Pai Gow Poker House Way

The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the United States with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by the number of rooms and second-largest hotel resort complex in the United States behind the combined The Venetian and The Palazzo. When it opened in 1993, the MGM Grand was the largest hotel complex in the world.

1. Pai Gow Poker App
2. Pai Gow Poker Odds

Understanding pai gow poker strategy starts with the concept of “House Way”. This is the way the house plays. The house way is based on the idea that the house plays the best two hands. This doesn’t necessarily mean the house solely focuses on getting the best five-card hand. Jan 23, 2019 Beating Pai Gow Poker The house uses a house-way to set each hand, and a player can stay almost even with the house by playing in a similar manner. In fact, you can ask the dealer to help you set your hand. The house always starts with the idea that it does not want to lose. Most Pai Gow Poker strategy sites seem to recommend that you follow the “house way” when splitting two pair. The house way is a set of rules that dictate how the dealer (in live casinos) splits cards. Nearly all online casino software follows this set of rules. Below, we’ll describe the most common house way rules, but we’ll also add a.

Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, the 30-floor main building includes five outdoor pools, rivers, and waterfalls convention center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the Grand Spa. It also houses numerous shops, night clubs, restaurants and the largest casino in Clark County.

Located on the Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, the MGM Grand is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos: to the south across Tropicana Avenue, the Tropicana, and to the west across the Strip, New York-New York.

Games at MGM Grand

There are more than 2,500 machines for gaming as well as 139 poker and table games including Pai Gow.

The pokies machines at the MGM Grand range from 1¢ to $1,000 and include progressive pokies, video poker, and multi-game machines. There is a special High Limit pokies area, featuring pokies machines with payouts up to $500,000.

The race and sportsbook is a state-of-the-art betting area that features thirty-six 60-inch plasma TVs, along with twenty-four 42-inch plasmas. Bets are offered on a range of sports including soccer, football, boxing, MMA and more. They are also the first room to offer what they call “SkyBoxes”. These boxes can hold up to ten guests and come with beverage servers and complimentary food

MGM Grand House Way for Pai Gow Poker

The following is the house way for the MGM Grand as mentioned by Wizard of Odds and taken from a document on the procedures of the game, dated 2002.

NO PAIR: Use the highest card in the high hand, then use the second and third highest as the low hand.

ONE PAIR: Always use the pair as the high hand and use the highest ranking cards for the low hand.

TWO PAIRS: Pairs will be broken into three groups (when splitting, always play the lowest pair in the front hand).

• 2’s thru 6’s — Low Pair
• 7’s thru 10’s — Medium Pair
• Jacks thru Aces — High Pair

Play the two pair as follows:

• NEVER SPLIT ANY TWO LOW PAIRS (6 OR UNDER).
• LOW PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
• LOW PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
• MEDIUM PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
• MEDIUM PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
• HIGH PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
• PAIR OF ACES AND ANY OTHER PAIR: Always split.

THREE PAIRS: Always play the highest pair for the low hand.

THREE-OF-A-KIND: Always keep, unless Aces, then play one of the Aces for the low hand.

(TWO) THREE-OF-A-KIND: Play Pair of the highest Three-of-a-Kind for the low hand.

ALL STRAIGHTS, FLUSHES, STRAIGHT FLUSHES AND ROYAL FLUSHES

WITH NO PAIR: When given a choice to play either a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush, play the category which will allow the highest two cards to be played on the low hand.

WITH ONE PAIR: Play pair in front hand if a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush can be preserved in high hand. With Ace or Joker and pair of 10’s, Jacks, Queens or Kings — play Ace or Joker in front hand and pair in high hand, unless a straight or flush can be maintained with an Ace in the low hand.

WITH TWO PAIR: Use two pair rule. (With two low pair, play straight or flush unless you can play two low pair in the high hand with at least an Ace in the low hand. )

WITH THREE PAIR: Use three pair rule.

