Key facts
- You get seven cards from a 53-card deck (one joker) and set a five card high hand and a two card low hand. The high hand must outrank the low hand or you lose.
- Beat the dealer with both hands and you win even money less a 5% commission; win one and lose one and it is a push; identical hands (copies) go to the dealer.
- The joker counts as an ace, or completes a straight, flush or straight flush. In our count of all 154,143,080 seven card deals, you hold a straight or better 14.3% of the time and no pair at all 16.1%.
- The main game's house edge depends on the casino's house way and on how you set your hands, so it cannot be read from the paytable alone.
- The Fortune Bonus side bet, on the Maryland regulator's Paytable A, has a 7.77% house edge in our exact calculation.
Pai gow poker, answered quickly
Pai gow poker is a house-banked card game where you make two poker hands from seven cards and try to beat both of the dealer's hands. Win both and you are paid even money less 5%. Win one and lose one and your bet is simply returned, so many hands cost you nothing either way. It is a different game from pai gow, the Chinese domino game, although it borrows its two-hand idea.
A note on sources. The Queensland Casino Gaming Rule and the ACT's approved game rules both contain a "Pai Gow" schedule, but in both it is the tile game. We found no pai gow poker rules in either. So the rules below come from the standard pai gow poker rules published by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, a US state regulator, as a worked example of how a regulator writes the game. A casino elsewhere may vary details, so read its rules before you play.
Pai gow rules, step by step
- Bet. Place your pai gow poker wager. Some tables offer side bets such as the Fortune Bonus.
- Deal. From one deck of 52 cards plus a joker, seven hands of seven cards are dealt: one to each of the six player positions, used or not, and one to the dealer. Four cards are left over. A dice shaker, a random number generator or a button decides where the deal starts.
- Set your hands. Split your seven cards into a high hand of five cards and a low hand of two. The high hand must rank equal to or higher than the low hand.
- Dealer sets. The dealer turns over and sets their seven cards using the casino's fixed method, the house way.
- Compare. Your high hand against the dealer's high hand, your low against their low.
| Your two hands against the dealer's | Result |
|---|---|
| Both higher | Win: paid 1 to 1, less 5% of the win |
| One higher, one lower | Push: bet returned |
| Both lower | Lose |
| Either hand identical in rank (a copy), other hand not higher | Lose: copies go to the dealer |
| Your hands set wrongly (low hand ranks above high hand) | Lose |
In the two card low hand only pairs and high cards count, so the best possible low hand is a pair of aces.
Pai gow rules on cards: the joker and the straights
The joker is only partly wild. It plays as an ace, or as any card needed to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush. With four aces it makes five aces, which ranks above a royal flush.
One quirk in the Maryland rules: A-2-3-4-5 is the second highest straight, below A-K-Q-J-10 but above K-Q-J-10-9. In ordinary poker it is the lowest. Hands otherwise follow the standard order in our poker hand rankings.
What seven cards from 53 give you
We counted every possible seven card deal from the 53-card deck, 154,143,080 in all, using the joker in the best legal way:
| Best seven card hand | Chance |
|---|---|
| Five aces | 0.0007% |
| Royal flush | 0.017% |
| Straight flush | 0.120% |
| Four of a kind | 0.20% |
| Full house | 2.72% |
| Flush | 4.00% |
| Straight | 7.29% |
| Three of a kind | 4.85% |
| Two pair | 23.07% |
| One pair | 41.66% |
| No pair (a "pai gow") | 16.08% |
The joker is in your seven cards 13.2% of the time. Two pair, the hand that most often needs a real decision, turns up in nearly a quarter of deals.
Setting your hands
Two rules of thumb follow directly from the setting rule:
- No pair: put your highest card in the five card hand and the next two highest in the two card hand. That is the strongest low hand you can make without fouling, because the high hand still holds the top card.
- One pair: keep the pair in the five card hand and put the next two highest single cards in front.
From two pair upwards the choices get real. With two pair you can keep both pairs behind and play your two best single cards in front, or split them: higher pair behind, lower pair in front. Straights and flushes raise the same question. This is where house ways differ from casino to casino, and why the dealer, if you ask, tells you how the house would set your hand. Following the house way is a simple default when you are unsure.
