Many people are leaning to play this unique game, and they want to know a Pai Gow Strategy that will help the increase the probabilities of them actually winning the game. In most casinos, they have an edge of approximately 2.3 percent, and there are some tips that the players can learn to help lower the advantage of the house.
Two (Front) and Five (Back) Card Hands
The players all receive seven cards, and will organize these cards into two hands – one with two cards, and the other with the remaining five cards. The hand with the five cards must be ranked higher than the hand with the two cards, or the player automatically loses. Each hand is also intended that they will beat the “Banker’s” hand, so be careful about placing the cards.
One suggestion is to try to maintain the strength of each hand so that both hands can be won – after all the objective is to win with both hands. And don’t forget that the front hand has to be ranked lower than the back hand, or it’s an automatic loss of the bet.
Recommendations for Setting Cards
There are several charts that have been created to help the players figure out how to split their hands; it shows the hand dealt, and how the cards should be placed in the front and back hands. An example of a table is shown below.
Since there are several types of combinations of hands that can be dealt, this is just a sample, but it indicates some of the general hands. For example, out of the seven cards that area dealt, there are three pair, take the pair with the highest value and place it in the front hand (the one with the two cards), and place the remaining two pair plus the extra card in the back hand (the one with the five cards). Remember, that the hands are ranked exactly as they are in poker, from the topmost hand of a Royal Flush to the lowest hand which is a pair of deuces.
Take the example of being dealt a Full House in addition to the extra two cards. Most people would think to leave the full house cards in the back hand and place the two unmatched cards in the front hand. However, remember that the objective is to win with both hands, not just one, making the recommendation for the player to keep the three of one type in the back hand and put the remaining pair in the front hand. Three of a kind beats both one and two pairs, and one pair beats the mismatched two cards.
The highest hand is straight flush followed by four of a kind. Rest that follow are full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, and two pair.
Remember the tie goes to the Banker, and if the player wins with one hand and loses with the other, they neither win nor lose any money.
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