If you like online poker games to play with friends and want something different, Pai Gow Poker is the game for you. It involves just the standard poker play with the ancient Chinese game Pai Gow. It may not be as famous as other games like Texas Holdem or Blackjack, but it offers excellent action with great odds if mastered.

Let’s take you through some straightforward steps to play Pai Gow Poker. We’ll also give you some helpful tips and strategies and teach you how to play pai gow poker real money casino if you use a land-based casino or even online.

What’s Pai Gow Poker?

This game was invented by California cardroom owner Sam Torosian, born in the 1980s. He applied his brainchild to the Chinese game Pai Gow. Instead of cards, Pai Gow was played with 32 tiles, and the question was what to make of it all. Sam’s solution was to combine the two games into something easy to learn but original.

In Pai Gow Poker, one hand can not be played since the player has seven cards and has to construct two hands:

• The best hand is a five-card hand (“back hand”).
• A two-card hand (“front hand”) must be the worst.

It would do well if you win both hands against the dealer’s hands. If your two hands are more robust than the hand of the dealer, you win; if two are weaker, you lose. In contrast, if one is more muscular while the other is weak, then the hands eventually result in a tie. If your two hands are more robust in comparison with that hand of the dealer, then you win; if the two end up being weaker, then you lose; whereas if one is more powerful and the other weak, then the hands happen to be a tie, and you get all money back with your bet.

This is an exhilarating, slow game with much room for strategy.

How to Play Pai Gow Poker

Once you are comfortable with the standard way to play Pai Gow Poker, you can detail the game step by step.

Step 1: Selecting an Appropriate Casino

First, you must search for an excellent place to play Pai Gow Poker for real money, either online or in a classic real-life casino. If you play online, make sure that the casino you choose is reliable and has some practice in holding gaming operations. However, this is not specific to whether you play the live or web versions of the game.

It would help if you considered several things when choosing a casino where you can play Pai Gow Poker.

License and safety: You must choose a licensed casino regulated by a credible authority.

Payment Options: It is also amazing to find as many payment options as desired, whereby deposit and withdrawal should be easy with credit cards, e-wallets like PayPal, or simple bank transfers.

Good bonuses: Check out a good casino. Most offer a welcome bonus, so you get more for 

your cash.

Pai Gow Poker is primarily played in the poker section of land casinos. The players sit with other players but bet against the dealer, not other players.

Step 2: Bet

Once you have decided on which casino to play at, you can buy in. You will purchase your chips at the cashier’s cage or the table in a land casino. Online casinos require you to deposit money in your account and decide how much you wish to stake.

Still, you can expect one other thing from Pai Gow Poker: the lowest and maximum bet, which in most cases varies between $5 and $25, though it may vary with the casinos.

Step 3: Player Plays and Sets His Hand

Once the player has placed a bet, the dealer gives seven cards to him.  Things get tricky here: dividing seven cards into two hands is necessary. Well, here is how it goes:

• Five-card hand (backhand): This should be your best poker hand. It would help if you look to give away a whole house, flush or straight.

• Two-card hand (holding hand): this hand should be the worst. In that hand, you tend to like to use pairs but avoid getting into a hand that is too terrible, two unrelated cards that are neither a pair nor a straight.

Tip: Your five-card hand should always be more potent than your two-card hand. One of the main things you must remember when splitting your cards.

Step 4: The Dealer’s Hand

First, you divide your cards into two hands, and then the dealer deals with their hand according to a predefined set of rules known as the House Way. These differ from casino to casino, but, in general:

That is important because it means you’ve got to treat the dealer as having less flexibility than you do. They are constrained to follow those rules; you can use your strategy anywhere.

Step 5: Compare Hands and End the Round

So far, so good. You’ve played both your hands and the dealer has set both of its hands; let’s see who wins. There are three possible scenarios.

Win: Both your five-card hand and two-card hand beat the dealer’s. You win the round.

Push: One hand wins; the other loses to the dealer. That’s a push; you neither win nor lose your bet.

Loss: Both hands surrender to the dealer, and you lose your bet.

If you win, you will receive a payoff according to the paytable, which typically entails even money on the winning hand. Bonus bets ( which we’ll talk about later) may be employed at some casinos that pay a better bonus for strong hands, like four-of-a-kind or a straight flush.

Pai Gow Poker Strategy Tips

While Pai Gow Poker has some luck, specific strategic ways may help increase your chances of winning. Here are some tips:

Follow the House Way: If you are just a beginner trying the game out, then following the dealer’s prescribed rules for dividing the hand, known as the House Way, will keep you free from mistakes in the beginning.

Do Not Split High Pairs: Keep a pair of aces or kings together in your five-card hand. Splitting high pairs can weaken your potential to win and leave you with one weakened two-card hand.

Make Your Two-Card Hand as Strong as Possible: Try making at least a decent two-card hand. Even a weak pair beats laying it in unless your five-card hand plays very well.

Be Careful with Bonus Side Bets: Other bonus side bets are available in casinos, such as the Pai Gow Bonus. The bonus side bets pay for a strong hand like four of a kind, straight flush, or even a whole house. The house edge gets much higher with side bets; therefore, be careful and use it only when you can afford to risk that much.

Playing Pai Gow Poker for Real Money in the Casinos Online

If you enjoy how to deal pai gow poker online for real money, the situation than the situation is not complicated. Usually, any online casino games India presents an online video poker variant and a live dealer version.

Video Poker: This is the computer-generated version of Pai Gow Poker. It’s faster; you’ll never experience a live dealer. Rules and payout are the same.

Live Dealer Pai Gow Poker: The game is played by a live dealer, who is delivered to you through a video feed and with whom you can interact at any physical casino. However, live dealer games are slower, bringing the feeling closer to reality.

Anyway, internet Pai Gow Poker gives the liberty to play at any desired pace, and, more probably than not, you will come across more stringent limits or zones of flexibility than you would in the event of land-based casinos.

Conclusion

Playing at actual money for Pai Gow Poker is a poker game with many strategies, luck, and a little skill. Whether you play it in a land-based casino or within an online platform, the secret remains the same: it lies in knowing how to set your two hands while exploiting the fixed rules of the dealer. To find a better edge in how to play pai gow poker for real money, follow some basic strategies mentioned here.

In short, it’s worth trying Pai Gow Poker for someone who wants to learn a new game of poker or any variation.