the right button you can increase it.

After you have placed the wager you must click on the 'DEAL' button. The dealer then deals out seven cards to you face up, and seven to himself facing down. One standard deck of 52 cards plus a joker is used for Pai-Gow.

The joker is not used as a wild card, but can only be used as either an ace or a card to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush.

After receiving your seven cards you must then form your two hands. The low hand must contain two cards and the high hand five cards. To make this hand you must select two cards that you want to be within the low hand by clicking on them with the left mouse button. The cards however, can be unselected by clicking on the cards again. Selected cards will then move from the card line to the game screen.

Note:

When you are forming your two hands, the rank of the high hand (5 cards) must be higher than the rank of your two card low hand. If this is not the case then a message box will then appear asking you to re-split your hand. After you have set both of your hands you must click on the 'DONE' button and this will end the hand. The dealer will then split his cards also, according to the fixed house riles and they will then compare your hand rank with their own. To win the wager, your hand or both high and low cards must rank higher than the dealer's low and high hand respectively. If one of your hands is higher than the dealer's and the other is lower or equal to theirs, then this is a tie and the wager is returned. On the other hand, the player's wager is lost if their hand is not as high as the dealer's. If both of the hands are identical the dealer will also win the wager.

The ranking of the hands are made up as follows (from highest to lowest):

Hand	Description
Four aces + Joker	A, A, A, A, Joker
Royal Flush	A, K, Q, J, 10 (all same suit)
Straight Flush	Five consecutive cards of the same suit*
Four of a Kind	Any four of the same number or face cards
Full House	[Three of a Kind] + [any pair]
Flush	Any combination of cards but all same suit
Straight	Five consecutive cards (not the same suit)*
Three of a Kind	Any three of the same number or face cards
Two Pairs	One Pair + One Pair
One Pair	Any two of same number or face cards
High Card	None of the hands listed above. Your highest card, ranked from highest to lowest as follows: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

* A,2,3,4,5 is the second highest straight (flush) in Pai Gow Poker that can always be made.

Note:

When you compare the two high hands or the two low hands, which are of identical poker and hand rank, then the hand which contains the highest ranking card shall be seen as the highest ranking hand. If the two hands are still of identical rank after this comparison then the hands are considered as copy hands and the dealer wins.

Payoffs:

Each time a player wins a hand they are paid even money, less the 5% commission. No commission is collected however on losing hands or ties. Therefore, a $10 wager will return $19.50 (the players $10 wager, plus the $10 winnings and minus a $0.50 commission). Note: the amount of commission is rounded upwards to the nearest $0.25.

Betting Limits:

$5 minimum bet.

$300 maximum bet.

Setting your table bet limit:

You may also set your table bet limit to below the maximum specified limit by selecting Bet Options from the Game Menu. The Modify Table Bet Limit window will appear on the screen. To reduce your maximum table bet limit you must type in the new limit in the appropriate box, and then click on the OK button to complete the update. Please be aware that you can modify your table bet limit no more than once per week (Friday 12:00 AM EST) and that using the Modify Table Bet Limit function affects the bet limit for all games and not just the game that you are playing at the time of changing the limit.

Numeric Keyboard Shortcuts:

Keyboard Entry	Action
0	Repeat last bet
Enter	Deal, Done
1,2,3,4,5,6,7	Toggle Status of the Cards (from left to right using numbers above alphabetic keyboard)
Del and .	Remove Bets
Up Arrow	Increase bet by $1
Down Arrow	Decrease bet by $1
"Shift + Up Arrow"	Increase bet by $10
"Shift + Down Arrow"	Decrease bet by $10

To be able to activate the numeric keyboard shortcuts use the keypad to the right of the keyboard except to toggle cards 1 - 7, in which case the numbers above the alphabetic keyboard. For keyboards without keypads, you must use the "Fn" key plus the shortcuts above (e.g. <Fn> + Enter). Please note that these keyboard shortcuts are given as a suggestion only. Some computers may function differently, and the shortcuts may not work on some computers.

Note:

You are able to turn on and off the sound, voice and animation at anytime by clicking on the Options button that is located on the lower left-hand area of the console. The setting is turned on is the box is checked and off when it is unchecked, you must exit and re-enter the game to re-activate the animation feature.

References:

For further information on Pai-Gow poker, please consult the following references:

• Tamburin, Henry. Reference Guide to Casino Gambling, Research Services Unlimited, 1993.
• Wong, Stanford. Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker, Pi Yee Press, 1992.