It’s always important to know the odds and house advantage of any game you play in the casino, so this is why knowing the odds for pai gow poker is important should you decide you want to dip your toe into the pai gow poker waters.
You’ll want to know the player’s odds of winning a hand in pai gow poker, the odds of the dealer winning both hands and also the chance of the hand being tied.
Tied Hand: 41%
Player Wins Both Hands: 29%
Dealer Wins Both Hands: 30%
All you need to know is the chances of being dealt specific hands in each hand. Since each hand is seven cards, there is a greater chance of being dealt one pair than there is to be dealt nothing but a high card. In fact, there’s actually more chance of being dealt two pair than there is being dealt nothing! So, what are the odds? Let’s have a look.
The chances of being dealt a specific hand in pai gow poker:
High Card: 16.1%
One Pair: 41.7%
Two Pair: 23.1%
Straight: 7.3%
Three-of-a-Kind: 4.8%
Flush: 4%
Full House: 2.7%
Four-of-a-Kind: 0.2%
Straight Flush/ Royal Flush: 0.137%
If you want to convert these into odds, it’s easy enough and the guide below is a rough approximation using traditional fractional odds.
High Card: 5/1
One Pair: 7/5
Two Pair: 7/2
Straight: 13/1
Three-of-a-Kind: 20/1
Flush: 24/1
Full House: 35/1
Four-of-a-Kind: 500/1
Straight Flush/ Royal Flush: 730/1
So, as you can see, there’s a very good chance you’ll be dealt a playable hand when playing pai gow poker. The fact that to get four-of-a-kind in Texas Hold ‘Em is over 4,000/1 just sums up the better chance of getting a big hand in pai gow poker.
And what about the house edge in pai gow poker? Well, it’s actually one of the fairest games out there, as the house odds pai gow poker is around 1.5%, which is just a bit more than blackjack, which is impressive, since most people see blackjack as one of the few games you can beat. Remember, if you play pai gow with an advanced strategy, there’s no reason why you can’t reduce the house edge just a little bit more. Of course, you will never be able to beat the house edge playing pai gow poker, as the house always takes a commission of your wins, but as long as you split your hands properly, you’ll make sure it stays one of the lowest house edges in the casino.
So, with the odds more in your favor than a lot of other casino games out there and the chances of being dealt some action hands greater than a lot of casino games, you should really be trying out pai gow poker before you play those other casino games with highest house edges.
If you want put the theory into practice, you can play pai gow poker over at Lucky Red Casino or, if you’re outside the United States and want to try out pai gow poker with a progressive jackpot, head on over to Tower Gaming Casino and try out their browser-based pai gow poker game.
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