Jackpot Capital offers all of the standard jackpot casino games. These include slots, blackjack, video poker, craps, roulette and baccarat. We have progressive jackpot slots and other games that have a progressive jackpot such as the three Caribbean Poker variations.
We also have several “exotic” games that a lot of gamers may not have played. One of them is Pai Gow Poker. So, in order to help you have a rounded online casino gaming experience, we will feature Pai Gow Poker here. A lot of gamers fall in love with Pai Gow Poker. We are sure that you will see why soon.
Before we go any further, Pai Gow is a great game to play at home. There won’t be a dealer to play against. Instead, you will play against the others at the table. Given the high-low nature of Pai Gow, most players will come very close to the break-even point even after a long game with friends.
In a casino, or at Jackpot Capital online casino, players play against the dealer. The dealer has to follow very strict rules about how to set up his cards. In this way, gamers always know what the dealer will prioritize.
Everyone gets 7 cards. You have to arrange your cards so that you have a five card hand and a two card hand. If you win one of the two hands and the dealer wins the other, the hand is a push.
The five card hand follows standard poker rules regarding the strength of hands. In the two card hand, you can have only a pair or a high card. In other words, there are no straights or flushes in the two card hand.
The bigger hand has to be better than the smaller hand. This is a very important rule and determines the way the gamer and the dealer will determine a lot of hands.
Pai Gow also uses one joker which also affects strategy. The joker is a semi-wild card. You can call it an ace. You can use it to complete a flush or a straight. This includes the super straight flushes and Royal Flushes. But the joker can not be used for any other card or any other purpose.
We have just delineated the “basic” strategy in Pai Gow. Advanced strategy can be very complicated. You see, how you set out the bigger hand can also be determined by statistical analysis. As you will see, best strategy in Pai Gow can sometimes be counter-intuitive.
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Let’s say that you have two high pairs. In regular poker, this would be a powerful hand. It is far from a sure thing but it’s usually very solid. In Pai Gow Poker, you would likely not use both pairs in the high hand since you want to win the small hand as well.
In this example, you have two high pairs. You should put one towards the small hand and the other pair toward the large hand. Be careful to put the higher pair in the large hand. The bigger hand always has to be better than the small hand.
Two pairs equal four cards. You have three other unpaired cards. If you can go high card on the small hand, retain the two pairs for the big hand. If not, play the higher pair in the big hand with your highest kicker and the lower pair in the small hand.
The idea that you might have a great hand and still have other cards to play is very important to remember in Pai Gow Poker. You might on a rare occasion get four of a kind. It might be best to settle for three of a kind in the big hand and a high card in the small hand. For example, you could win a four kings hand by playing three kings in the big hand a singleton king in the small hand.
With three of a kind, you might also have a straight or a flush. If the three-of-a-kind is of a high card, it is probably best to break the trips and play the straight or flush and the high pair in the small hand.
In any hand with a singleton ace or king, playing that card as the small hand will often win the small hand. Then play your best hand in the bigger hand always being sure that the bigger hand is better than the smaller hand.
Again, you have three other cards. You can keep the two pair in the larger hand if you can play a very high card in the smaller hand.
If you play smart, the house edge is about 2%. With any kind of luck, you will finish a session in the winning column. Luck certainly has a lot to do with the final outcome of a session of Pai Gow Poker but logical thinking and the ability to break up what is a great “poker” hand in order to create two great Pai Gow Poker hands often makes all the difference long term.
Just as in Texas Holdem, folding is important strategy in Pai Gow Poker. But it isn’t called folding in Pai Gow. There will be a lot of hands in Texas Holden that are not worth your while and your bankroll. On these hands folding is the best option.
In blackjack, this almost same action is called surrender, where you give up half your ante in order to safeguard the other half.
In Pai Gow, there will be a lot of hands in which you can’t possibly hope to win both hands. In that case, you should go all out to win the larger hand since it has to be better than the smaller hand. You might know as you look over your cards that the most you can hope for is a push. But a push is a very good outcome when you know that one of the hands is an almost sure loser.
Pai Gow Poker is no longer an unusual game to Jackpot Capital gamers who follow our advice and play every game we offer over time.
Keep in mind that Jackpot Capital has many games that most gamers have not played before. We still offer free play for gamers to get to know a game before betting on it.
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