Pai Gow Poker is a card game
played with a 53-card deck consisting of a standard deck of 52 cards plus
one Joker. In this version of Pai Gow Poker, the banker (or house) always
plays as the dealer and covers all bets, and the player only competes against
the dealer. The player receives seven cards, which must then be “set” or
split into two poker hands: a five-card hand and a two-card hand. Once split,
the player’s two hands are compared with the dealer’s two hands to determine
the winner.
The bank pays the winner—minus a 5% commission—and the game ends. The commission
is 5% of the bet and is rounded up to the next quarter. For example, a minimum
bet of $6 would be a commission of 50 cents. (5% of $6 = 30 cents, but since
the commission is rounded up to the next 25 cents; the commission is actually
50 cents. 5% of $11 = 55 cents, which makes the actual commission 75 cents.)
