Pai Gow Poker Strategies

Assuming an optimum play strategy, the largest play advantage is to the dealer/banker because copies go to them. In fact, noted Pai Gow expert Stanford Wong has been quoted as saying that being dealer/banker as often as possible has the most significant impact on a winning strategy. The appeal of multi-player games is clear.

For the sake of our discussion, lets call any pair of 2's through 6's a "low pair", 7's through J's a "medium pair", and Q's through A's a "high pair". To avoid confusion we'll call the two-card hand the "front" hand and the five-card the "back" hand.

No Pair:

Back hand: the highest card; Front hand: the next two highest cards.

One pair:

Back: the pair; Front: next two highest cards.

Two pair:

Pair of A's and any other Pair: Back: high pair; Front: other pair.
Two High Pair: Back: best pair; Front: other pair.
High Pair and Medium Pair: Back: high pair; Front: medium pair.
High Pair and Low Pair with A or K: Back: both pair; Front: A or K.
High Pair and Low pair without A or K: Back: highest pair; Front: low pair.
Two Medium Pair with A or K: Back: both pair; Front: A or K.
Two Medium Pair without A or K: Back: best pair; Front: other pair.
Medium Pair and Low Pair with A or K: Back: both pair; Front: A or K.
Medium Pair and Low Pair without A or K: Back: medium pair; Front: low pair.
Two Low Pair with A or K: Back: both pair; Front: A or K.
Two Low Pair without A or K: Back: best pair; Front other pair.

Three pair:

Back: second and third highest pair; Front: highest pair.

Three of a Kind:

Three A's: Back: pair of A's; Front: A and next highest card.
All others: Back: three of a kind; Front: two highest remaining cards.

Three of a Kind twice:

Back: lower three of a kind; Front: highest pair.

Full House:

With second Three of a kind: play the highest pair to Front hand.
With second Pair: Back: full house with low pair; Front: highest pair.
Pair is 2's with A or K: Back: full house; Front: A or K.
All others: Back: three of a kind; Front: the pair.

Straights, Flushes, Straight Flushes and Royal Flush:

With no pair: Back: lowest full hand; Front: two highest cards.
With one or two Pair: Back: lowest full hand; Front: two highest cards, pair or otherwise.
With Three of a Kind: Back: full hand; Front: pair.
With Full House: Back: three of a kind; Front: pair.
With Three of a Kind twice: Back: lower three; Front: highest two.

Four of a Kind:

With Three of a Kind: Back: four of a kind; Front: pair from the tree of a kind.
With a Pair: Back: four of a kind; Front: pair.
Four A's: Back: pair of A's; Front: pair of A's.
J's through K's with an A: Back: four of a kind; Front: the A.
J's through K's without an A: Back: one pair from the four; Front: the other pair.
7's through 10's with A or K: Back: four of a kind; Front: A or K.
7's through 10's without A or K: Back: one pair from the four; front: the other pair.
2's through 6's: Back: four of a kind; front: highest remaining two.