The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the United States with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by the number of rooms and second-largest hotel resort complex in the United States behind the combined The Venetian and The Palazzo. When it opened in 1993, the MGM Grand was the largest hotel complex in the world.
- Pai Gow Poker Hands
- Pai Gow Poker House Way Rules
- Rules For Pai Gow Poker
- Pai Gow Poker Rules Strategy
- What Is Pai Gow Poker
Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, the 30-floor main building includes five outdoor pools, rivers, and waterfalls convention center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the Grand Spa. It also houses numerous shops, night clubs, restaurants and the largest casino in Clark County.
Pai Gow Poker is a casino table game and is played with a standard 52-card deck plus one joker. The rules are fairly simple. After making a bet, each player is dealt seven cards and must make two poker hands: A standard five-card poker hand and a two-card poker hand. Pai Gow Poker is loosely based on the Chinese game of Pai Gow which is played with 32 dominos. For this casino game, the dominos are replaced by a set of playing cards. There are 53 cards in all (the usual 52 cards plus one joker). In this game, you're playing against the dealer.
Located on the Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, the MGM Grand is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos: to the south across Tropicana Avenue, the Tropicana, and to the west across the Strip, New York-New York.
Games at MGM Grand
There are more than 2,500 machines for gaming as well as 139 poker and table games including Pai Gow.
The pokies machines at the MGM Grand range from 1¢ to $1,000 and include progressive pokies, video poker, and multi-game machines. There is a special High Limit pokies area, featuring pokies machines with payouts up to $500,000.
The race and sportsbook is a state-of-the-art betting area that features thirty-six 60-inch plasma TVs, along with twenty-four 42-inch plasmas. Bets are offered on a range of sports including soccer, football, boxing, MMA and more. They are also the first room to offer what they call 'SkyBoxes'. These boxes can hold up to ten guests and come with beverage servers and complimentary food
MGM Grand House Way for Pai Gow Poker
The following is the house way for the MGM Grand as mentioned by Wizard of Odds and taken from a document on the procedures of the game, dated 2002.
NO PAIR: Use the highest card in the high hand, then use the second and third highest as the low hand.
ONE PAIR: Always use the pair as the high hand and use the highest ranking cards for the low hand.
TWO PAIRS: Pairs will be broken into three groups (when splitting, always play the lowest pair in the front hand).
- 2's thru 6's — Low Pair
- 7's thru 10's — Medium Pair
- Jacks thru Aces — High Pair
Play the two pair as follows:
- NEVER SPLIT ANY TWO LOW PAIRS (6 OR UNDER).
- LOW PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- LOW PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- MEDIUM PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- MEDIUM PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
- HIGH PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
- PAIR OF ACES AND ANY OTHER PAIR: Always split.
THREE PAIRS: Always play the highest pair for the low hand.
THREE-OF-A-KIND: Always keep, unless Aces, then play one of the Aces for the low hand.
(TWO) THREE-OF-A-KIND: Play Pair of the highest Three-of-a-Kind for the low hand.
ALL STRAIGHTS, FLUSHES, STRAIGHT FLUSHES AND ROYAL FLUSHES
WITH NO PAIR: When given a choice to play either a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush, play the category which will allow the highest two cards to be played on the low hand.
WITH ONE PAIR: Play pair in front hand if a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush can be preserved in high hand. With Ace or Joker and pair of 10's, Jacks, Queens or Kings — play Ace or Joker in front hand and pair in high hand, unless a straight or flush can be maintained with an Ace in the low hand.
WITH TWO PAIR: Use two pair rule. (With two low pair, play straight or flush unless you can play two low pair in the high hand with at least an Ace in the low hand. )
WITH THREE PAIR: Use three pair rule.
WITH THREE-OF-A-KIND: Play pair in front hand.
WITH FULL HOUSE: Use full house rule. Example: (A Heart, Joker, J Heart, J Spade, J Club, K Heart, 2 Heart, play: Ace, Joker/J, J, J, K, 2)
- Three-of-a-Kind and pair: Always split and play pair in front hand. Exception: When the hand contains a pair of 2's, an Ace, King and Three-Of-A-Kind, you will play A, K as low hand and the pair of 2's and three-of-a-kind (full house) in the high hand.
- Three-of-a-Kind and two pair: Play highest of the pairs in front hand.
- Three-of-a-Kind and Three-of-a-Kind: Play highest of Three-Of-A-Kind as a pair in front hand.
FOUR-OF-A-KIND
- 2's thru 6's: Never split, play in high hand.
- 7's thru 10's: Split unless an Ace can be played in the front hand, then keep four in high hand.
- Face Cards and Aces: Always split.
FOUR-OF-A-KIND WITH A PAIR (OR THREE-OF-A-KIND)
- Always play Four-of-a- Kind in the high hand. (The only exception will be four Aces which will always be split.)
- Four Aces and a pair: split four Aces, except if you have a pair of Kings and four Aces in back.
FIVE ACES: Always split and play two Aces in front hand. The only exception will be if you also have a pair of Kings in front and five Aces in back.
