Your Guide to Enjoy Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow is a form of poker that can trace its roots back to China. Although it is not as popular as other casino games such as blackjack or other types of poker, it is fair to say that it is steadily growing in popularity. If you want to start playing Pai Gow Poker and are wondering what the best online casinos are for us Kiwis to do so, then you are in the right place. By the time you have come to the end of this page, you will know some of the best places to play Pai Gow Poker.

The Best Online Casinos to Play Pai Gow Poker

So, you want to start gambling online? Well, if this is the case, there is one very important thing that you need to do first and that is to select an online casino to sign up with. This is one of the most important decisions that you will make in your gambling life as failure to choose the right one will see you end up with a really poor gambling experience, which is something none of here wants to happen to you. When you are making this all-important decision, there are a number of questions that you always have to keep in mind and these can be seen below.

• Are there plenty of games on offer to entertain you?
• What type of bonuses and promotions are regularly offered?
• Will you get the great experience that you are after from this casino?
• If you deposit your money here, will it be safe?
• Do they have the type of banking options that you like to use?
• Will the customer service that they offer leave anything to be desired?

With all of these vital questions at hand, we shall now try and help you make a decision about which casino to join by having a look at what we believe are some of the best online casinos for Pai Gow Poker. We have decades of experience in the gambling industry, so we definitely know a good online casino when we see one. Therefore, if you opt to deposit your money at one of these sites, we guarantee that you will have really good gaming experience.

Gate777 Casino

Sticking out is very important in the online gambling world and Gate777 Casino manages to do exactly that by being one of the only airports themed online casinos that we know and by offering a tasty Welcome Bonus of $1,000. They are licensed by the Curacao Gaming Authority, the UK Gambling Commission, and the Malta Gaming Authority, so you can rest assured that your hard-earn money is perfectly safe when you deposit it with them. They will provide you with more than 1,200 games and there is more than enough here to keep Pai Gow Poker fans entertained. We recommend that you try out Fortune Pai Gow Poker. They have plenty of banking options for you to choose from and a customer support team you will not have any complaints about.

Jonny Jackpot Casino

Jonny Jackpot Casino are new to the casino world have opened their doors back in 2018, but they are definitely going to be sticking around for a long period of time. They have become extremely popular in their short life span and one of the reasons why is that they offer one of the best Welcome Bonuses around - you will receive $1000 and 100 free spins for signing up with them. At this casino, you can find over 1,000 games and can try your luck at Pai Gow Poker games such as Fortune Pai Gow Poker. You can find some quality software developers here such as NetEnt, Microgaming, Elk Studios, and Play'n Go. You will have no complaints if you register here.

Jackpot City Casino

Standing out from the crowd is something that Jackpot City Casino does really well as they provide a Welcome Bonus that can go as high as $1600. There are 800 games at this casino, and they have been created by some of the best software creators such as NetEnt and Microgaming. This casino is registered by the Malta Gaming Authority, so it is definitely a safe and secure place to spend your money. If you are a Pai Gow Poker fan, then you can certainly entertain yourself here. If you ever have any issues, get in contact with their customer care team and one of their friendly agents will help you out.

Why Should You Try Pai Gow Poker Online?

In our opinion, one of the main reasons why you should play Pai Gow poker online is that it is a low-risk game. If you are on the lookout for a poker variant that is easy to learn and easy to play, then you definitely should have a closer look at Pai Gow Poker.

What makes it such an easy game to learn and play? Well, if you already know your poker hand rankings, you will already be most of the way there to knowing how to play this game. However, there are some additional hands that you can have in this poker variant. For example, in traditional poker, the Royal Flush is the best hand you can acquire, but the best hand that you can have in Pai Gow poker is a Joker and 4 Aces.

Furthermore, if, for example, two players have a straight, the highest card will be used to determine who takes the pot. For instance, if one player has a 7-8-9-10-J and another player has a 4-5-6-7-8, the first player will be the winner. We will not go into too much detail about how to play Pai Gai poker here as this is something that we will look at in a lot more detail in the next section.

If you are not quite familiar with the traditional poker hands, then do not worry as you have the option of playing for free if you have an account with an online casino. Playing for free is great as it gives you the chance to learn the game without having to risk any real money.

Furthermore, if you are thinking about using a poker strategy to try and improve your chances of winning, then the biggest favour that you can do for yourself is to learn all about it for free before you start playing with your own money. The very last thing that you want to do is to start using a new strategy that you know nothing about in a real money scenario. If you do this, then we guarantee that your gambling experience, no matter what game you play, will not be a very pleasurable one. So, being able to play for free is a huge advantage, but it is not something that you will be able to do when playing at a brick and mortar casino.

Advantages of Playing Pai Gow Poker Online

Above are two of the main reasons why you should start playing Pai Gow poker online, but there are some other reasons as well, which we have listed for you below.

• You can play live Pai Gow, meaning that you do not even have to leave your house to take on a live dealer
• The only hand that you have to beat is the dealer’s, meaning that it is a social and fun game
• You can participate in Pai Gow poker tournaments, which are hard to find at brick and mortar casinos. If you are lucky enough, you can win a small fortune
• You will be able to play Pai Gow poker whenever the fancy takes you because online casinos are available 24/7

How to Play Pai Gow Poker

We are now going to take a look at the Pai Gow Poker rules. One 52 card deck plus an additional Joker is used to play this game. When you sit down at the table, whether that is online or at a land-based casino, every player has to place their bet. Once everyone has put down their wager, each player will receive seven cards, and they must split these seven cards to form two hands. One hand has to be a 5-card hand, while the second has to be a 2-card hand. The former is often referred to as a high, big, bottom, or behindhand, while the latter is often known as the on top, in front, minor, small, or low hand.

When you are creating your two hands, you have to make sure that the 5-card hand is higher than your 2-card hand. To put it in other words, if the dealer deals you a J-10-7-5-3-A-A and you are not able to make a flush, you will have to use the two aces in your 5-card hand, not your 2-card hand. For your 2-card hand, the best hand that you can have is a pair of aces.

In other variants of poker, the joker acts as wild cards, but in Pai Gow poker it is known as a bug. It can be an ace unless it can be used to complete a flush or a straight. This means that you can have a hand that consists of 5 aces, which just so happens to be the best 5-card hand you can have in this game.

Once you have decided on your two hands, you place them in front of you, with the pairs hand at the front and the 5-card hand at the back (hence the nicknames that we spoke about above). Each player at the table is aiming to win both of their hands versus the banker. The banker could be the dealer or another player at the table. Every player's hand will be compared to the bankers. If both of your hands are better than the banker's, you will win. If only one of your hands is better, then it is known as a draw or push, and your wager will be returned to you. If the two hands that the banker has are better than yours, then you will lose. If there is a tie, the banker will win, which is the way the house keeps the edge. At some online casinos, you will have to pay a commission on any winnings you make, which is another way that the house edge is kept.

As you only have to beat the bank (and not every other player at the table), your odds of winning are higher than they would be if you were playing any other kind of poker.

The Highest Rated Pai Gow Poker Casinos to Play At

New Zealanders are lucky in the sense that there are plenty of really good online casinos that we can partake in some Pai Gow poker at. Some online casinos, like with most things in this life, are better than others and you will be able to four of the best in the table below. As casino experts, we know more than a thing or two about what makes an online casino great, so you can ensure you have a great gaming experience by heeding our advice. You certainly do not need to go to Las Vegas to have a gambling experience like no other.