Is playing traditional poker too easy for you? Perhaps a game of online pai gow poker can make you rethink about that notion. Played pretty much like traditional poker, online pai gow poker is a much more complicated version of the traditional poker, in a sense that you have to handle two hands in one round. These two hands are the high hand and low hand. As their name implies, the high hand must be composed of a higher combination value than the low hand.

Just like the online video poker, the combinations for online pai gow poker are basically the same, except for a slight twist. Winning combinations include the 5 aces (the fifth one being the joker), royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, ace, king, queen, and jack. As always, the royal flush has the highest value, while the single cards have the lowest values and can be used for the low hand. You might also want to know that the ace-2-3-4-5 straight combination in online pai gow poker is the second highest straight value, following the ace-king-queen-jack-10 combination. This is in sharp contrast to the traditional poker, since this ace-2-3-4-5 combination is considered to be the lowest straight combination in that game.

Bets are made first before starting an online pai gow poker game. The dealer then gives out 7 cards to each player, and these should be arranged into a high hand consisting of 5 cards and a low hand with 2 cards. The object of the game is to have higher values for both high hand and low hand combinations than those of the dealer’s hands. If, however, your values are tied with those of the dealer’s, it would not result to a push. Rather, the dealer wins. Sure, it sounds unfair and all, but that’s a rule in pai gow poker, and as players, we have to abide by them. A push happens when only one of the player’s hands beats the dealer.

In an online game of pai gow poker, you can choose whether to arrange your cards yourself or let the computer arrange them for you automatically. If you want to choose the latter, all you need to do is press the ‘house way’ button, and your cards will be arranged automatically. However, it is more advisable to arrange your hands yourself, since the computer will not always give you the highest possible combination. If it does, then there’s really no sense in playing the game. Basic knowledge about playing poker can get you through a round in pai gow poker, so be sure to master the possible combinations that you can use.

If you’re interested in playing a game of online pai gow poker, you may do so in various online casinos, like Europa Casino, Bellini Casino, Vegas Red Casino, and Kiwi Casino. When you come to think of it, playing online pai gow is not that difficult after all. With the proper combination of skills and luck, surely you’ll have no difficulty acing the game.

Latest Gambling News

• Rethinking poker as a game of chance 27 October 2008
• Lasseters lost grip 27 October 2008