Bonus Pai Gow Poker

Bonus Pai Gow Poker is a fun casino game mixing straight up poker with a house game. This version is found at almost every land based casino as well as online casino and is probably one of the better games to choose if you’re looking for one where the house’s edge is drastically reduced. It’s played just like poker, so there are no special hand rankings and even a beginner can adapt to this game quickly.

As mentioned, Bonus Pai Gow Poker offers you a lower house edge than other casino games such as Blackjack or Roulette. I remember playing poker in one of the card rooms at my local casino and chatting with the dealer about the various table games. During our conversation about house odds, he explained if I wanted a game where the edge was reduced Pai Gow was the choice to go with.

The reason for this is it’s basically a game of poker where you will be playing with the dealer not against the house. Each bet placed provides you two chances to win, which also means if you lose one hand you can still play for even money with the second. Bonus Pai Gow Poker can be found at most online casino such as ClubUSA Casino and Rushmore, with both online casinos accepting US players.

How To Play Pai Gow Poker

This game is played with a deck consisting of 53 cards – a traditional 52 deck + a joker. The joker is used as a wild card specifically for certain hands such as a flush, a straight, a straight flush and of course a royal flush. If you are dealt a joker within your seven cards dealt and it cannot be used in combination for one of the rankings listed above than it will be counted as an Ace.

To start playing you will need to place your ante which usually starts at $1 and increases from there up to the maximum bet set by the casino. Once wagers have been placed you will receive 7 cards dealt face up where you will be able to make your two hands. The two hands consist of a 5 card hand of poker and the two remaining cards.

The goal of the game is to create the best 5 card hand and beat the dealer’s two cards. When creating your first hand you must use your best cards, which means that if you are dealt as an example 8s-8h-2d-9h-As-Jc-5c you will be required to use your pair of eights in your first five card hand not your two cards. Once you have your hands ready to play you will be given an option to place a bonus bet. The dealer will than turn up his/her cards and if your hands win you will then be paid based on the payout chart. If you bet on the bonus, you will then receive the payout based on the bonus chart.

All bonus bets in Pai Gow Poker are optional at casinos both online and land based. The bonus bet is used towards all seven cards, not your two cards, and you must have at least a set (3 of a kind) in order to qualify.

Bonus Pai Gow Payout Chart

The following is a general payout chart for Bonus Pai Gow Poker used in most online casinos.

• Straight (five cards in sequence – 4-5-6-7-8) pays 2:1.
• Three of a kind (three cards of the same denomination – 8-8-8) pays 3:1.
• Flush (five cards of the same suit – 5s-2s-8s-Qs-9s) pays 4 to 1
• Full House (three cards of the same kind and 2 cards of another kind – 8 -8-8-5-5) pays 5:1.
• Four of a kind (four of the same cards – 5-5-5-5) pays 25:1.
• Straight flush (five cards of the same suit and sequence – 7h-8h-9h-10h-Jh) pays 50:1
• Royal flush pays (10, jack, queen, king, and ace suited) 150:1.
• Five aces (four aces plus the joker) pays 400:1.
• Seven-card straight flush with joker pays 1,000:1.
• Royal flush plus pair of deuces pays 2,000:1.
• Seven-card straight flush pays 8,000:1.