How to Play Pai Gow Poker: Rules, Hands and Strategy
In Pai Gow Poker, you’re dealt 7 cards and split them into 2 hands: a 5-card high hand and a 2-card low hand. The dealer does the same. Your goal is to beat the dealer in both comparisons to win your wager.
The interesting part is deciding where each card belongs. You might have a great 5-card hand, but if you leave your 2-card hand too weak, the dealer can still hold you to a push or win the round.
This guide explains traditional commission Pai Gow Poker, including the Joker and a 5% commission on winning wagers.
Main Pai Gow Poker Rules
| Rule | How it works |
| Cards | 52 standard cards plus 1 Joker |
| The deal | You and the dealer receive 7 cards each |
| Your hands | One 5-card high hand and one 2-card low hand |
| Valid split | Your 5-card hand must rank higher than your 2-card hand |
| Winning | Your high hand and low hand must both beat the dealer’s corresponding hands |
| Push | Win one comparison and lose the other; your wager is returned |
| Equal hands | The dealer wins a tied comparison |
| Payout | An even-money win, minus a 5% commission on the profit |
The two hands are settled separately, so arranging them well matters as much as recognizing a strong poker hand.
How to Play Pai Gow Poker in 3 Steps
- Place your bet and receive 7 cards. You’ll see your cards before you decide how to split them.
- Build your two hands. Put 5 cards in the high hand and 2 in the low hand. The high hand must be stronger.
- Compare against the dealer. Your 5-card hand faces the dealer’s 5-card hand, and your 2-card hand faces the dealer’s 2-card hand. Winning both comparisons wins the round.
A push happens when you win one comparison and lose the other. If a hand ties, the dealer wins that comparison, so the result depends on how your other hand does.
Pai Gow Poker Hand Rankings and the Joker
The 5-card hand uses familiar poker rankings, with a special top hand and an unusual straight ranking in this version. From strongest to weakest, the hands are:
- 5 aces (four aces plus the Joker)
- Royal flush and other straight flushes
- Four of a kind, then full house
- Flush, then straight
- Three of a kind, two pair, one pair, then high card
Your 2-card low hand has only two possible hand types: a pair or a high-card hand. A pair of aces is strongest. With no pair, the higher card is compared first, followed by the second card if needed.
How Does the Joker Work?
The Joker can complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. Otherwise, it counts as an ace. In the 2-card hand, it always counts as an ace. That makes it useful, but it isn’t a substitute for any card you happen to want.
There’s one straight-ranking detail worth learning here: A-K-Q-J-10 is highest, followed by A-2-3-4-5, then K-Q-J-10-9. The ace-low straight therefore ranks above a king-high straight under this traditional game’s rules.
How to Split Your Pai Gow Poker Hands
Think of your seven cards as two chances to beat the dealer. If you put every strong card into the high hand, you might leave the low hand with little to work with.
Moving too much strength into the low hand can cause the opposite problem.
Here’s a simple way to approach a deal:
- Find your strongest combinations. Start with pairs, three of a kind, a straight, a flush, or a full house.
- Look at your two best cards for the low hand. Two high cards can be useful; a pair is stronger when your remaining high hand can support the split.
- Compare the two options. Keeping two pairs together may give you a strong high hand, while splitting them may give each hand a pair.
- Confirm that the high hand outranks the low hand. That’s what makes the split legal.
Some deals have several reasonable splits. Casinos also use a House Way, a prescribed method for setting the dealer’s hands. The following examples teach straightforward beginner choices rather than one casino’s exact House Way.
6 Pai Gow Poker Hands, Explained
The best way to learn the split is to see the cards. Each example shows the full deal, the two hands you could make, and why that choice makes sense.
1. No Pair
Cards dealt: A♠ K♦ Q♣ 9♥ 7♠ 4♦ 2♣
5-card high hand: A♠ 9♥ 7♠ 4♦ 2♣
2-card low hand: K♦ Q♣
You have no pair to protect, so keep the ace in the high hand and put the king and queen in the low hand. The ace-high hand stays stronger, while King-Queen gives your low hand a solid high-card combination.
2. One Pair
Cards dealt: K♠ K♦ A♣ Q♥ 9♠ 5♦ 3♣
5-card high hand: K♠ K♦ 9♠ 5♦ 3♣
2-card low hand: A♣ Q♥
Your kings are the strongest made hand in the deal. Keep the pair in your high hand, then use Ace-Queen for the low hand. Splitting the kings would leave you without that pair in either hand.
