How to Play Pai Gow Poker: Rules and Hand Rankings
Quick answer: You get seven cards and split them into a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand must rank higher. Each hand plays the dealer's matching hand. Win both and you win even money minus a 5% commission. Win one and lose one and it's a push. Lose both and you lose. Ties go to the dealer.
About 41% of hands push, which makes Pai Gow Poker one of the slowest, steadiest games in a casino.
Pai Gow Poker is not Pai Gow tiles
Pai Gow is an old Chinese game played with 32 domino-style tiles. Pai Gow Poker was invented in the United States in the 1980s and borrows the idea of splitting one hand into a high and a low hand, but it uses playing cards and poker rankings. The two games share a name and nothing else. Everything on this page is about Pai Gow Poker.
The deck: 52 cards plus a joker
Pai Gow Poker uses a standard 52-card deck plus one joker, 53 cards in all. The joker is semi-wild: it can only complete a straight, flush or straight flush, and otherwise counts as an Ace. It's covered in detail in Pai Gow Poker joker rules.
How a hand works
- Bet. Place your wager.
- Deal. You and the dealer each get seven cards.
- Set your hands. Split your seven cards into a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand.
- Dealer sets theirs using a fixed set of rules called the house way.
- Compare. Your five-card hand plays the dealer's five-card hand. Your two-card hand plays the dealer's two-card hand.
- Settle.
| Your result | What happens to your bet |
|---|---|
| Win both hands | Win even money, minus 5% commission on the win |
| Win one, lose one | Push: your bet comes back |
| Lose both hands | Lose your bet |
Setting the five-card high hand
The five-card hand uses normal poker rankings with one addition at the top:
- Five Aces (four Aces plus the joker)
- Straight Flush (Royal Flush is the best one)
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
One ruleset detail matters: in the 0stakes game, as in most Nevada and California casinos, A-2-3-4-5 is the second-highest straight, below A-K-Q-J-10 and above K-Q-J-10-9.
Setting the two-card low hand
Only two things count in a two-card hand: pairs and high cards. There are no two-card straights or flushes.
- The best possible two-card hand is a pair of Aces.
- Any pair beats any non-pair.
- Non-pairs compare by the higher card, then the lower: A-K beats A-Q, and K-Q beats K-J.
- The joker in the two-card hand is always an Ace.
The one rule for a legal setting
The five-card hand must rank higher than the two-card hand. If your two-card hand is a pair of 9s, your five-card hand needs at least a pair of 9s. If your two-card hand is A-K, your five-card hand needs an Ace or better.
A setting that breaks this rule is a foul. In a casino a fouled hand can be reset by house rules or forfeited outright. The 0stakes game won't let you submit one and tells you what to fix.
The dealer's house way
The dealer doesn't choose how to set their cards. They follow the casino's house way, a fixed list of rules for every type of hand, such as "with two pair, split them and put the lower pair low." The house way guide walks through the exact rules the 0stakes dealer uses. In the game, the Auto Arrange button sets your hand the same way.
Winning, losing and pushing
Each of your two hands either beats the dealer's, loses to it, or ties it exactly.
Copies go to the banker
An exact tie on a hand is called a copy, and copies go to the banker. At 0stakes the dealer always banks, so a tied hand counts as a loss for you:
- Win one hand, copy the other: push.
- Lose one hand, copy the other: loss.
Who banks
In some casinos, players can take turns being the banker. The banker wins copies and plays against every other player at the table. The 0stakes game doesn't offer player banking; the dealer banks every hand.
The commission
When you win both hands, the casino takes 5% of your winnings. On a $20 bet that wins, you're paid $20 minus $1 commission: $19.
Between the commission and the dealer winning every copy, Pai Gow Poker carries a house edge of about 2.73% per hand when both you and the dealer use the house way. 0stakes measured that by running its own game engine for 1,000,000 hands.
Example hands
1. A♥ J♦ 9♣ 7♠ 5♥ 4♦ 2♣ (no pair). House way: highest card stays in the five-card hand, the next two go low. Five-card: A-7-5-4-2. Two-card: J-9. With no pair this hand loses more often than not, so the goal is pushes.
2. K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♠ 7♥ 4♦ 2♣ (two pair). Split the pairs. Five-card: K-K-7-4-2. Two-card: 9-9. A pair of 9s in the low hand is very strong, and Kings in the high hand are solid.
3. Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ 9♠ 6♥ 4♦ 2♣ (three of a kind). Keep the trips high. Five-card: Q-Q-Q-4-2. Two-card: 9-6.
4. Joker 8♦ 9♣ 10♠ J♥ 3♦ 3♣ (straight with a pair). The joker completes a Queen-high straight: 8-9-10-J-Joker. The pair of 3s goes in the two-card hand.
5. Settling. Your hands are a flush and K-Q. The dealer has a straight and A-5. Your flush beats the straight; the dealer's A-5 beats your K-Q. Push. If the dealer's two-card hand had been K-Q too, that copy would go to the dealer, and you'd still push, because you won the other hand.
Common beginner mistakes
- Fouling. Putting a pair low when the five-card hand doesn't have a pair at least as high.
- Putting your best cards all in the five-card hand. A strong five-card hand with a weak two-card hand pushes a lot but rarely wins.
- Forgetting the joker is only semi-wild. It can't turn two pair into a full house.
- Splitting the wrong pair. With two pair, the higher pair stays in the five-card hand.
- Assuming copies are pushes. They go to the banker.
FAQ
What is the best hand in Pai Gow Poker?
Five Aces: four Aces plus the joker. It beats a Royal Flush.
Can the two-card hand be a straight or flush?
No. Two-card hands only count pairs and high cards.
What happens if I tie the dealer?
The tied hand is a copy and goes to the dealer. Win the other hand and it's a push; lose the other hand and you lose.
Why do so many hands push?
You only win by taking both hands, and the dealer is usually good enough to take at least one. About 41% of hands end as a push.
Is Pai Gow Poker the same as Pai Gow?
No. Pai Gow uses Chinese dominoes. Pai Gow Poker uses a 53-card deck and poker hand rankings.