Pai Gow Poker Odds

Pai Gow poker, one of the most popular Asian games, is a fairly easy game to learn and does not require a tremendous amount of strategic knowledge. That being said, to be successful, you should know the odds surrounding the game.

That being said, to be successful, you should know the Pai Gow odds surrounding the game.

Pai Gow Poker Odds of Winning

A little more than 40 percent of the time, one of the player's hands will beat the dealer/banker and the other will lose to the dealer/banker and there will be a push, with no one winning. The other 60 percent of the time is split fairly evenly.

However the dealer/banker has about a 1.5 percent edge over the player because the dealer/banker wins copies, meaning if two hands are the same (e.g. both players have AA in the front), the dealer/banker wins that hand. Since in , a player is allowed to take the role of banker, the house makes its money by taking a five percent commission from all winning bets.

Pai Gow Poker Odds When Playing as Banker

If someone only plays Pai Gow poker as a player, the five percent built in commission creates a house edge of about 2.6 percent. However, the player has the option once a round of being banker and booking all opponent bets.

This is a highly favorable position, both because the banker wins copies and he only has to pay his commission after all wins and losses are tabulated. This confers an edge on the player/banker of about .2 percent. This edge balances the edge against the player during hands when he is not the banker to create an overall house edge of a mere 1.2 percent.