Saigon 5 Card

Saigon 5 Card comes to us via way of Vietnam and Cambodia, where it is known as Ngau Ham. The game has been broached on a couple other old threads, but never went far, so forgive me for making a new thread for it. I've started on a new page for Saigon 5 Card. So far, I've only taken it through the rules, and I'm not sure I have those completely correct. Specifically, I don't know if the player can use any two cards for the Pot bet or the two cards as used in the Ante bet.

Please have a look at my new page. As always, I welcome all questions, comments, and especially corrections. Analysis coming soon.

The question for the poll is would you play Saigon 5 Card?

There doesn't seem to be any real strategy to this game - since the 3-card hand must be a multiple of 10, your 2-card hand value is predetermined by your five cards.

I've played the tile version of this game before and thought it was pretty fun.

I would probably play the card version in a casino for low stakes and if the house edge didn't suck.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

There doesn't seem to be any real strategy to this game - since the 3-card hand must be a multiple of 10, your 2-card hand value is predetermined by your five cards.

I agree. I don't know if the player even has to set a hand or if the dealer does it. Note that I didn't say whether the cards are dealt face up or down because I don't know and it doesn't matter anyway.

Who is our man, or woman, in Tampa? Cambodia too, for that matter.

Quote: TigerWu

I would probably play the card version in a casino for low stakes and if the house edge didn't suck.

I'm not getting a very high house edge at all. After all, except for the "player wins with a 5 is paid at 1-2" rule, aren't the rules for the player and dealer the same?

The only house edge appears to be 1/2 of the bets when the player wins with a 5 - and how often does that happen?
When I do some quick simulation, I get that it happens only about 1 out of every 25 hands, which would be a house edge of about 2%.

In fact, when I do a count from a full deck, I get that only about 6.7% of the hands have a value of 5.

Quote: Wizard

I agree. I don't know if the player even has to set a hand or if the dealer does it. Note I didn't say if cards are dealt face up or down because I don't know and it doesn't matter anyway?

Who is our man, or woman, in Tampa? Cambodia too, for that matter.

terapined has said before he's in/near tampa. Cambodia, NokTang, perhaps?

Quote: beachbumbabs

terapined has said before he's in/near tampa. Cambodia, NokTang, perhaps?

I'll stop by the Tampa Hard Rock in a few days and report back what I find about this game
Its not my favorite casino but it is the closest to me.
It does not surprise me the game is there
The casino really tries hard to attract the Asian market
Authentic Chinese food and a section of the casino dedicated just to Asians with Pai Gow tiles and other Asian games
I actually go there sometimes not to gamble but for the real Chinese food
Hmm, sounds like I will be able to satisfy my hunger for some genuine Asian food in a few days :-)

Quote: terapined

Authentic Chinese food and a section of the casino dedicated just to Asians with Pai Gow tiles and other Asian games

I'm so jealous... haha...

I'm actually kind of surprised more casinos don't cater to Asian demographics. Where I live there's a very large Vietnamese population, but the casinos are 100% geared to "round eyes" like me. Last time I checked the casino near my house had ONE baccarat table.

Quote: terapined

I'll stop by the Tampa Hard Rock in a few days and report back what I find about this game

Thanks T! Some more back and forth on this hear and I think we'll have a succinct list of questions that need answering for you.

Here is a progress report. This is a count of scores of all possible combinations of 5 cards out of 53. Can anyone confirm or deny? So much of game programming is scoring a hand accurately.

Points	Combinations	Probability
0	-	0.000000
1	172,352	0.060060
2	176,856	0.061629
3	179,352	0.062499
4	175,710	0.061230
5	192,112	0.066945
6	181,184	0.063137
7	197,208	0.068721
8	219,552	0.076507
9	229,084	0.079829
10	246,608	0.085936
Does not qualify	899,667	0.313507

Note: Corrected 6/4/18

Quote: Wizard

Specifically, I don't know if the player can use any two cards for the Pot bet or the two cards as used in the Ante bet.

I would imagine whatever 2 cards were used to determine the winner after qualifying are also used to determine the pot bet
I can see why this game may be popular. If there are a lot a players a full table the pot bet is just among players and its winner take all which would be real fun to win. A bet among players with no casino edge or commission:-) .
Where did the picture come from? Somewhere I can play this for free on the internet?
Dealt some hands to myself and the dealer for practice
No strategy I can see :-(
If you qualify, its going to be either 10, 20 30. Looks slim that you could qualify for 2 numbers such as 10 or 20 then have a decision.
Its pretty much if you qualify or not
If I find an empty table, I only have to make 1 bet instead of 2? Due the pot bet is a players only bet right?