The commission: what 5% looks like in dollars
Every winning bet pays even money less 5% of the win. The Maryland rules let the casino round the commission to 25 cents or the next highest multiple of 25 cents, which hits small bets hardest:
| Winning bet | 5% exactly | Commission after rounding up to 25 cents | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | $0.25 | $0.25 | 5.0% |
| $6 | $0.30 | $0.50 | 8.3% |
| $7 | $0.35 | $0.50 | 7.1% |
| $10 | $0.50 | $0.50 | 5.0% |
| $25 | $1.25 | $1.25 | 5.0% |
| $50 | $2.50 | $2.50 | 5.0% |
Bet in multiples of $5 and the rounding never costs you extra. The same 5% idea appears on the banker bet in how to play baccarat.
Why we do not quote a house edge for the main bet. The result of each hand depends on how you set your cards, how the dealer sets theirs under that casino's house way, and whether you take turns as banker (the Maryland rules allow a player to bank, or to co-bank and split winning payouts 50/50 with the dealer). Change any of those and the edge changes, so a single figure would be false precision. What you can see for certain is the cost structure: 5% off every win, and the dealer keeps every copy. For how edges turn into dollars in general, see our house edge explainer.
Pundit tip: a push costs you nothing, so pai gow poker can feel cheap. The commission and the copy rule still apply on every hand that is decided. Enjoy the slower pace, but set your budget per session, not per hand.
The Fortune Bonus side bet, calculated
The Maryland rules list four paytables for the optional Fortune Bonus, which pays on your seven card hand whatever the dealer holds. Paytable A:
| Seven card hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Seven card straight flush, no joker | 8,000 to 1 |
| Royal flush plus royal match (an extra suited A-K or K-Q) | 2,000 to 1 |
| Seven card straight flush with joker | 1,000 to 1 |
| Five aces | 400 to 1 |
| Royal flush | 150 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 50 to 1 |
| Four of a kind | 25 to 1 |
| Full house | 5 to 1 |
| Flush | 4 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 3 to 1 |
| Straight | 2 to 1 |
Counting all 154,143,080 deals, the bet wins on 19.2% of them, and Paytable A has a house edge of 7.77% in our calculation. That uses the broader reading of two fine points (the ace can start a seven card straight flush, and the joker can complete the royal match); under the narrowest reading it is 7.85%. Paytable C, the least generous, comes out at 9.93%.
Pai gow poker in Australia
Real money pai gow poker online is in the same position as every other online casino game: under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 it cannot be offered to people in Australia, and ACMA works to block offshore sites. Players are not breaking the law by playing, but they give up Australian protection. Our online poker Australia guide covers this in full. In land-based casinos, check the game list and the rules on display; our casino games guide covers the other table games. If the slow pace has you staying longer than planned, help is on our gambling help australia page.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the rules of pai gow poker?
Each player and the dealer get seven cards. You split them into a five card high hand and a two card low hand, with the high hand ranked higher. If both your hands beat the dealer's, you win even money minus a 5% commission; if one wins and one loses, you push; if both lose, or one ties exactly and the other does not win, the dealer wins.
How does the joker work in pai gow poker?
It is a limited wild card: it counts as an ace, or as any card that completes a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush. With four aces, the joker makes five aces, the top hand in the game.
What is the house way in pai gow poker?
The fixed method the casino uses to set the dealer's hands. Under the Maryland standard rules, each operator must specify it in its rules submission, and a dealer who is asked for help tells you how the house would set your hand.
What is the house edge on pai gow poker?
It depends on the house way, how you set your hands and whether you take a turn as banker, so we do not quote one figure. The cost you can see is the 5% commission on every winning bet, plus the rule that copies go to the dealer.
Can you play pai gow poker in Australia?
Not legally online: it is a casino-style game, and the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 prohibits offering those to people in Australia over the internet. In casinos, check the game list; the Queensland and ACT rule books we checked include pai gow tiles but not pai gow poker.
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