3. Two Lower Pairs, Kept Together
Cards dealt: 8♠ 8♦ 5♣ 5♥ A♠ Q♦ 3♣
5-card high hand: 8♠ 8♦ 5♣ 5♥ 3♣
2-card low hand: A♠ Q♦
Here, keeping both pairs gives you a two-pair high hand. You still have Ace-Queen for the low hand, so there’s a reasonable argument for leaving both pairs together. The high hand easily outranks the low hand.
4. Two Pairs, Split Between the Hands
Cards dealt: Q♠ Q♦ 7♣ 7♥ K♠ 4♦ 2♣
5-card high hand: Q♠ Q♦ K♠ 4♦ 2♣
2-card low hand: 7♣ 7♥
This deal gives you a different option. Move the sevens into the low hand and keep the queens in the high hand. You now have a pair in each, with the queens correctly ranking above the sevens. It’s a good illustration of why keeping every pair together isn’t always necessary.
5. Three of a Kind
Cards dealt: J♠ J♦ J♣ A♥ K♠ 6♦ 2♣
5-card high hand: J♠ J♦ J♣ 6♦ 2♣
2-card low hand: A♥ K♠
Keep the three jacks in the high hand and use Ace-King for the low hand. Ace-King is the strongest possible 2-card hand without a pair, and you preserve your three of a kind.
6. Full House
Cards dealt: 10♠ 10♦ 10♣ 6♥ 6♠ A♦ 3♣
5-card high hand: 10♠ 10♦ 10♣ A♦ 3♣
2-card low hand: 6♥ 6♠
A full house looks tempting to keep intact. But here you can leave three tens in the high hand and move the pair of sixes into the low hand. Both hands now have made combinations, and the three of a kind outranks the pair.
Straights and flushes can create similar choices. Sometimes keeping the completed 5-card hand is sensible. Other times, splitting it leaves you with two stronger hands overall. The cards outside the straight or flush often decide which option is worth considering.
How Are Pai Gow Poker Wins, Pushes, and Ties Paid?
Your two hands face the dealer separately. Once you know which comparisons you’ve won, settling the wager is straightforward.
| Your result | What happens |
| Win both comparisons | You win at even money, minus the 5% commission |
| Win one and lose one | It’s a push; your original bet comes back |
| Lose both | You lose your wager |
| Tie one hand and win the other | The dealer takes the tie, so the round is a push |
| Tie one hand and lose the other | The dealer takes the tie, so the wager loses |
| Tie both hands | The dealer wins both comparisons; the wager loses |
For a winning $100 wager, the profit is $100 before commission. The 5% commission leaves $95 in profit, and your original $100 stake is returned. Your total return is $195.
Imagine you have a pair of queens in your high hand and King-Nine in your low hand. If the dealer has a pair of jacks and Queen-Ten, you win both hands. But if the dealer’s low hand is Ace-Two, you win with your queens and lose with King-Nine, making the round a push. That shows why the low hand matters even when your high hand is strong.
The commission is one part of the casino’s house edge. The 5% charge on winnings is a payout rule, rather than the game’s overall house-edge percentage.
How Online Pai Gow Poker Works
An online table deals the cards and displays the two positions for your hands. You select the 2 cards for the low hand; the remaining 5 make up the high hand. Once you confirm the split, the dealer’s hands are revealed and the results are compared.
That’s the same basic decision you’d make at a physical table, with the card handling done on screen. If you’re exploring other online table games, Pai Gow stands out because each deal asks you to divide one set of cards into two competing hands.
Putting Your Pai Gow Poker Hands Together
The key habit is to think about both hands before you commit your cards. First find your strongest combinations, then consider what the low hand would look like. You need a legal split, and you want each hand to have a reasonable chance against the dealer.
Once the two-hand idea clicks, the game becomes much easier to follow. You can try the deal-and-split format at the online table.
More About Pai Gow Poker
What is the House Way?
The House Way is the casino’s prescribed method for dividing its seven cards. Different Pai Gow versions can use different setting rules. The worked examples above illustrate legal, beginner-friendly splits rather than copying a particular House Way.
Is Face Up Pai Gow Poker the same game?
Face Up Pai Gow uses the same general idea of making a 5-card and a 2-card hand, but its dealer-hand visibility, commission, and settlement details may differ from traditional commission Pai Gow Poker.