WITH THREE-OF-A-KIND: Play pair in front hand.

WITH FULL HOUSE: Use full house rule. Example: (A Heart, Joker, J Heart, J Spade, J Club, K Heart, 2 Heart, play: Ace, Joker/J, J, J, K, 2)

• Three-of-a-Kind and pair: Always split and play pair in front hand. Exception: When the hand contains a pair of 2’s, an Ace, King and Three-Of-A-Kind, you will play A, K as low hand and the pair of 2’s and three-of-a-kind (full house) in the high hand.
• Three-of-a-Kind and two pair: Play highest of the pairs in front hand.
• Three-of-a-Kind and Three-of-a-Kind: Play highest of Three-Of-A-Kind as a pair in front hand.

FOUR-OF-A-KIND

• 2’s thru 6’s: Never split, play in high hand.
• 7’s thru 10’s: Split unless an Ace can be played in the front hand, then keep four in high hand.
• Face Cards and Aces: Always split.

FOUR-OF-A-KIND WITH A PAIR (OR THREE-OF-A-KIND)

• Always play Four-of-a- Kind in the high hand. (The only exception will be four Aces which will always be split.)
• Four Aces and a pair: split four Aces, except if you have a pair of Kings and four Aces in back.

FIVE ACES: Always split and play two Aces in front hand. The only exception will be if you also have a pair of Kings in front and five Aces in back.

Points to note:

• The bank cannot set an automatic loser!
• The “A-2-3-4-5” is the second highest straight.
• The Joker will be used as an Ace or may be used to fill a straight, flush, straight flush or a royal flush.

  When the Joker is used to fill a Flush, the Joker will be used as the highest value card not already held in the hand. Example: Ace, Joker, King, 7, 5 will be played as Ace, King (Joker=”Queen”) 7, 5 in the flush.

Pai gow poker (also called double-hand poker) is a version of pai gow that is played with playing cards, instead of traditional pai gow's Chinese dominoes. The game of pai gow poker was created in 1985 in the United States by Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club.^[1]

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, plus a single joker. It is played on a table set for six players, plus the dealer. Each player attempts to defeat the banker (who may be the casino dealer, one of the other players at the table, or a player acting in tandem with the dealer as co-bankers).^[2]

Winning condition[edit]

The object of pai gow poker is to create a five-card poker hand and a two-card poker hand from seven cards that beat both of the bank's hands. The five-card hand's rank must exceed that of the two-card hand, and it is for this reason that the two-card hand is often called the hand 'in front', 'on top', 'hair', or the 'small', 'minor', or 'low' hand. The five-card hand is called the hand 'behind', or the 'bottom', 'high', or 'big', as they are placed that way in front of the player, when the player is done setting them.

Pai gow poker is closely related to hold 'em poker. This can be seen from the fact that the same hands are used to determine the winner as in hold 'em poker.^[3]

Deals[edit]

The cards are shuffled, and then dealt to the table in seven face-down piles of seven cards per pile. Four cards are unused regardless of the number of people playing.

Betting positions are assigned a number from 1 to 7, starting with whichever player is acting as banker that hand, and counting counter-clockwise around the table. A number from 1 to 7 is randomly chosen (either electronically or manually with dice), then the deal begins with the corresponding position and proceeds counter-clockwise. One common way of using dice to determine the dealer starting number is to roll three six-sided dice, and then count betting spots clockwise from the first position until the number on the dice is reached.

If a player is not sitting on a particular spot, the hand is still assigned, but then placed on the discard pile with the four unused cards. In some casinos, such as the Golden Nugget and Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, an extra 'dragon hand' is dealt if a seat is vacant. After all players have set their original hand they are asked in turn if they would like to place another bet to play the dragon hand. Generally the bet on the dragon hand can be the table minimum up to the amount the player bet on their original hand. The first player to accept the dragon hand receives it; this player is effectively playing two separate hands. Rules vary from casino to casino, but generally the dealer turns over the dragon hand and sets it using the house way. This is because the player has already seen the seven cards of their original hand, which could affect the way they would set the dragon hand.

