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Pai Gow Poker Rules

The game of Pai Gow Poker is an Americanized version of Pai Gow, a Chinese Domino game. In Pai Gow Poker, a deck of cards, including a joker, are substituted for dominoes. Pai Gow Poker rules may be a little hard to grasp for players that are familiar with more traditional poker games. However, with some practice the game is easy to get the hand of.

Pai Gow Poker rules state a simple objective. The player’s goal is to create two poker hands from the seven cards they are dealt and these hands must beat those of the dealer. One of the hands must be a 5-card poker hand and the other must be a 2-card hand. The 5-card hand must be of a higher dealer than the 2-card hand.

In Pai Gow Poker the entire deck is dealt out into seven facedown piles of seven cards each. Four cards are not used. Then, the piles are randomly assigned to players. Players place their bets before looking at their cards. Once players have set down their hands those players that beat the dealer are paid.

There is one Pai Gow Poker rules that vary from casino to casino. One of these rules involves the joker. In some casinos the joker can be substituted for any card. However in most casinos the joker can be used to complete a straight or flush in a 5-card hand. If it cannot then it is used as an Ace.

Now that you are familiar with the basic Pai Gow Poker rules you are ready to play. It is a good idea to try the game out for free online before you start playing for real money. A free game will help you to familiarize yourself further with the rules of the game as well as to practice and build your skills.



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