Bonus Pai Gow Poker Rules and Terms

What is Bonus Pai Gow Poker?

Bonus Pai Gow Poker is an online poker game that is played between you and the dealer. The goal of the game is to create two separate poker hands from the seven cards you are dealt and to beat the dealer's two hands. In addition, you can make a bonus bet, which is determined by looking at all seven of your cards as one undivided poker hand.

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Bonus Pai Gow Poker Rules: High Hand and Low Hand

The Bonus Pai Gow Poker deck consists of 53 cards, including a joker. The joker is a limited wild card, meaning that it acts as a wild card only to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush, or a royal flush. Otherwise, the joker is considered as an ace.

At the outset of the Bonus Pai Gow Poker game, you must place a bet by selecting a chip size and clicking on the betting circle on the virtual poker table. Each left click adds a chip; each right click takes away a chip. After you place your bet, click the Deal button. You and the dealer are each dealt seven cards. Your cards are face up, and the dealer's cards are face down. You must divide your seven cards into two poker hands: a High Hand (sometimes referred to as Highest) consisting of five cards, and a Low Hand (sometimes referred to as 2nd Highest) consisting of two cards. The value of your High Hand must be higher than the value of your Low Hand. You may not, for example, have a pair of 4s for your High Hand and a pair of 6s in your Low Hand.

If you are playing Bonus Pai Gow Poker online, you divide your hand by clicking on the two cards that you want in your Low Hand. Alternatively, if you prefer, you may click on the House Way button and the computer will divide your cards for you pursuant to what it considers optimal Pai Gow Poker strategy.

How to Win at Pai Gow Poker: Comparing the Hands

After you have divided your cards into two poker hands, clck the Play button. The dealer now turns over his cards, also split into a 5-card High Hand and a 2-card Low Hand.

The outcome of the Pai Gow Poker game is determined by comparing your High Hand to the dealer's High Hand, and your Low Hand to the dealer's Low Hand. Pai Gow Poker hands are valued according to the standard ranking of poker hands. A royal flush, of course, is the best poker hand you can get. A straight completed by a ten, jack, queen, king and ace is the highest-ranking straight. An ace, two, three, four, and five is the second-highest ranking straight. All other straights are ranked according to their high card.

If your High Hand beats the dealer's High Hand, and your Low Hand beats the dealer's Low Hand, you win the Pai Gow Poker game and a payout equal to the amount of your bet minus a 5 percent commission. If the dealer's two Pai Gow Poker hands beat both of your corresponding hands, you lose the game and you lose your bet. If one of your hands beats the dealer's corresponding hand, and your other hand loses to the dealer's corresponding hand, the game is a push, which means that you get your bet back with nothing lost and nothing gained.

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If your High Hand is the same as the dealer's High Hand, or your Low Hand is the same as the dealer's Low Hand, it is called a Copy and the dealer wins that particular hand. (It seems a little unfair that a tie should count as a win for the dealer, but that is the Pai Gow Poker rule. Fortunately, it rarely happens.)

The Bonus Bet: It Puts the "Bonus" in "Bonus Pai Gow Poker"

The Bonus Bet in Bonus Pai Gow Poker is optional. The Bonus Bet is made at the beginning of the game, when the main bet is placed. To place a bonus bet, left-click the Bonus Bet circle. Each click adds one chip to your Bonus Bet. Your Bonus Bet may be higher, lower, or the same as your regular Pai Gow Poker Bet.

There are two important rules to understand about the Bonus Bet. The first is that your cards are not divided into two hands for the Bonus Bet. The Bonus Bet looks at all seven of your cards as one poker hand.

The second important rule is that the Bonus Bet is not played against the dealer. If you have a winning poker hand — defined as three of a kind, a straight, or better — you win the Bonus Bet. It's that simple. The dealer's cards, whether higher or lower than yours, are completely irrelevant.

If you win the Bonus Bet with a winning poker hand, you are paid pursuant to the Bonus Payout table. The Bonus Payout table provides for the following payouts:

Straight (five cards in sequence) pays 2 to 1.

Three of a kind (three cards of the same denomination) pays 3 to 1. (It is interesting to note that three of a kind pays out more than a straight; this is in variance from the standard ranking of poker hands.)

Flush (five cards of the same suit) pays 4 to 1

Full House (three cards of one denomination and two cards of another denomination) pays 5 to 1.

Four of a kind (four cards of the same denomination) pays 25 to 1.

Straight flush (five cards of the same suit and in sequence) pays 50 to 1

Royal flush pays (10, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit) 150 to 1.

Five aces (four aces plus a joker) pays 400 to 1.

Seven-card straight flush with joker pays 1,000 to 1.

Royal flush plus pair of deuces pays 2,000 to 1.

Seven-card straight flush pays 8,000 to 1.

The amount of your payout on a winning Bonus Bet is determined by multiplying the amount of your Bonus Bet by the payout odds. For example, if you placed a Bonus Bet of $10, and you got four of a kind (25 to 1), you win $250 ($10 x 25) and your bonus bet is returned to you. No commission is taken from Bonus Bet winnings.

Enjoy Playing Bonus Pai Gow Poker

Bonus Pai Gow Poker is an unusual and fun poker game. Even many experienced poker players are surprised by how much they enjoy playing this unique poker variation. If you like putting your brain to the test, you will enjoy the challenge of figuring out the best way to divide your hand. If you want to take it easy, you can play the House Way and have a good chance of winning Pai Gow Poker. And the Bonus Bet gives you a chance to hit a real jackpot if you get the right cards. So give online Bonus Pai Gow Poker a try, and have fun!

For more Bonus Pai Gow Poker information, please visit:

Online Bonus Pai Gow Poker
Tips to Win Bonus Pai Gow Poker
Bonus Pai Gow Poker Strategy
History of Bonus Pai Gow Poker
Online vs. Land-Based Bonus Pai Gow Poker

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