Pai Gow
The Play
You begin by placing your wager on the table. You will then receive seven cards face up. The dealer will be dealt seven cards face down. You must now split your seven cards into two hands. The first hand is referred to as the "high hand," and consists of 5 cards. The second hand is referred to as the "low hand" and consists of only 2 cards. You must divide the cards so that the 5-card hand ranks higher than the 2-card hand.
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Dead Hand
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A dead hand results when you fail to divide the seven cards properly into a high and low hand. For example, if you place your two best cards in the low hand, the your hand is considered "Dead." You will not lose your wager if you mistakenly create a "Dead Hand," but will be warned to rearrange your cards. |
The Payoff
After the dealer hand has been arranged, the four hands are compared as follows:
High Hand vs. High Hand Low Hand vs. Low Hand
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The house wins if... |
| ...the dealer wins both hands. |
| ...the dealer wins one hand and the other hand is a copy hand. |
| ...both hands are copy hands. |
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Copy Hand |
When the player and the dealer have identical hands,that hand is referred to as a "copy hand." Unlike in blackjack, where a copy hand results in a push, in Paigow Poker the dealer. |
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| Example: |
Dealer Low Hand
Ace of Hearts
J of Clubs |
Player Low Hand
Ace of Spades
J of Diamonds |
These hands are identical. The Dealer wins the hand. |
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