Pai Gow Poker Is A Simple Game To Learn - Its Pretty Slow As Well!
For those not familiar with the game but have heard or seen the name listed amongst variants of Poker, Pai Gow Poker is a variation of the Chinese domino game of the same name.
Not many will recognise the name, which may seem strange as everyone would figure he would have become an overnight celebrity and made millions.
Unfortunately due to some disastrous legal advice having been told card games couldn't be patented, he didn't bother, the upshot being competing casinos offered it to their players as well, and Sam wasn't paid a dime in royalties.
Sad but true, anyhow on to the game itself that poor Sam invented. The game is known primarily as a slow paced game with lots of pushes; hence also Pai Gow Poker is also considered a low risk game.
It's relatively easy to figure out how to play most hands as it is fairly obvious as to how they should be played, neither is it difficult to learn a correct strategy for those hands that remain.
Each player pits their wits against the same dealer hand, as a result everyone normally loses or wins together adding a bit of fun and creating an additional social quirk to the proceedings.
For the purpose of the game a 53 card deck is used which includes the joker which is a semi-wild. It can be used either as an Ace, or to complete a Flush, Straight Flush, Royal Flush, or Straight.
The Player makes their bet after which the dealer deals himself and the player 7 cards each. The ranking rules of standard Poker are complied with however with the implementation of a twist. An Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 Straight, is accepted as the second highest Straight. This is called "The Wheel".
The player groups his cards into a high hand of 5 cards and a low hand of 2 x cards. The high hand must be considered to be of higher Poker value than that of the low hand. The hand of 5 cards is then ranked as per standard Poker Rules.
There's not much else to learn in way of rules although there's strategies that can be useful when playing. At least Pai Gow Poker won't take much time to learn and the player shouldn't have a big loss if their smart, unlike Sam Torosian, such a shame.
