When the game is started, players will be handed seven cards, which they must divide into two hands. One five-card hand and one two-card hand. Moreover, the two-card hand cannot rank higher than the five-card hand. Depending on whether players believe their hands will be the dealer's two hands, a bet will then be put on both hands.
That being said, the typical house edge in Pai Gow Poker is 2.84%. But, there is a technique to reduce that advantage to about 1.42% by playing the Banker.
The hand ranking system is also crucial. With one difference that is worth noticing, hands are graded the same way they are in Texas Hold'em and stud games. It is possible to get a five-of-a-kind in Pai Gow Poker. The best hand is this one. But, occasionally, it could be advantageous to divide them into smaller hands.
Players can see all the hand-ranking methods below:
- High Card
- One Pair
- Two Pairs
- Three of a Kind
- Straight
- Flush
- Full House
- Four of a Kind
- Straight Flush
- Royal Flush