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Bonus Pai Gow Poker Strategy |
Online Bonus Pai Gow Poker is the modern card game based on the ancient Chinese domino game, pai gow. Like most skill-based card games, Bonus Pai Gow Poker has a recommended strategy that works. Luck will always be a factor, but learning and following a good Bonus Pai Gow Poker strategy will certainly increase your odds of winning at Bonus Pai Gow Poker.
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Before we even begin to discuss strategy, it is important to understand the Bonus Pai Gow Poker rules. Bonus Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-card deck — 52 cards and a joker. The joker is a semi-wild card: it can be used as any card to complete a straight or a flush, otherwise it counts as an ace. Each player gets seven cards and has to arrange them into two sub-hands — a five-card hand (the "High Hand") and a two-card hand (the "Low Hand"). The High Hand must have a higher value than the Low Hand.
When you play Bonus Pai Gow Poker, the goal is to beat the dealer's High and Low Hands. If both of your hands beat both of the dealer's hands, you win the Pai Gow Poker game. Winning a hand is determined by the standard ranking of winning poker hands: a straight beats three of a kind, three of a kind beats two pairs, etc. If one of your hands beats one of the dealer's and the other loses, it's considered a push and no one wins. If one of your hands ties with the dealer's, it's called a "copy" and the dealer wins the hand.
Now to strategy. The most important element in Bonus Pai Gow Poker strategy is deciding how to divide your seven cards into two hands. The goal is to neglect neither your two-card nor your five-card hand, making both as strong as possible. Sometimes trade-offs are inevitable, but it is possible to make them strategically so you still give yourself the best chance to win at Bonus Pai Gow Poker.
Following are the recommended Bonus Pai Gow Poker strategies for the common situations you are likely to face in your online Pai Gow Poker game.
When your seven Pai Gow Poker cards give you nothing at all — not even a pair — you should keep your highest card in your High Hand and put your second- and third-highest cards in your Low Hand.
If you have one pair, keep the pair in your High Hand and put the two highest remaining cards in your Low Hand.
If you have two pairs, you should put the higher pair in your High Hand and the lower pair in your Low Hand. If you are dealt three pairs, put the pair with the highest value in your Low Hand and keep the two lower pairs in your High Hand. If you have a full house, the pair goes in your Low Hand and the three-of-a-kind goes in your High Hand. |
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With three of a kind, put all three like cards in your High Hand. The Low Hand should consist of the two highest remaining cards.
If you have high four of a kind (7s or better), you should break it up into a pair for your High Hand and a pair for your Low Hand. With a low four of a kind (6s or less), keep all four cards in your High Hand and put the two highest remaining cards in your Low Hand.
In the case of a 5-card straight or flush, keep the entire straight or flush in your High Hand. If you have a 6- or 7-card straight or flush, use the five lowest straight or flush cards in your High Hand.
If you have a straight or flush and also have a pair, put the pair in your Low Hand only if you can still maintain a straight or flush in your High Hand.
If you have a straight or flush and also have three of a kind, put a pair in your Low Hand and keep the straight or flush in your High Hand.
If you have a straight or flush and also have two pairs, forget about the straight or flush and follow the two-pair strategy described above.
They don't call it Bonus Pai Gow Poker for nothing. Playing the bonus bet should be a regular part of your Bonus Pai Gow Poker strategy. The bonus bet gives you the big payouts — up to an 8,000-to-1 jackpot — that compensate for the losing hands that will inevitably come your way. Your bonus payouts are what will enable you to come out ahead over an extended period of playing Bonus Pai Gow Poker online.
All online poker games, including Bonus Pai Gow Poker, should be played with other strategies as well. Money management may not sound like a strategy but it is, and a very important strategy at that. The best strategy is to decide beforehand how much real money you're willing to lose and how much you want to win — and to have the discipline to stop when you reach either of those two goals.
It always helps to really understand the game you're playing and Bonus Pai Gow Poker is no exception. If, after studying Bonus Pai Gow Poker the rules, strategies, and tips, you still don't feel confident, you should take advantage of the biggest benefit online poker casinos offer — the free game. Playing Bonus Pai Gow Poker for free is a method you might not think of as a strategy, but if it helps you on the road to eventually winning real money at Bonus Pai Gow Poker, then it should be a part of your overall plan.
For more Bonus Pai Gow Poker information, please visit:
Online Bonus Pai Gow Poker
Bonus Pai Gow Poker Rules and Terms
Tips to Win Bonus Pai Gow Poker
History of Bonus Pai Gow Poker
Online vs. Land-Based Bonus Pai Gow Poker
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