Real-money Pai Gow poker first appeared in casinos in the mid-1980s. It slowly grew in popularity over the following decades. Today, it's largely forgotten, residing somewhere between land-based casinos and the world of online gambling: a decent following, but not much more than that.
Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club in Los Angeles, is credited with inventing the game. But according to both a noted poker author and Torosian's lawyer, he couldn't patent it. So all Torosian ever got for inventing the game was a bunch of nice "thank you's" from people who make a living playing it.
By the late 1980s, the game had made its way to the Las Vegas Strip. In just two decades, however, it had firmly established itself as a standard feature in the table games section of most online casinos.
Regardless of your level of experience, you should come away with an even greater appreciation for the game and a newfound desire to gamble. The rules of the game are covered, as well as other important aspects such as finding a trustworthy casino, staying within the law, and replenishing your bankroll without undue hassle.
Is Playing Real Money Pai Gow Poker Legal?
There's no simple answer to this question; it depends on the country where you live. However, laws can - and often do - differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Due to a variety of factors, the laws we researched can vary widely.
For a quick illustration of the confusion, let's consider the United States. While there is no national law that says citizens can't join in the fun of online gambling, good luck trying to send (or receive) money to/from a foreign site. The reason? The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act makes it very difficult for financial institutions to do business with any entity that the law deems illegal (like a foreign online casino).
State laws are even more chaotic, ranging from indifferent to strict. The state of Washington is a perfect example of the latter, as they sometimes hold individuals accountable for Internet gambling instead of just blaming the offending website. This shows how strict laws can be in certain regions.
The Internet is usually the best source for resolving any doubts about the legality of such a venture. Most nations and many states maintain official websites that detail their laws. A trustworthy online casino, if such a thing can be said to exist, should have the good sense to maintain a list of countries to which it does not welcome players.
Just remember, not knowing the rules is not a good excuse. When it comes to playing Pai Gow Poker for real money, compliance with all federal, state and local laws is your business, not ours.
How to Play Pai Gow Poker
Hardly a household name, Pai Gow Poker is often bypassed by many online players on their way to more popular games such as Blackjack and Roulette. If you're not sure how the game works, this section should clear up any questions you may have.
Following the player's initial bet, they are dealt seven cards. A standard poker deck consists of 52 cards and one joker.
The object of the game is to make a pair of two cards and a set of five cards that are both better than the dealer's corresponding hands. If you manage to do this, you will receive an even money payout (minus a 5% vigorish at most casinos). If you win one hand and lose the other, it's a push. If you lose both hands, you lose your bet.
The basic rules of the game are fairly easy to understand. But there are a few other details worth noting:
- Normal poker rankings apply, but with a few exceptions. The second-highest straight in the game is Ace-2-3-4-5
- The best two-card hand is a pair of Aces
- The two-card hand must rank lower than the five-card hand
- If a joker makes a flush or straight, it is wild. In all other cases, it is simply an ace.
- In the event of a tie, the dealer wins;
Pai Gow Poker House Edge
The house edge describes the mathematical advantage that a particular casino game has over the player in the long run. For example, let's say a player chooses a game with a 2% house edge. According to this figure, the individual should expect to win back $98 for every $100 risked in the long run. This gives the casino a $2 advantage, which is where they make their profit. Of course, the short-term variation can be much different, which is why the house edge is usually calculated over thousands of hands or spins.
The total house edge for Pai Gow Poker is 1.46%. To put this in perspective, this figure is lower than the house edge for the following casino games: - Single Zero Roulette (2.70%) - Three Card Poker (3.37%) - Pai Gow (1.50%) - Red Dog (2.80%).
Who Designs Pai Gow Poker?
Because the game's creator, Sam Torosian, famously did not patent his invention, it is available for use by any online or land-based gambling establishment. As a result, Pai Gow Poker has become a standard part of most casino gaming software packages. Almost all of the leading developers in the online gaming world now have their own version of the game, including Betsoft and various acts at Rival.
Choosing a Reliable Casino
As with any industry, some online casinos are more honest than others. Because these companies are often located in foreign countries, players who get scammed often have nowhere to turn for help. The best thing you can do is try to separate the good from the bad before you sign up. These six tips can help you choose a trustworthy online casino.
There are a number of approaches to conducting this kind of research, and the following are the ones that have served me best:
- Read Online Reviews - Type the name of any virtual casino into a search engine and you're bound to get back numerous results for reviews and complaints
- some of these are more accurate than others, and distinguishing between them can sometimes be a chore. If you want to eliminate all doubt, you can get your information from a casino watchdog site. These operations specialize in providing unbiased details on hundreds of online gambling establishments
- Is the site publicly traded? - Check to see if the casino is traded on one of the many stock exchanges around the world;
Sign-Up Bonuses Explained
The online gambling business is a fierce one, with the various operators always trying to lure customers away from the competition. Sites often rise or fall on the content of their home pages, and the phrase "sign-up bonus" should be familiar to anyone who has participated in Internet gambling.
For those unfamiliar with the virtual gambling scene, here's a quick rundown of what to expect. Casinos generally have a monetary cap that they use in combination with a sign-up bonus to attract new customers. When you create a new account at an online casino and fund it for the first time, that casino will give you a bonus that is a percentage of your first deposit, up to the amount of their cap.
