Playing Asian Poker Without the Trip
Before 1986 when Pai-Gow or Asian poker took by storm the blackjack and poker tables in poker parlors in Nevada, no one was familiar with the game. It was largely played in Macao and Philippines at first.
To win a game of Pai-Gow, you must beat the dealer's hand of cards. Forget about the other players. You are going to bet the dealer using two Poker hands. One hand is composed of five cards and the other hand is made up of two cards. The term for the two-card hand is 'front hand' while the five-card hand is called the 'back hand'.
When only one of the two poker hands beat the dealer, no change of money occurs; you are not paid with chips nor does the dealer take your chips.
Pai-Gow or Asian poker is played with two to seven players. A standard deck of cards are used and three dice. Prepare an extra deck in case a player may request one. A joker is added to serve as a 'bug'. A bug card is like a wild card for it can assume any card the player wishes. Some games may restrict the bug to be an ace while others can allow the bug to be an ace, king, queen or jack.
For the five-card hand, the highest-ranking hand is one that contains five aces, with the fifth ace as the bug card. Below the five aces is the royal flush then straight flush. With the straight rank of the cards, the highest combination is composed of an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten. It is followed by an ace, two, three, four and five. The third highest-ranking hand is composed of a king, queen, jack, ten and nine.
For the two-card hand, straights do not matter and so the highest ranking rank possible is a pair of aces. The twist comes when this is followed by a pair of deuces beating an ace and king front hand.
Pai-Gow is an interesting game to learn. The ranks of cards are somewhat like standard poker, there are a few changes such as five aces being the highest-ranking card. To win, you must have two winning poker hands. One winning poker hand is not enough to get those poker chips. Another unique thing about pai-gow is the addition of three dice.
Pai-Gow is increasingly getting popular these days so learn how it is played and enjoy a seat at the Pai-Gow table at the nearby local casino.