Pai Gow Poker House Edge

On WoO the HA for Pai Gow Poker (when using the simple strategy) is listed as 2.69% when the dealer is banking. Shouldn't the HA be at least 5% due to the commission (plus whatever advantage comes from the "banker wins ties" rule)? Obviously I'm missing something as I'm sure the posted HA is correct, but what am I missing?

As a point of contrast, in baccarat the Banker bet has a less than 5% HA despite the 5% commission due to the fact that the Banker will win more often given the drawing rules. But there is no equivalent asymmetry for Pai Gow Poker. That is, the 5% commission isn't being offset by anything. Both the player and the dealer should have identical hands in the long run.

The only explanation I can think of is that the HA is an average for all hands (including ties), not just bets that are resolved. Is that it? Is the presence of frequent pushes making the HA look lower than it would be if only resolved bets are considered? In that case then, the HA per resolved bet would be something like 6-7%, right? (5% commission plus whatever the value is of the "banker wins ties" rules).

Lets say for agrument sake you win 29%, lose 30% and tie 41%.

House edge is .29 * .95 - .30 + .41 * 0 = 2.45%. if you look further down the page you see how the actual results are obtained.

Yeah, though generally true, the actual results are posted for "East Coast" (Foxwoods) rules. While I don't think theres much House Advantage difference, Nevada rules are different, including NO split on 2-Pairs 66-high or less. The Player might not want to do this. It would be interesting to see what the House Edge is House vs. House Way.

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