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Pai Gow Poker house way and house edge

Setting every hand the house way, against a dealer who does the same, the house edge is 2.72%. You win 29.12% of hands, push 40.50% and lose 30.38%, and a win pays even money less the 5% commission. Setting each hand the best way cuts the edge to 2.55%.

Practice with the trainer

The numbers

You set your handHouse edgeWinPushLoseExact, published
The house way2.72%29.12%40.50%30.38%2.7212%
The best way (our trainer)2.55%29.23%40.45%30.32%2.5122%

The dealer banks and sets the house way; wins pay even money less a 5% commission. "Exact, published" is Wizard of Odds’ full count for the same house way and for a perfect setter.

The house way, rule by rule

The dealer sets every hand this way. This is the Foxwoods house way, the one behind the published house edge. The rules apply in order and the first one that fits decides. The joker counts as an ace, except when it completes a straight, flush or straight flush.

  1. Five acesA pair of aces in front, unless a pair of kings can go there.
  2. Four of a kind with a pairThe pair goes in front and the four of a kind stays behind.
  3. Four of a kind, splitJacks to aces always split into two pairs. Sevens to tens split unless a king or ace can go in front.
  4. Four of a kind, kept togetherSixes and below never split. Sevens to tens stay together when a king or ace can go in front.
  5. Two three of a kindsA pair from the higher three of a kind goes in front.
  6. Full houseThe pair goes in front and the three of a kind stays behind.
  7. Three pairThe highest pair goes in front.
  8. Two pair, splitWith jacks or better, the lower pair goes in front. With sevens to tens, split unless an ace can go in front; with sixes and below, unless a king or ace can.
  9. Two pair, kept togetherBoth pairs stay behind when the higher pair is sevens to tens and an ace can go in front, or sixes and below and a king or ace can.
  10. Straight or flush with three of a kindThe straight or flush goes behind and a pair from the three of a kind in front.
  11. Straight or flushThe straight, flush or straight flush stays behind, with the two highest cards that leave it complete in front.
  12. An ace and a pair of tens to kingsInstead of the straight or flush, the ace goes in front and the pair behind when that makes a better front hand.
  13. Three acesAn ace and the next highest card go in front; a pair of aces stays behind.
  14. Three of a kindThe three of a kind stays behind with the two highest other cards in front.
  15. One pairThe pair goes behind with the two highest other cards in front.
  16. No pairThe highest card stays behind; the second and third highest go in front.

How often each hand comes up

The best five-card hand among your seven cards, counted over all 154,143,080 seven-card hands from the 53-card deck.

Best hand in seven cardsHandsProbability
Five aces1,1280.0007%
Royal flush26,1320.0170%
Straight flush184,8320.1199%
Four of a kind307,4720.1995%
Full house4,188,5282.7173%
Flush6,172,0884.0041%
Straight11,236,0287.2893%
Three of a kind7,470,6764.8466%
Two pair35,553,81623.0655%
One pair64,221,96041.6639%
No pair24,780,42016.0762%
Total154,143,080100.0000%

How we worked it out

The hand counts are exact: our engine goes through every one of the 154,143,080 seven-card hands, and every count matches Wizard of Odds’ published table.

The win, push and loss rates come from 400 million dealt rounds, with both ways of setting played on the same deals. For the house way, the 95% confidence interval for the house edge is 2.71% to 2.73%, which contains the exact published 2.7212%.

Our trainer’s best way scores all 21 ways to set a hand against the exact spread of the dealer’s house-way hands. It doesn’t account for your own seven cards being out of the dealer’s deck, so it gets to 2.55% where a perfect setter gets to 2.51%.

Rules used