Pai Gow Strategy Guide
The proper Pai Gow Poker strategy involves knowing how to "set" your hands in order to give yourself the best chances of winning both bets. If your casino allows you to play as the banker, you can actually come out ahead. Not every casino allows you to play as the banker but if you get the opportunity, you should take it every chance you get.
One of the safest strategies is to allow the house to set you hand for you. This is the easiest way to set your hand and it prevents you from accidentally fouling your hand. As you get more experience with the game, you can tweak the house strategy a bit and use the following guidelines to set your own hand:
If you have:
No Pair - Keep the highest card in your back hand and keep your 2nd and 3rd highest cards in your front hand.
One Pair - Keep the pair in your back hand and keep your 2nd and 3rd highest cards in your front hand.
Two Pair - Keep the higher pair in your back hand and the other pair in your front hand
Three Pair - Keep the bottom two pairs in your back hand and the highest pair in your front hand. This will give both hands the highest chance of winning against the dealer.
Three of a Kind (Aces) - Keep two aces in your back hand and one ace in your front hand.
Three of a Kind (Everything Else) - Keep the three of a kind in your back hand and your remaining two highest cards in your front hand.
5, 6 or 7 Card Straight - Keep the lowest cards that complete the straight in your back hand.
Four of a Kind (2's - 6's) - Keep the four of a kind in your back hand and the remaining highest cards in your front hand.
Four of a Kind (7's - Jacks) - Split them unless you have an Ace or King you can place in your front hand.
Four of a Kind (Queens - Aces) - Split them.
Note - The term "back hand" refers to the 5 card hand and the term "front hand" refers to the 2 card hand. Remember - if you don't set up your back hand to be higher than your front hand, your hand will be fouled.
House Edge
When using this Pai Gow Poker strategy, the house edge is only about 2.6%. When you play as a banker and use this strategy, you have an edge of about .19% including the 5% commission the casino takes. It's not a massive edge but every little bit helps.
You must have enough money in front of you to pay off all winning bets if you want to be the banker so make sure you bring plenty of money with you. If you really want to maximize your take home, look for tables that have the highest betting limits and be the banker as often as you can.
Even though you have an advantage when playing as the banker, the edge is small and you're not guaranteed to win every time. You'll go through wild swings with such a small edge so make sure you practice intelligent money management.
Money Management
It's important to practice smart money management in Pai Gow Poker because large swings in fortune are not uncommon. This is especially true when you play as the banker because you take on the risk of paying out everyone at the table. You'll want to keep a considerable bankroll when playing as the banker.
In the long run, it's worth playing as the banker but if you're playing on a short bankroll, you'll have to skip out on being the banker. Even though you have an edge when playing as the banker, you're far from being a guaranteed winner.
The most important thing you remember is to never mix your gambling money in with your personal finances. You must always keep these separate from one another. If you have a rough night at the tables and burn through your bankroll, you need to have the discipline to quit and return another day. It's extremely dangerous to dip into your personal finances to chase your losses.