Pai Gow Poker 101 – Rules, Setting Hands & House Edge

Pai Gow Poker uses a standard 52-card deck plus one joker (which can only complete a straight, flush, straight flush, or count as an ace). Everyone plays against the same dealer hand — the table often wins or loses together.

The core idea

You're dealt 7 cards. You split them into a 5-card "high" hand and a 2-card "low" hand. Your high hand must outrank your low hand — if you set it backwards, your whole hand is disqualified ("fouled") and you automatically lose.

To win, you need both your high hand and low hand to beat the dealer's corresponding hands. Win both = you win. Win one, lose one = push (tie, money back). Lose both (or tie both, since ties go to the dealer/banker) = you lose.

Most tables let the banker role rotate among players (and sometimes the dealer). When you bank, you're not playing against the house — you're playing against every other player's hand at the table, and you win all ties.

• As a regular player, the typical house edge is around 2.5% (sources place it roughly between 2.5% and 2.85% depending on strategy and house way).
• As banker, published edges are dramatically lower — commonly cited figures range from under 1% down to roughly 0.2% with strong strategy.
• Banking isn't always offered, and casinos vary in how the role rotates — some let you request it, others cycle it automatically.

The takeaway: if your casino offers banking and you understand the house way well enough to set the dealer's hands correctly, take the option whenever it's available.

Two structural features make Pai Gow Poker unusually gentle on your bankroll compared to most table games:

• Slow pace: roughly 30 or so hands per hour, well below blackjack or baccarat.
• High push rate: a large share of hands — often over 40% — end in a push (split decision, money back), which means fewer total dollars change hands per session.

Combined with a moderate house edge, this makes Pai Gow Poker one of the better games for stretching a fixed bankroll over a long session, even without banking.

• Decide your total session bankroll before sitting down.
• Because of the slow pace, you can generally afford a slightly larger bet size relative to bankroll than in a fast game — you'll simply play fewer hands per hour.
• Take the banker option whenever it's offered and you're comfortable with it.
• Set a stop-loss and win goal like any other game.