< Back to Game FACE UP PAI GOW – RULES

Face Up Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-card deck (52 cards plus one joker). You and the dealer each receive 7 cards, and all dealer cards are dealt face up.

Start
Make a Play bet (main wager). Optional side bets are Fortune and Ace-High.

Set Hands
Each 7-card hand is set into a 5-card high hand and a 2-card low hand. The high hand must be higher than the low hand. Invalid splits are not allowed. Click on a card to move it to the high or low hand.

Dealer House Way
The dealer does not set cards to beat your hand. The dealer always follows a fixed "house way" chart.

No Pair:
1) Put the 2nd and 3rd highest cards in the 2-card hand.
2) Keep the highest card in the 5-card hand (with the remaining cards).

One Pair:
1) Keep the pair in the 5-card hand.
2) Put the two highest remaining single cards in the 2-card hand.

Two Pair:
1) Pair groups: Low = 2-6, Medium = 7-10, High = J-A.
2) If split, higher pair stays in the 5-card hand and lower pair goes in the 2-card hand.
3) Low+Low or Low+Medium: keep both pairs in the 5-card hand only if side cards include Ace, King, or Joker; otherwise split.
4) Low+High: keep both pairs in the 5-card hand only if side cards include Ace or Joker; otherwise split.
5) Medium+Medium: keep both pairs in the 5-card hand only if side cards include Ace or Joker; otherwise split.
6) Medium+High and High+High: split.

Three Pair:
1) Put the highest pair in the 2-card hand.
2) Keep the other two pairs in the 5-card hand.

Three of a Kind:
1) Usually keep trips in the 5-card hand.
2) If trips are Aces (AAA), split to put one Ace in the 2-card hand and two Aces in the 5-card hand.

Full House shape (Trips + Pair):
1) Split it: pair in the 2-card hand, trips in the 5-card hand.
2) If there are two trips, the 2-card hand gets the higher trip as a pair.

Straight / Flush family:
1) With no pair, keep the best straight/flush-family hand in the 5-card hand.
2) With pairs/trips, the game may keep or break the made hand based on the same fixed chart, choosing the strongest legal 2-card hand first, then strongest 5-card hand.

Four of a Kind:
1) If the 3 side cards contain a pair (or trips), play that side pair in the 2-card hand and keep quads in the 5-card hand.
2) Otherwise:
3) Quads 2-6: do not split.
4) Quads 7-10: split, unless side cards include Ace or Joker (then keep quads together).
5) Quads J-A: split.

Five Aces:
1) If the hand also has natural KK, put KK in the 2-card hand.
2) Otherwise put AA in the 2-card hand.

Auto-Set My Hand
This setting is checked by default. When checked, your hand auto-sets to beat the dealer's split when possible; otherwise it auto-sets the house way. When unchecked, cards stay in deal order so you can set your own split manually.

Game Play
To win the Play wager, both your high hand and low hand must beat the dealer. If one hand wins and one loses (or ties), it's a push. There is no commission, like in traditional Pai Gow Poker.

Dealer Ace-High
If the dealer has a Ace-High Pai Gow, the main game is an automatic push (Play wager returned). Side bets still resolve normally.

Hand Ranking Note
Standard poker hand rankings are used for hand comparison. However, in the Fortune bonus pay table, Three of a Kind pays above Straight.

Fortune Bonus (Pay Table 1)

Hand	Payout
7-Card Straight Flush (No Joker)	8000 to 1
Royal Flush + Royal Match (KQ Suited)	2000 to 1
7-Card Straight Flush (With Joker)	1000 to 1
Five Aces	400 to 1
Royal Flush	150 to 1
Straight Flush	50 to 1
Four of a Kind	25 to 1
Full House	5 to 1
Flush	4 to 1
Three of a Kind	3 to 1
Straight	2 to 1

Ace-High Bonus

Result	Payout
Both Player and Dealer Ace-High	40 to 1
Dealer Ace-High with Joker	15 to 1
Dealer Ace-High	5 to 1

Source: Wizard of Odds Fortune Pai Gow Poker side bet (Pay Table 2).