Pai Gow Poker Player Set Up

The hand: A-A-A-Joker-K-9-5 with no possible flush.

I know that the House set up will be:

Lo: AA
High: A-Joker-K-9-5
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My assumption is that the player would set up hand the same way. But what would it be better for the player to play:

Lo: K9
High AAA-Joker-5

You'd be trading an unbeatable front hand in one set-up for a practically unbeatable back hand in the other. Both leave either the top or the bottom vulnerable. Might not matter a lot, but I get the notion that good strategy is to have the best front hand possible generally speaking. Somebody might correct me on that.

Certainly as a game of skill PGP seems to be a matter more of staying focused and really making sure you don't miss the straights and flushes that are there but maybe you don't see them. Or don't see that you need to set up the lower ranked straight to get the better top hand etc.

Look at it this way: The AA low and 4 aces high are both unbeatable. Yeah, I know the 4 aces can be beat, but so infrequently that it's not worth considering.

So ask yourself this: Which is more likely to happen: That the A*K95 will get beaten, or the K9 will get beaten?

A*K95 can only be beaten if the dealer has three pair, or trips or better. K9 can be beaten by a dealer having two pair with one of them being good enough that the pairs are split, or by a KT or better low.

Let's not forget that the fifth ace is still out there....

Splitting the aces is the way to go in that example:

I think a tougher hand to decide would be - Joker, A, A, A, 2, 2, 5.

What about? AK
AA*95

Quote: timberjim

What about? AK
AA*95

AK is only slightly better than K9. Although it eliminates the chance of the low hand being beaten without a pair, that was only a minor chance, and it's still very beatable. And doing so creates trips rather than quads for the high hand. While trips are often very good, they are still far easier to beat than quads.

Quote: FinsRule

Splitting the aces is the way to go in that example:

I think a tougher hand to decide would be - Joker, A, A, A, 2, 2, 5.

You're right. That is harder to decide.

So much so, that even the casinos can't decide.

According to the links to various casino's house ways on the Wiz' Pai Gow Poker page, some casinos will always keep quads together, and put the pair in the low hand. Some will only keep the aces together if the pair is sevens or higher.

Quote: timberjim

What about? AK
AA*95

AK is a LOT better than K9. AK wins about 70-75% of the time, and K99 about 35-40%
This is the second best way to play it after AA/AAK95

Let me re-prase.

Yeah, AK IS a lot better than K9.

However, in this particular situation, to make the AK low hand, you have to reduce the high hand from quads to trips.

While trips are hard to beat, they are a lot easier to beat than it is for the dealer to have a low that beats K9 while not being a pair - particularly when you consider that the odds of the Ax are reduced since there's only one Ace left.

And THAT'S the important distinction I was making.

The chance of a dealer making a low hand of KT, KJ, KQ or Ax (with only 1 ace available) is a lot smaller than the dealer having a high hand that beats trips.

Hmmm....

I just re-read the Wiz' various house ways again.

My argument above was talking about quads vs trips for the high.

I forgot that I already read, and mentiond in a prior post, that the house way is to split quad aces that doesn't have another pair into two pairs.

Thanks for the replies!
so I see now that PLAYER should set up as:

AA
A*K95

Quote: Paigowdan

AK is a LOT better than K9. AK wins about 70-75% of the time, and K99 about 35-40%
This is the second best way to play it after AA/AAK95

I am curious to how this would be the second best way for PLAYER to set up hand

AK
AA*95
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Since there are only five Aces in the deck, and you are holding four; only four kings, you holding one...
that leaves only one ace, three kings

If the House hand has two pair which can be split, OR three pair, or straight/flush with pair
then House is going to beat both AK and K9

Very few hands will beat AAAA5 for the high.
AAA95 will be beaten at a much higher rate.

Given that the House does not have one of the above mentioned hands which will permit a pair being played for the low (since pair will beat AK as well)
.....
playing K9

For the Player to lose the high,
the House hand must have AKQ, AKJ, AK-10, AK9, (Or you could look at it as if House has AK8 Pai Gow or worse, Player win)
or the House needs both a Pair AND the 1 remaining ace OR one of the three Kings left AND Q J 10 or one of remaining three 9s left