What Is the House Advantage in Pai Gow Poker?
Sadly, house edge is a requirement that’s embedded in every casino game, including Pai Gow Poker. The term house edge or house advantage is self-explanatory in a way. It refers to the statistical advantage that casinos have over players whenever they play at the casino. The house edge applies to every casino game.
You get casino games like American roulette and craps with high house edges. Pai Gow Poker, on the other hand, has a standard house advantage of 2.84%. But the good news is that this figure can be further reduced to 1.42% if you play your cards right.
Pai Gow Poker Commission
In addition to the 2.84% house edge, Pai Gow Poker also requires a 5% commission on all winnings. Other games don’t typically impose a commission on payouts, but Pai Gow Poker does. Giving away a portion of your winnings isn’t something players look forward to and is a point to consider before choosing to play the game.
How it works is that after every win, the house will deduct 5% from the amount before giving you your payout. For example, if you won $100 from playing Pai Gow Poker, 5% of 100 is $5, which the casino will take. The amount given to you will be the remaining $95.
This is nothing short of daylight robbery since the casino already makes money from the house edge placed on all bets.
How to Reduce House Edge in Pai Gow Poker
We mentioned earlier that you can reduce the house edge in the game to 1.42% if you play your cards right. By “playing your cards right,” we mean offering to take the position of the banker.
Before the game begins, the dealer will ask if any player seated at the table would like to be the banker. Bankers then take on the role of the dealer there onwards – collecting bets and paying out winnings.
Playing banker is a risky choice, but it does come with the advantage of winning in the event of a tie. This means that if there’s a tie between one of the players and the banker, the banker takes it.
Play for Real Money
Remember, you can play Pai Gow Poker and many other games at our trusted online casinos. If Pai Gow is your game of choice, remember to opt for the banker role whenever you can, and be mindful of the 5% payout commission that you must pay.
