- Maths reviewed by Josh Miller
- Tested by Diana Westfield
Pai gow poker strategy is mostly about setting seven cards into two hands without wasting either of them: five in the back, two in the front, and the back must always beat the front. Most casinos let you ask the dealer to set your hand “the house way”, and that’s close to the best possible play. The CasinoCalcs chart below is the common house way, the same one our pai gow poker calculator uses to set any hand you pick. The free calculator above prices the Fortune bonus bet for whatever pay table your casino shows.
Pai gow poker strategy chart (house way)
| You hold | Set it like this |
|---|---|
| No pair | Highest card in the back, next two highest in front |
| One pair | Pair in the back, two best other cards in front |
| Two pair | Split: higher pair in the back, lower pair in front. Keep them together (best single card in front) only if you have a single ace and the high pair is 10s or lower, or a single ace or king and the high pair is 6s or lower. Always split aces. |
| Three pair | Highest pair in front, the other two pairs in the back |
| Three of a kind | Keep them in the back. Three aces: pair of aces in the back, one ace in front |
| Two sets of trips | Split the higher set: a pair in front |
| Straight, flush or straight flush | Play it in the back. If you can keep it and still put a pair in front, do that; with two pair as well, use the two pair rule |
| Full house | Split it: trips in the back, the pair in front |
| Four of a kind | 2s to 6s: keep together. 7s to 10s: keep together if you have an ace for the front, otherwise split. Jacks to aces: split into two pairs. With another pair, keep the four and put the pair in front |
| Five aces (with the joker) | Pair of aces in front, three aces in the back |
The joker counts as an ace, or completes a straight, flush or straight flush.
Why the house way works
You need to win both hands to get paid, and lose both to lose. One each is a push. So the goal is rarely the biggest possible back hand. It’s a pair of hands that wins two-for-two often enough and avoids losing both. That’s why a full house is split: trips in the back are still strong, and a pair in front wins the front far more often than ace high.
Two pair is where players argue. Kings and 3s with no ace: split, 3s up front. 9s and 4s with an ace: keep both pairs in the back and play ace high in front, because ace high in front is decent on its own and the two pair back hand is safer. The rule set above is the common version. Some casinos differ by a line or two, and the difference is small, a few hundredths of a percent.
Pai gow poker payout chart: the Fortune bonus
The main game pays even money less 5% commission on wins, and the house edge with house way play is around 2.7% when you’re not the banker. Side bets are where the cost climbs. The Fortune bonus pays on your seven-card hand alone:
| Hand (7 cards) | Common pay | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| 7-card straight flush, no joker | 8,000 to 1 | 1 in 4.8 million |
| 7-card straight flush with joker | 1,000 to 1 | 1 in 786,444 |
| Five aces | 400 to 1 | 1 in 136,652 |
| Royal flush | 150 to 1 | 1 in 5,908 |
| Straight flush | 50 to 1 | 1 in 835 |
| Four of a kind | 25 to 1 | 1 in 501 |
| Full house | 5 to 1 | 1 in 37 |
| Flush | 4 to 1 | 1 in 25 |
| Three of a kind | 3 to 1 | 1 in 21 |
| Straight | 2 to 1 | 1 in 14 |
About one hand in five pays something, which keeps it fun, but the table above keeps roughly 8% of every bonus bet. Drop the full house to 4 and the flush to 3 and it’s nearer 15%. Type your casino’s numbers into the calculator before you put chips on it.
Pai gow is slow and full of pushes, which makes it easy to play for hours. Watch the clock as well as the chips. BeGambleAware.org can help if it stops being fun.