Pai Gow Poker, which is also sometimes referred to as double handed poker. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck plus a single joker. The game can accommodate as many as six players. It is the goal of every player to either defeat the banker (who may be the casino dealer or one of the other players at the table). The object of Pai Gow Poker is for a player to create two poker hands out of the seven-card hand he/she is dealt by the dealer: a five-card hand, and a two card poker hand. Keep in mind that this game still follows the poker hand ranking structure. Now according to the rules, the five-card hand’s value must exceed the two-card hand’s, and that’s why the two card hand is after called the hand “in front” or “on top”, the “small” or “minor” or “low” kind. The –card hand is the hand “behind”, or the “bottom” or “high” or “big” as they are placed that way in front of the player when the players are done setting them.
When the game starts the cards are shuffled and then dealt to the table in seven face-down piles of seven cards per pile. Four cards are unused regardless of the number of people playing. The betting positions are assigned a number from 1 to 7, starting with which ever player is acting as banker that hand, and counting-clockwise around the table. A number from 1 to 7 is randomly chosen either electronically or with dice then the deal begins with the corresponding position and proceeds counter clockwise. One common way of using dice to determine the dealer starting number is to roll three six sided dice, and then count betting spots clockwise from the first position until the number on the dice is reached. If a player is not sitting on a particular spot the hand is still assigned but then placed on the discard pile with the four unused cards. This game may seem complicated but if you have a full understanding of poker hand rankings you shouldn’t have a problem. Good Luck!!
