Pai Gow Poker

Hey everyone. I've been recently attempting to learn PGP, utilizing the Wizard's game. For the most I understand it and am thinking I may give it a try on my next casino trip. Still have a few questions though.

For one, I know from reading that banking is something that is preferable to the player to do whenever possible. But I still don't quite understand how this works in the casino setting. I have to be able to cover the entire table's bets, correct? Do I have to set my hand the house way when banking or however I choose? Do I get too see what the other players are betting before deciding to bank...meaning what if a player decides to up their bet on that hand to something i'm not comfortable with.

For all you PGP players out there...do you bank always, never, or in-between?

When playing alone I bank all the time- because that means if there is a tie I win. :)

I will bank when allowed with others at the table if I feel comfortable covering what they are betting. There have been times I sat at a table and it was full with 7 players but everyone was making $20 bets so I didnt mind banking, another time I was considering it an old asian lady sat down for the hand and put out a massive stock of greens and I said oh hell no to banking. lol.

You do get ot see what they wager first, as the dealer has to make sure you got enough to cover everyone if you loose out to all other players. You arrange your hand however you want, its your money now the house dont care. If your playing a table with bonus bets you DONT cover the bonus, thats still the houses job.

You can call for the button, check to see what people are betting- and you then need ot decide to give back the button before the number generator starts... when that generator starts up its too late to call off yoru position/betting.

FYI: Every time Ive banked Ive never won money from the other players, just bad luck I guess- Ive had to pay others a couple times and most of the time push.. ive never actually recovered money from other players... YET.


Also there was an asian man sitting next to me one night who banked after having incredable hands all night... he must have had $2,000 in green chips alone- God only knows what he had total with the 100s and few 500s I saw him holding. He banked, and played $100 himself. He beat us ALL. I think his take from the full table was around $600 minus the commision he paid. much better then the $95 he woudl have goten without banking.

Just ask to bank on the next hand if no one else is. Each casino has a policy. The banking will either zig back and forth alternatively to you, or you will only be able to bank after each player has had a chance to bank (if there are 5 players at the table, you should be able to bank every sixth hand).

You have to put the chips out to cover all of the bets. You should announce your intention to bank to allow others to pull back their bets, which will frequently happen. You can set your hand whatever way you want. Some casinos will make you set the house way when playing more than one hand (Bellagio).

I bank when I can afford to and always when I am playing alone.

I'm still trying to get my head around the math here. If playing alone, the only advantage would come from winning ties, correct? If so, is that enough to reduce the HA from 2.66% to 0.12% as stated on the Wizard's page?

I assumed that advantage would come from netting wins and losses before paying commission, but again, I have no idea how that calculates to a specific HA, since the bets of other players could significant or insignificant.

I think so. The probability of a copy on the back hand is 2.55% which lowers the HA from 2.66% to 0.12%.

Quote: boymimbo

I think so. The probability of a copy on the back hand is 2.55% which lowers the HA from 2.66% to 0.12%.

Great. Thanks!

I rarely bank. I would bank regularly if I was playing alone. But I mostly play PGP to be sociable, and the game has gained in popularity to a point where its often hard to find a table with an open spot, let alone an empty table. Many PGP players are rather novice, and become uneasy when somebody other than the dealer is the banker. I don't want to freak anybody out for the modest adjustment to the house edge.

Also, be careful as most gamblers are superstitious. If the table's on a hot streak, and you bank to grab an extra 2%, you'll probably be accused of ruining the karma. This is especially true on the tiles. On the other hand, I'll often bank after the dealer has gotten on a roll, telling everyone I'm doing it to break his/her mojo. Again, you'll see this a lot at the tiles table.

The bottom line is you just don't see much banking at PGP. I may have racked up about 200 hours at PGP tables over the years, and I'm sure I've witnessed less than 50 hands with player/bankers. Banking is much more prevalent at the tiles tables.