Talk:Pai gow poker

Opening comment

I knew that A-2-3-4-5 ranks second to A-K-Q-J-10 among straights. There are numerous referencs to this on- and off-line (e.g. Stanford Wong's book on the subject).

What is not clear is whether the same applies to straight flushes - I've never seen it explicitly mentioned one way or the other, which suggests not - however, does anybody know? GavinTillman 13:37, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

• See the rules of Poker. A royal flush always beats any other hand (excepting 5 of a kind with wilds). 71.12.178.74 22:00, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

• I think Gavin is asking if an A-5 straight flush ranks as the second highest straight flush behind the royal flush. To that answer, I believe it is a yes, it is the second highest straight in those casinos that consider a regular A-5 straight the second highest straight.

I wonder what would happen if player gets A-K-Q-9-JK of hearts versus banker's A-K-Q-J-9 of spades. Would the joker JK in the player's hand be considered another ace, A, of hearts for a double ace flush, or would the joker JK be the next possible heart, which would be a jack, J, of hearts whereby player would lose to a copy flush hand with the dealer?

I am a Casino dealer with 7 years exp with this game and you are correct, A-5 straight flush is the second highest straight flush possible. BE AWARE that not all casinos consider A-5 2nd highest. Of all the casinos I've worked, only one (1) had this as a rule.

QUESTION

What does Pai Gow mean? I've heard that it means, "make 9," but that doesn't make sense to me because there is nothing special about the number "9" in Pai Gow. If you know the answer, please post your reference material as I like to KNOW I'm correct about the information I give out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.19.124.221 (talk) 08:02, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Advantage play

I'm a bit concerned about this section. I realize it's referenced, and far be it from me to doubt someone of Wong's caliber, but some of this seems a bit off. As far as banking as often as possible, absolutely, this one's true in theory. In practice, it's not quite as simple; banking every other hand is going to be looked upon as a serious breach of etiquette (unless, of course, you're the only player at the table). As far as taking advantage of player-errors while banking, I don't see how this is possible. Players set their hands face down, so it's not as though a player acting as the bank could alter how he or she sets their own hand based on what another player did. Certainly players can make poor choices, and yes, this will be to the bank's advantage, but there's not really a "strategy" involved. As for taking advantage of bank errors, when the house is the banker, the hand must always be set according to house ways. Strategy in PGP is minimal; with A, Q, 10, 9, x, x, x, x, for example, setting Q, 9 (rather than Q, 10) as the second-highest hand gives the player a very small increase percentage-wise, but it's certainly nowhere close to enough to overcome the house edge. Joefromrandb (talk) 02:28, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

Yes, advantage plays like this are only under certain circumstances, as stated. For example, banking every other hand was allowed in one casino I played at in LV. Probably nowhere in Vegas now. But still possible in CA. It’s not a breach of etiquette. Most players don’t want to bank. So, in some casinos, if no one else wants to bank, you get to bank every other hand. On player errors when you are banking, this is not about you watching their play. It’s simply about playing correctly while they don’t, which changes the edge. It’s like banking BJ against idiot players. Not usually enough to overcome the edge, but gravy on top of the banker edge. On dealer errors – dealer errors are far more common than realized. But, I don’t want to mislead anyone. We can add a qualifier. O3000 (talk) 02:39, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

I don't see how banking whenever it is your option could be considered a breach of etiquette. That's like saying betting whenever it is your turn in poker is a breach of etiquette. Banking in pai gow games is one of the most clear advantages their is in gambling games. Of course the house charges might not make banking profitable, but we are merely talking about "advantage" gambling, and banking is an advantage over not banking. 2005 (talk) 23:16, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

The sole advantage to banking is that the bank wins copy-hands. Maybe "breach of ettiquete" wasn't the best term to use, but I've definitely had people get pissed off at me for continuously banking at every opportunity. Most of the PGP I've played has been at Atlantic City casinos, in the Asian-game pits, so perhaps it's an isolated custom. Then again, I've had people get quite angry at me for betting "don't pass" in craps, and I never let that bother me... Joefromrandb (talk) 22:28, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

"There are other people in the casino?" Non-APs get mad at people that mess with their superstitions. Part of the game. O3000 (talk) 01:28, 5 February 2018 (UTC)