Face Up Pai Gow trainer
No commission. Copies go to the dealer
Foul: your high hand must beat your low hand.
Deal a hand to see how every way of setting it does against the dealer.
Paytables
Main bet no commission
| Win both hands | 1 to 1 |
|---|---|
| Win one, lose one | push |
| Dealer ace-high pai gow | push |
| Lose both, or copies | lose |
House edge with the best set every hand: 1.86% per bet, from a simulation.
Push Ace High side bet
Independently calculated odds. The coach's results are exact: the dealer's hand is face up, so every way of setting yours has a known result. The house edges are estimates from a simulation, because the full game is too big to count. They depend on the house way; ours is printed below. How our odds are calculated
Read the dealer, then set your hand
In Face Up Pai Gow the dealer's seven cards are dealt face up and set before you touch yours. You can see exactly what you have to beat, so the best way to set your hand is never a guess.
How to beat a face-up dealer
You win only by beating both of the dealer's hands. One each is a push. The coach checks every legal way to set your seven cards against the dealer's set hand, so its answer is exact.
No luck after the deal. Every card is face up when you set, so the result of each set is known. The only way to give money away is to set a hand worse than you could have. That makes this the cleanest game to grade: in Bash Mode, a hand is right only when no set did better.
Copies go to the dealer. If your hand ties the dealer's, card for card, the dealer wins that hand. Beat it, don't match it.
The house way is a fallback, not the best play. Setting your own hand the house way ignores the dealer's cards. Against a face-up dealer it gives up about 4.3% per bet.
Decision drill
See the dealer's set hand and your seven cards, then pick the low hand that does best. Get ten in a row and you are ready.
How a hand plays
- Make your betPush Ace High is an optional side bet.
- Seven cards each, from a 53-card deckThe deck has one joker. It plays as an ace, or completes a straight, flush or straight flush.
- The dealer's hand goes face upThe dealer sets it the house way: a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand.
- Set your handFive cards high, two low. The high hand must beat the low hand.
- SettleWin both hands: paid 1 to 1, no commission. One each: push. Lose both, or copy: you lose. If the dealer has ace-high pai gow (no pair, straight or flush, ace high), every main bet pushes.
Hand ranks. The high hand ranks like poker, with two pai gow twists: five aces (four aces and the joker) is the top hand, and A-2-3-4-5 is the second-highest straight, just below A-K-Q-J-10. The low hand is a pair or two high cards.
Our house way
Every casino gives its dealers a written house way. This is ours, built from common rules. Your casino's will differ in places; ask for the sheet. The joker counts as an ace for pairs unless it makes a straight or flush.
| Hand | How the dealer sets it |
|---|
Push Ace High
A side bet on the hand that pushes everyone: the dealer's ace-high pai gow.
| Table | Both ace-high | Dealer's, with joker | Dealer's, no joker | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-15-40 (this table) | 40 to 1 | 15 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 4.7% (est.) |
| 5-12-40 | 40 to 1 | 12 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 7.3% (est.) |
Exact where it can be. The dealer has ace-high pai gow 9.36% of the time: 8.40% without the joker and 0.96% with it, counted exactly. How often you both have it comes from the simulation.
Read the felt. Casinos word this bet differently. These edges assume each hand pays only its best line and the payouts are "to 1". Some tables add a progressive; we don't model it.
At the table
- Use the marked spotsReal tables mark a spot for each hand. The two-card low hand usually goes in front of the five-card high hand.
- You can ask for the house wayIf you're unsure, the dealer will set your hand the house way. Here, the House way button does the same, but it ignores the dealer's cards.
- Expect lots of pushesAbout half of all hands push. Pai gow is a slow, low-swing game.
- No commissionFace Up Pai Gow pays wins at 1 to 1; regular pai gow takes 5%.
- Check the table versionRules and the house way vary by casino; the rules card on the table is what counts.
Mistakes that cost real money
- Setting without looking at the dealerThe whole point of Face Up is that you can see what to beat.
- FoulingA high hand that doesn't beat the low hand loses at a real table.
- Chasing the win when a push is all there isLock in the hand you can win.