Pai Gow Poker - KKK

The house way says never to split three kings. My friend had an interesting hand yesterday:

AKKK9xx

I suggested he keep the kings together, which he did, and won the hand. The dealer said that he would split the kings and play KK+AK instead of KKK+A9. I said that there's no way that the improvement from A9 to AK was worth the degradation of three-of-a-kind to a pair.

Thanks to the Wizard's PGP Appendix 1 I was able to do the math. KKK+A9 yields a net average return of 41.5%, whereas KK+AK yields only 27.8%. No brainer. Be careful about listening to your dealer!

It does make sense to split up three kings on a hand like KKKT8xx. Again, thanks to the Wizard's table, I calculate that splitting the kings in this case decreases the house edge from -5.2% to -4.1%. There's a lot more volatility, as KKK results in a tie 83% of the time, vs. just 52% for KK.

Papachubby,
Interesting note about three Kings - they don't degrade that much if played 2 & 1 instead of kept together, but they are almost always better kept together.
However, when you have absolutely NO top, they ARE well played 2 and 1. Three Kings with NO top will either push (as it has no top) - or lose to three aces or a straight or better. The "Stanford Wong" rule is to split three kings with NO other face card.

As volitile as it is, the Kx/KKxxx setting gets some surprise wins, beating lower pairs and Pai Gows with a queen top (not uncommon), and some bad losses from two pairs ace-high split, and three aces split. Going down from a Three of a kind five-card side to a pair of Kings is just too much of a drop to justify improving your top to just a Kx.

Now...FOUR Kings with an ace-low IS better played as AK/KKKxx instead of Ax/KKKKx, because with four aces out, you'll face a lot of AQ, AJ, and A-10 tops, while the three of a kind kings remain a great stopper for the five-card side. In fact, it is always better played as AK/KKKxx than Ax/KKKKx. Split into two pairs KK/KKxxx ONLY when you don't have an ace, as a pair of Kings is only a 55% five-card side. Going down from Four Kings to three kings on the five card side is justified if you can convert an Ace-low top to an AK. However, do not break up four kings with AJ or AQ because the difference then is just too small to play it as 3 & 1. Having four Kings with an extra pair that is 4's or less are often played like a three pair hand, KK/KK33x, to get a monster pair of Kings for the two-card side, while fielding a very strong two pair bottom.

Multiple kings are always interesting in Pai Gow Poker.
(I did a TON of Pai Gow Poker strategy work when developing a Pai Gow game.)

I play quite a bit also, and the Wong Rules about 3 Kings is excellent if not perfect. I will also split them with a Jack for KKxyz + KJ. If I have a Queen or Ace kicker I don't split. The Jack kicker might be a borderline play, but usually gets me a split when the dealer has a good hand. Always 10-high or less.

The KKK + AK is also on my list except if I have AQ [KKKK + AQ], otherwise pair-pair.

98Clubs

Quote: Paigowdan

Papachubby,
Interesting note about three Kings - they don't degrade that much if played 2 & 1 instead of kept together, but they are almost always better kept together.
However, when you have absolutely NO top, they ARE well played 2 and 1. Three Kings with NO top will either push (as it has no top) - or lose to three aces or a straight or better. The "Stanford Wong" rule is to split three kings with NO other face card.

As volitile as it is, the Kx/KKxxx setting gets some surprise wins, beating lower pairs and Pai Gows with a queen top (not uncommon), and some bad losses from two pairs ace-high split, and three aces split. Going down from a Three of a kind five-card side to a pair of Kings is just too much of a drop to justify improving your top to just a Kx.

Now...FOUR Kings with an ace-low IS better played as AK/KKKxx instead of Ax/KKKKx, because with four aces out, you'll face a lot of AQ, AJ, and A-10 tops, while the three of a kind kings remain a great stopper for the five-card side. In fact, it is always better played as AK/KKKxx than Ax/KKKKx. Split into two pairs KK/KKxxx ONLY when you don't have an ace, as a pair of Kings is only a 55% five-card side. Going down from Four Kings to three kings on the five card side is justified if you can convert an Ace-low top to an AK. However, do not break up four kings with AJ or AQ because the difference then is just too small to play it as 3 & 1. Having four Kings with an extra pair that is 4's or less are often played like a three pair hand, KK/KK33x, to get a monster pair of Kings for the two-card side, while fielding a very strong two pair bottom.

Multiple kings are always interesting in Pai Gow Poker.
(I did a TON of Pai Gow Poker strategy work when developing a Pai Gow game.)