Play Pai Gow Poker Online at Top Rated Casinos in 2025

This is the person who is betting against all of the players at the table. The banker typically has to rotate every turn or every other turn. You may need a larger bank roll to take on a full table's worth of action (hey, you're playing against all of the other players), but if you can afford it, this is a great way to play. The banker has the advantage because he or she wins all copies.

A slang term for the Joker – the game's (semi) wild card.

The technical term for either a low hand or a high hand that exactly matches the banker's corresponding hand. In other words, a tie. The banker always wins in the case of a copy.

The 5% fee that the casino takes out of all winnings paid by the bank. This is how the casino can profit from a game that does not have a built-in house edge (remember, players generally play as the bank on a rotating basis).

The term for a hand that is dealt to an empty seat. The dealer must always create seven stacks of cards – enough for six players and the dealer to each receive one. When a seat is empty, the appropriate stack of cards is still dealt as a hand in keeping with protocol.

A term for the five-card Pai Gow Poker hand. It earned this name because of its position, sitting physically behind the two-card hand on the table.

A term for the two-card Pai Gow Poker hand. It earned this name because of its position in front of the five-card hand on the table.

This is the highest card in a player's hand. Typically only referenced when the player's hand is worth less than a pair.

The five-card Pai Gow hand. Named for sitting “higher” on the table.

The set of rules that all dealers must follow when constructing their two Pai Gow Poker hands. It might not technically be the optimum strategy, but it is close and it keeps the house in the game when the casino is sitting as the bank. This is the system they will advise when players ask them for help.

This is the card that is almost always used as the wild card in Pai Gow Poker. While it may sometimes be completely wild, more often than not it can only be wild to complete a Straight, a Flush, or a Straight Flush. If it does not have an opportunity to create one of these hands, then it is treated as an Ace instead.

The Pai Gow Poker hand that only has two cards. Sits “lower” on the table.

Technical term for a tie. In Pai Gow Poker, this occurs when one of your hands beats the banker's corresponding hand, and the other loses (or ties). This results in your bet being returned to you and nothing further happens. See "copies" for a description of what happens when the corresponding hands are equal.

The piece of software that allows an online casino to fairly and randomly draw cards from a digital deck. Should be audited and certified as fair by a third party.

This is the card that can represent any other card to make the best possible hand. It is typically represented by the Joker, and its addition make the deck have fifty three cards.