Play Pai Gow Poker

If you've always wanted to Play Pai Gow and have just never gotten around to it, or, if you're an experienced player researching your online options, we have the casino for you. We've whittled the hundreds of online casino down to this short list of the best places to play.

Pai Gow poker is a great game for poker fanatics, and can be a welcome variation for long-time poker players. In Pai Gow poker, you are playing against the dealer, much like in blackjack. You are dealt seven cards from which you make two hands -- one five-card hand and one two-card hand. Your two-card hand must have a lower poker value than your five-card hand does. The dealer arranges his seven cards according to typical house rules.

Pai Gow poker is played with a 53-card deck that includes one joker. The joker can be used to complete a straight, a flush, or a straight flush. Otherwise the joker is treated as an ace. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces, and the highest five-card hand is five aces (remember the joker!)

If you beat the dealer with both hands, you win the bet, minus a house commission. If you win one hand but not the other, the result is a push. If the dealer wins both hands, you lose your bet. In the sample hand below, the player's two pair (aces and threes) beats the dealer's pair of jacks, and the player's pair of aces beats the dealer's pair of tens. As a result, the player wins his bet.