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| Best online casino / Online casino games / Pai Gow |
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Pai Gow tiles is probably the most difficult casino game to explain. Although the ranking of the hands is rather involved, the concept itself is quite simple. Although difficult to learn, Pai Gow is a lot of fun, has a low house edge, and money lasts a long time at the table.
The Chinese have been betting on Pai Gow for centuries and Pai Gow can be found in casinos that attract a large Asian clientele. Every casino has it in Atlantic City, as well as many of the Indian casinos that serve the greater New York City.
The object of the game is the same as Pai Gow Poker: to beat the banker. Unlike most casino games, in Pai Gow the player can have a turn at being the banker, in which case the goal is to beat everybody else. The opportunity to bank is offered in turn to each player and dealer in a counter-clockwise direction. In Pai Gow, the dealer also acts as a player. When the dealer is not banking he bets an amount equal to the bet the banker made the most recent time he played against the house bank.
The dealer always plays his hand according to rules known as the house way. If a player wishes to bank but is uncomfortable with the financial risk of covering all other bets on the table he may request to co-bank with the house. If this option is selected, the palyer's hand must be set according to the house way.
The game is played with a set of 32 dominos, three dice, and a dice shaker. Play begins with all players making a wager. While the players decide how much to bet, the dealer mixes up the dominos and puts them in 8 neat stacks of 4. Then the dice are rolled to determine who gets the first stack and proceeds counter-clockwise. After the dice are exposed, the player may not change his bet. Each player is given one stack of 4 dominos, which they must arrange into two groups of two.
Each pair of dominos has a ranking. The player must decide how to arrange his dominos into the strongest possible pairs. Sometimes the choice is obvious, other times a player must decide whether to have a strong hand and a weak hand or two more balanced hands. At most there will be three possible and viable ways to play the hand. After a decision is reached, the player lays the dominos face down with the higher pair laying horizontally and the lower pair vertically. Only after all players have set their hands the banker examine and set his dominos.
After all dominos have been arranged, the banker and player turn over their hands. Each player compares his hands to those of the banker. If the player wins both hands, his bet pays even money, minus a 5% commission. If the player loses both hands, he loses his entire wager. If the hands split, one win and one loss, then it's a push. After all bets have been settled, the banker pays a 5% commission on the net win, if there was one. |
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