Pai Gow Poker is one of the lesser known card games available online today (especially when compared to how popular Blackjack and Baccarat both are), but most people who play this game become instantly hooked. You can play on this card game either in the real money mode or in the free play demo mode and the main object of Pai Gow Poker is to try and create two winning poker hands from the seven cards that you will initially be dealt, while trying to beat the dealer’s two individual hands at the same time.
Online Pai Gow Poker is gradually becoming more available and it can now be found at several top-rated online casinos that accept real cash wagers from players in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. There is usually only one version of this game available at most online casinos and it has been specifically designed for desktop and laptop computers. However, you can also now find this game at a growing number of mobile casinos.
You normally have the option of being able to launch Pai Gow Poker either instantly in your web browser or from within a casino download client and its wide betting range caters to all budgets. Let’s now take a look at the basic rules to Pai Gow Poker. The main goal once you have been dealt a hand containing seven cards is to divide them into a 5-card hand (known as the highest) and a 2-card hand (known as the second highest). The 5-card hand must always be a stronger winning poker hand than the 2-card hand. The winning 5-card hands are the same as in normal poker, apart from a hand containing an Ace, 2, 3, 4 and 5, which is actually ranked as the second highest straight in this game. The 2-card hand can therefore include either a pair of cards or two individual cards.
You can divide the hand manually to try and get the best two hands or you can generally let the system split the hand for you using the House Way Feature. After the hands have all been arranged, they will both be compared and the winner will instantly be determined. This game is also one of very few online card games to use the joker as well as the usual 52 cards, but the joker can only be used to complete a straight, a flush, or a straight flash. Apart from that, the joker is counted as an Ace.
To most players out there, this game will seem a little bit confusing to being with but once you have grasped the rules (which shouldn’t take too long), it can be an extremely exciting game which involves lots of strategy. Before you start playing on this game for real money, we suggest practicing in the free play demo mode to begin with and then once you have familiarised yourself with the rules you could then advance to the real money mode.