Why do you need to learn Pai Gow Poker smarts and strategy?
It would surely offer a player the chance to improve their game and gain an advantage. If you have not gone through the Pai Gow Poker Tutorial, please feel free to do it. It contains information that is relevant to this topic.
The house’s edge:
Pai Gow Poker has never been analyzed in such a manner that players will receive a better chance of winning. The only book that explains the game is Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker by Stanford Wong. Today we will produce our own detailed analysis of this wonderful game.
According to some rough estimates, the average non-banking player will be against a house edge of 2.84%. The game would be a 50-50 chance and in this manner, there would be no edge if it was not for two factors. The commission on winning bets which has a rough estimate of 1.57% over all hand. Thenthere is the banker that wins all copied hands which has a rough estimate of 1.27%.
A skilled player who use the proper hand setting strategies can cut the house edge down by approximately 0.3 down to about 2.54%. That means that for ever $1000 played, the player will save $3.
The game does require a bit of skill and thought. That is why the house edge is quite large. In comparison to some of the favorites such as roulette and Let it rid, it is more favorable to be a baning-player.
Be the banker:
If a player wishes to be the banker, they should cover all the bets of the players during that round of play. The banking option is generally offered to all players at the table before a round. The main reason players want to bank, is the win on all copied hands. You take a 1.27% advantage for yourself. The 5% commission on your wins is still required. Even if you use your skills against unskilled players, you’ll be about even with the house. The casino, however would not allow you to take a consistent advantage. Most of the casinos would allow you to bank for only one or two hands before giving the role of banker to the dealer or another player.
Some banking notes:
- A player must have wagered in the previous round against another banker.
- The dealer combines the banker’s wins and losses before the commission is calculated.
- A player cannot foul his hand if he bank. If his cards are not set right, they will be reset.
- Some casinos will allow players to co-bank. In this event, the player and the dealer will share. The player must cover half of all the wagers. The dealer’s hand is discarded and the player’s hand is the official bank hand.