Hand rankings[edit]

The only two-card hands are one pair and high cards.

Five-card hands use standard poker hand rankings with one exception: in most casinos, the 'wheel' (the hand A-2-3-4-5) is the second-highest straight. At most casinos in California and Michigan this rule doesn't apply, and A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible straight.

The joker plays as a bug, that is, in the five-card hand it can be used to complete a straight or flush if possible; otherwise it is an ace. In the two-card hand it always plays as an ace, except in several southern Californian casinos where the joker is wild.

Win reckoning[edit]

If each of the player's hands beats each of the banker's corresponding hands, then he wins the bet. If only one of his hands beats the banker then he pushes (ties) in which case neither he nor the banker wins the bet. If both of his hands lose to the banker then he loses.

On each hand, ties go to the banker (for example, if a player's five-card hand loses to the banker and his two-card hand ties the banker then the player loses); this gives the banker a small advantage. If the player fouls his hand, meaning that his two-card hand outranks his five-card hand, or that there are an incorrect number of cards in each hand, there will usually be a penalty: either re-arrangement of the hand according to house rules or forfeiture of the hand.

In casino-banked games, the banker is generally required to set his hand in a pre-specified manner, called the 'house way', so that the dealer does not have to implement any strategy in order to beat the players. When a player is banking, he is free to set the hand however he chooses; however, players have the option of 'co-banking' with the house, and if this option is chosen then the player's hand must also be set in the house way.

California casinos typically charge a flat fee per hand (such as 5 cents or one dollar) to play, win or lose. Other casinos take a 5% commission out of the winnings, which is usually known as the rake.^[4]

Variants[edit]

Pai Gow Poker App

There are a number of variations of Pai Gow poker that are popular in casinos today. These variations were mainly formulated in 2004 through 2009. Pai Gow Mania was the first variation to be created which allows for two side bets instead of the traditional one side bet per hand. Fortune Pai Gow is another variation which allows players to make a side bet on a poker hand ranking of three-of-a-kind or better, one of the most popular variations. Similar is Emperors Challenge, which also allows a side bet on a seven-card pai gow (no hand). Shuffle Master introduced a variation of the game in 2006, adding a progressive jackpot side bet, named Progressive Fortune Pai Gow. Part or all of the jackpot may be won by placing a side bet and landing one of the hands specified on the payout table; a combined seven-card straight flush wins the entire jackpot.^[5]

Advantage play[edit]

Pai Gow Poker Odds

Advantage play refers to legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling. In pai gow poker, a player may be able to gain an advantage in certain circumstances by banking as often as possible, taking advantage of unskilled players while banking, and dealer errors when not banking.^[4]

History[edit]

Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club in Los Angeles, invented the game of Pai Gow Poker in 1985. The idea for the game came to Torosian after being told about the game Pusoy by an elderly Filipino customer. He figured that the 13-card game with players arranging three hands would be too slow, but a simplified two-hand version with only seven cards would be faster and easier for players to learn. The game quickly became popular and by the late 1980s was being played on the Las Vegas Strip, and eventually worldwide. Torosian famously failed to patent the game he invented after being given bad advice by an attorney he consulted, and noted poker author Mike Caro, both of whom told him that the game was not patentable.^[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abRichard Marosi (3 November 2002). 'Casino Boss Can't Cash In on Game He Developed'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
2. ^Michael Shackleford. 'Pai Gow Poker'. The Wizard of Odds. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
3. ^'How to Play Pai Gow Poker – Beginner's Guide'. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
4. ^ ^abWong, Stanford (1993). Optimal strategy for Pai Gow Poker. La Jolla, CA.: Pie Yee Press. ISBN978-0935926170.
5. ^'Pai Gow Poker Variants'. Play Pai Gow Now. Retrieved 21 December 2016.

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