Pai gow Poker is a variation of pai gow, which are played on playing cards rather than traditional Chinese dominoes. The first game of pai gow poker originated in 1985 in the United States by Sam Torosian, a dealer at the Bell Card Shop in San Francisco, California.
In this version of the game, the player places their card on top of the domino, and the player will need to get all of their hands on top of the domino without letting it drop. When seven cards are dealt with the table, the players place their cards face down, and the dealer then deals seven new cards to each table, making a total of fifteen. Once all the cards have been dealt, the dealer puts the deck away and then walks around the table, looking at the players.
Hands Off Command
If anyone has cards that aren’t part of their hand or any cards that are “off the table”, the dealer may need to call out “Hands off!” This command means that the dealer will look at the person sitting in front of them, and then, if the cards are in their hand, they will remove those from the table and then deal seven new cards to the table.
Seven Cards
Each player in a pai gow poker game is dealt a hand consisting of seven cards. The cards are then placed in the center of the table face down. The first player chooses which hand he would like to begin the match with. The seven cards are arranged in the order in which they were dealt, starting with the ace of spades face up in the center. Players can view the cards in any order, starting with their ace in front of them.
Two Ways You Can Lose
There are two ways that a player can lose in a pai gow poker game: losing a pot (whereby all the chips in play are also lost) and losing a hand (whereby all the non-player cards are discarded and the player’s cards are set into the center).
High Hand
A high hand is one that is made up of all of the regular cards that are turned up on the table. The best players always have a high hand, as they have seen more cards than their opponents. To win a high hand in a pai gow poker game, players must have Queen of Diamonds, King of Clubs, and Jack of Diamonds, among other cards.
Winning with a high hand is not easy to do. It takes a lot of skill. This is because the best players know exactly what to look for and how to play their hand so that they will have a high hand at every hand that they play.
Bluffing
Another important technique for how to play pai gow poker that players should know is how to bluff. Bluffing refers to using deceptions to fool other players to let you win a bet. A good bluffer usually surrounds himself with good cards, which he promptly hands over to the table when his opponents cannot see any cards from his deck.
If you bluff well enough, then you will surely get the win that you want. However, this technique involves a lot of luck and must be mastered. You can easily master this if you take the time to learn how the cards are dealt out in the game.