Pai Gow Poker is a card game. It derives from a Chinese tile game known as Pai Gow. Pai Gow Tiles and Pai Gow Poker are two separate games and should not be confused. Properly speaking, "Pai Gow" refers to the domino-like game, and "Pai Gow Poker" applies to the game played with cards.

Pai Gow poker employs all 52 cards in the deck and one joker. The player is pitted againt the banker, who is almost always the dealer. Sometimes, as in Bacarrat, the banker role can pass to another player, but this is unusual. As in real life, being the banker gives one an advantage; however, the casino may give a player the opportunity to do the banking as if her or she were the house. For starters, just assume that the “house,” the “dealer” and “the banker” are one and the same.

The objective is to make a stronger hand than the banker's hand. A lot of thought goes into playing a hand of Pai Gow poker, as it involves arranging seven cards into two poker hands in an optimal way. For this reason, the pace of the game is much slower than many other table games, and the players are usually quieter while they concentrate on the play.

Up to six players fill the table. With the dealer, that is seven hands, and each hand has 7 cards. So 49 of the 53 cards are dealt. If one of the player seats is empty, the dealer may deal a hand to it anyway, just to keep the distribution of cards the same. This is sometimes called a “dragon hand.” At most casinos, a player seated next to a “dragon hand” may opt to play it as a second hand, on the condition that the hand be set by the same rules that apply to the banker (dealer).

Start a round by placing a bet. Then receive seven cards. By analogy to Pai Gow, a roll of dice determines which player receives the first cards. This is something of a ritual more than a rule. The seven cards must be arranged into a five card hand and a two card hand such that both hands are as high as possible. The hands are placed in front of the player, face up, with the two card hand in front (i.e., closer to the dealer) and the five-card hand in back (i.e., closer to the player).

In constructing a hand, the A2345 (often referred to as a “wheel”) is the second highest straight. In the two card hand, straights and flushes are not recognized, of course -- only pairs and high cards. The joker can be used to fill out a straight or flush; otherwise it is treated as a fifth ace. The highest two-card hand is a pair of aces, and the lowest is the three-two combination.

The dealer does not have the discretion to arrange his or her hand (the banker’s hand) just any old way. There is a “house way” to do it. Below the most common “house way” in use is described in more detail. Once everyone’s hands have been arranged, the five card hands (the “back hands”) are compared between banker and player(s). Then the two card hands (the “front hands”) are compared. If both of a player’s hands beat the banker’s hands, then the player wins the bet and is paid 1:1, minus a house commission (usually 5%). If neither hand beats the corresponding hand of the banker, then the player loses the bet. A split decision causes a push or tie, and the bets are returned. If specific hands are tied (called “a copy”), the dealer wins that hand.

The two card hand is sometimes referred to as “the low hand” as well as a “front hand.” This can be misleading, because it must be higher than the banker’s front hand in order to win. However, the two-card hand must be lower in value than the five-card hand. If it is not, both hands lose.

Sometimes players take turns being the banker. In this circumstance, the dealer plays as a normal player, betting the same amount as the new banker had bet on the last hand prior to assuming the role of banker. To qualify as a banker, the player must not only wait for a turn, but have played at least one hand already against the dealer as banker, and also have enough chips on the table to pay the other players should they win. (This includes the dealer). There are two added benefits of being the banker.

First, there is a slight edge built in to being the banker because the banker wins all tied hands. Second, the commission of the casino is not charged on gross winnings, as it is for any common player, but on the net winnings of the banker, after paying off all the other winning hands. (The commission on those hands comes from the winners themselves). The player acting as banker need not set his or her hand according to the “house way” unless co-banking (i.e., sharing the financial responsibility of being the banker) with the house.