History of Pai Gow Poker - Internet Poker

Pai Gow Poker is the Americanised version of the ancient Chinese gambling game, Pai Gow, which translated literally means 'make nine'. The game is believed to be thousands of years old and can be traced back to the very ancient Chinese dynasties. However, Pai Gow itself is thought to be a combination of two even more ancient Chinese games, known as 'Yu P'u' and 'Yeh-tza'. 'Yu P'u' is actually recognised as the predecessor of the game that has now become modern poker dice, where as 'Yeh-tza' is an ancient Chinese card game. The game finally reached the United States of America by the wake of the nineteenth century, however its spread into the world of the casino and recreational gambling only took place as late as the 1980s. The game's popularity received its first major boost with its introduction into the card rooms of California in 1986, and by the end of the following year 1987 Pai Gow Poker finally reached the casinos of Las Vegas. Beyond this, the game extended its appeal to the card tables of Atlantic City. The most major variation from the original ancient Chinese game play, is that rather than using the tile dominos, the introduction of the game to America has seen cards as the replacement. Currently a standard deck of fifty-two cards is used.

The basic principle of the game 'Pai Gow Poker' is for the player to produce two card hands, which are sufficient to beat the hands of the banker or dealer. In casinos nowadays, the game will take place around a card table, similar in size and layout to that of a blackjack table, and a standard play consists of six players along with one dealer or banker. Each of the six players will be dealt seven cards, which will then be used to form two different hands. This will include a 'High' card hand, consisting of five of the dealt cards, and then a 'Low' card hand, which will be made of the remaining two cards. The hands of the players and dealer are then ranked according to the usual poker hands. However, there is one exception to the customary poker hands, in that a hand of 'Ace-two-three-four-five' is actually the second highest straight. With the two or 'low' card hand, a player can produce either a pair or two individual cards. The highest two card hand is a pair of aces, with the lowest being a two and three card hand. In the event of a player and the banker producing the same hand, often referred to as a 'copy' the tie will in fact go to the banker.

In general, the game of 'Pai-Gow' poker is relatively slow paced, which means that it is favoured not only by gaming beginners, who are able to take the time to understand the rules and follow the progress of the game, but also by more seasoned card game players, who recognise that the advantage of a slower paced game is that the bankroll can last a much longer time, offering more gaming pleasure for your money! So, in fact the game 'Pai-Gow' itself never really took off in western countries, notably in America, and it was only the Americanised version of 'Pai-Gow' poker which took to using the standard card deck to replace the more ancient tile dominoes, which actually secured a popular following and saw the game brought into the casinos. Similar to many other of the most popular card and casino games, 'Pai-Gow' poker has also been revolutionised by the expansion of the online gambling industry. Players can now join 'Pai-Go' games across the world, all day long and throughout the year.