Here's an example. A casino offers a 100% match bonus up to $500 for new players. When the customer signs up and makes a deposit of $500, they receive an additional $500 from the casino. For all intents and purposes, this is a $500 bonus. And yet, it is quite uncommon for a site to actually give away a bonus of that much money without some sort of extraordinary requirement attached to it.
In order to keep the bonus money, the player must usually meet a wagering requirement within a certain period of time (almost always between one and six months). This amount is a multiple of the bonus, although in some (but by no means all) cases, the bonus and initial deposit may be added together.
Suppose the player receives $500 in bonus money and has six months to meet a wagering requirement of 30 times. This means that the player has to risk a total of $15,000 before they can even think about withdrawing the bonus (or in some cases, keeping it forever).
If the player does not reach the target amount in the given timeframe, they could see the entire bonus amount removed from their account. And in a particularly diabolical casino, they could also remove any winnings generated with that amount. As you can probably guess, customers who don't read the fine print tend to get quite upset when they discover such details. But, of course, it is all perfectly legal.
Some sites make it clear in their terms and conditions that the bonus money is intended only to encourage recreational players to play. If, in the casino's estimation, you are anything but a weekend warrior, you may find not only your bonus, but all of your winnings canceled because you don't fit the casino's unwritten (and often only hinted at after the fact) definition of a "recreational player". I think this is a practice that stinks and is a good example of how some establishments give themselves a license to screw over any player who seems to be enjoying too much success.
Finally, we come to the question of whether some games carry less weight than others when it comes to meeting playthrough requirements. This is almost always determined by the house edge, with pure luck games counting much more than those that involve any kind of strategy. Games like craps and roulette are often excluded from such bonuses entirely, while table games like Pai Gow Poker (which I've never quite understood myself) usually count at 60%. This means that a $300 wager on this silly looking game only counts as $180 for our purposes, so anyone looking to cash in on a bonus is going to be doing a lot of work and having a lot of fun doing it.
Pay Attention to the Fine Print
I hope I drove this message home adequately in the previous section. But for those who may not have gotten it the first time, let me say it again: always read the fine print. If there's a chance that a casino can save you money by being technical, you can bet they'll be as technical as they can be. So make sure you know exactly what's expected of you in every way before you step into a cash game.
Watch Out for Thieves
The Internet, like the real world, has its share of thieves. These shadowy individuals love to hack accounts and steal vital information, and you don't even have the option of catching them red-handed and beating them with a baseball bat.
The best online casinos have various security measures in place, but it is wise for customers to take precautions on their end to ensure a smooth experience. For starters, always use passwords that combine letters and numbers. Never use the same password for more than one account. It may also be a good idea to change this information from time to time, as most users find it too cumbersome, not to mention insecure, to always use the same password. After all, it is much better to change your passwords regularly than to have them used by someone else.
Another important part of security is purchasing and maintaining a robust antivirus program. Spend some time researching the brands available, as some of the more well-known names in the industry are actually quite ineffective.
If you share your computer with anyone, make sure to log out of your casino account when you are done using it for the day. It's fine to trust your friends and family not to snoop, but there's really no need to tempt fate.
While there's no foolproof way to keep online thieves at bay (other than not going online at all), there are some common-sense things you can do to protect yourself while you're online. If you take these steps, you should be able to play your favorite online games of chance without worrying too much about the possibility of a bunch of hackers crashing your party.
Learning about Withdrawals
Before selecting a new casino and depositing funds, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with their withdrawal policies. This may seem like useless information when you're just starting out, but trust me, you'll need it one day.
Here are the areas to pay particular attention to:
- Available withdrawal methods - While casinos often offer a dozen or more methods for depositing money, the withdrawal options are usually much smaller. In some cases, the customer may be required to use the same transaction method for both deposits and withdrawals, which is good to know in advance
- Fees - Are there any fees associated with making a withdrawal? Casinos usually don't charge fees, but the company processing the transaction often does
- Payment Time - Once you request a withdrawal, how long does it take to receive the money? This can be a major point of contention, especially since some casinos engage in what's known as "slow pay. This is the practice of dragging out withdrawals for as long as possible, usually in the hope that the player will give up and either cancel their request or gamble it away before the transaction is completed;
Don’t Neglect Taxes
Unless you live in Australia or a few other select countries, you are expected to pay income tax on all casino winnings. Many players simply ignore this requirement, but it could come back to haunt them in the future.
Not reporting a win of $100 or less: probably not a big deal. Not reporting a win if you make more than $1,000: Now we're in risky territory. It may seem okay for a while, but anyone who gets audited will have to show when and how they made the extra money that ended up in their bank account. And hey, if you were gambling and not keeping track of your wins and losses, you might have some explaining to do. And in extreme cases, failure to explain could lead to fines and, believe it or not, criminal charges.
If you want to avoid a potential migraine headache, simply write down the date and how much you won or lost after each session. By the end of the year, you'll have a neat little record to use when you do your taxes. If you neglect to do this, I do not want to hear complaints about the headaches and time involved in the annual tax prep slog.
Conclusion
Pai Gow Poker may not be a well-known game, but it offers players an exciting alternative to more popular online casino games. The rules are straightforward, so the game tends to move quickly. Similarly, each hand is resolved quickly, meaning that a player can easily get into the game and have a good time without having to worry about anything.