Pai Gow Poker puts a spin on the traditional game of poker that we all know and love. By combining the familiar poker game with aspects of the centuries-old Chinese game Pai Gow, which is played with dominoes instead of cards, Pai Gow Poker presents players with a fun and different game that relies not only on their knowledge of poker hand ranks but also a different strategy. Pai Gow Poker begins with each player receiving seven cards. The dealer may be the house or it may in fact be one of the players, depending on where you are playing. Pai Gow Poker is played with a single 53-card deck that includes one Joker. The Joker serves as a wild card in some instances. The object of Pai Gow Poker is to arrange the seven cards into the best 5-card and 2-card hands possible, in terms of the well-known poker ranks. The concept of forming two hands comes from Pai Gow, the domino game. In fact, since you’re creating two separate hands, Pai Gow Poker is also sometimes known as Double-Hand Poker. There is one important stipulation, though: the 5-card hand must be of higher value than the 2-card hand. Otherwise, you foul and automatically lose the hand. In order to win, your 5-card hand has to beat the dealer's 5-card hand AND your 2-card hand has to beat the dealer's 2-card hand. You do not have to worry about other players' hands: Pai Gow Poker is among the card games in which players are not competing against one another, but only against the dealer or banker. Most of the time, Pai Gow Poker games result in a push, or tie, in which the player and the dealer each win one hand. When you do win both hands, however, that lucky winning combination pays 1-to-1, less a five percent commission to the house. Pai Gow Poker odds do give the house an advantage, of course, but it is not a huge one, and this commission helps the house make money. Because it features a rather slow pace and results in many ties, Pai Gow Poker is considered less intense than most casino games. It is popular with some players because your buy-in can sometimes last a long time. The term “Pai Gow” is actually a negative one-it refers to when you have nothing in your hand to work with, not even a pair. Remember that the game is technically Pai Gow Poker-“Pai Gow” is still a popular domino game in its own right. | 