Points to note:
- The bank cannot set an automatic loser!
- The 'A-2-3-4-5' is the second highest straight.
- The Joker will be used as an Ace or may be used to fill a straight, flush, straight flush or a royal flush.
When the Joker is used to fill a Flush, the Joker will be used as the highest value card not already held in the hand. Example: Ace, Joker, King, 7, 5 will be played as Ace, King (Joker='Queen') 7, 5 in the flush.
The system of playing pai gow poker
The strategy of forming combinations requires careful study. Let's understand step by step how to play pai gow poker.
The optimal strategy for playing Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker Hands
On specialized foreign sites devoted to Pai Gow Poker, and forums, where fans of the game, you can find a very detailed table of the basic strategy. They go into great detail on what to do with the cards. We're going to give you simple rules that should be followed to reduce your casino advantage substantially. Let's start with the fact that the entire strategy of playing Pai Gow Poker can be reduced to one rule: you must form the maximum combination of two cards, which is possible with a stronger hand of five cards.
Very often it will look like this: a fairly weighty pair in the high hand and one or two big cards in the low hand. Believe me, with such a seemingly unlucky hand, you'll often win on two hands at once.
Also, you'll have to get used to the idea that big combinations (a square, a royal flush, a straight flush) don't bring extra payouts, so they often need to be separated.
Now let's analyze various typical situations.
Pairs and combinations over no
You should pick the second and third strongest cards in the low hand and leave the strongest card in the high hand. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are rare and have almost no effect on your casino advantage. Virtual baccarat online casino.
Pai Gow Poker House Way Rules
There is one pair in the cards
Pair should be left in the high hand, and the two highest cards from the remaining cards selected in the junior combination. There are no exceptions. You will see the above two examples in over sixty percent of your pai gow poker games. So these rules should be memorized by heart.
There are two pairs in the cards
This is probably the most difficult case where you have to make different decisions, depending on the circumstances. After all, a player can leave two pairs in five cards, or he can divide one pair for each hand. As a rule, the older one of the pairs is, the more often they have to be taken out in a low hand.
Here are some basic guidelines for playing two pairs
- Always put a pair of aces in your low hand. Regardless of what cards make up the other pair.
- Send a pair of kings to the junior combination if the second pair is sevens or higher.
- If you have an ace with a weak card, split kings with a pair of threes or higher; queens with a pair of fives or higher; jacks and tens with a pair of nines and eights.
- Always leave two pairs in the high hand if you can take an ace in the low hand with any picture. But separate the two pairs from the pictures if there is no ace-king in the junior combination.
- Never split small pairs (sixes and below).
In all other cases, leave pairs together with an ace and any card. If there is no ace, split pairs into two hands.
The cards have three pairs.
Here it's simple and without variations: you have to take the highest pair in the junior hand.
In cards with one or two tris
Tris are played in different ways:
- Tris of queens and less strong cards should always be left in the high hand.
- Three aces should always be split, leaving a pair in five cards and separating one ace with the high card.
- The three kings must be split in the same way if the high card is a jack or lower.
- If there are two threes, you must separate a pair from the high card into a low combination.
- In straight and/or flush cards (straight flush, royal flush)
Streets, flushes, and straight flushes should also be played according to the situation:
- If the cards only have a flush or straight, leave the combination and put the remaining cards into a low hand.
- If there are two such combinations (flush, straight, or flush and straight), you have to keep one of them, putting the maximum possible cards into the low hand. For example, if you have seven cards in order, you need to separate the two highest cards. Similarly, you should sacrifice a flush in favor of a straight if that strengthens your low hand.
Rules For Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker Rules Strategy
With a straight or flush with one pair, a card from which is part of the combination, you have to act according to the situation. If you can keep a pair of cards and put an ace with a picture into your junior hand, just do so and forget about the straight or flush, which only allows you to keep a queen or a weaker card.
- If a straight or flush is caught with two pairs, act according to the recommendations for drawing two pairs, and ignore the straight and flush.
What Is Pai Gow Poker
- Play the straight and flush with three pairs following the three-pair guidelines, ignoring the five-card hand.
- You don't need to split the straight and flush with three pairs. Separate a pair or even an ace from them.
- Straight flushes and royal flushes are played as straight and flush in all cases.
In full house cards.
Usually with a full house, you keep the three in the high hand and put the pair in the low hand. However, if you have a very small pair and the side cards are very strong (ace and picture), a full house can be left.
In the cards of the square.
The caret should almost always be split into two pairs if the other cards don't have a pair or higher cards (such as an ace). We won't focus our attention on the rare cases of the square.
Located on the Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, the MGM Grand is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos: to the south across Tropicana Avenue, the Tropicana, and to the west across the Strip, New York-New York.
Games at MGM Grand
There are more than 2,500 machines for gaming as well as 139 poker and table games including Pai Gow.
The pokies machines at the MGM Grand range from 1¢ to $1,000 and include progressive pokies, video poker, and multi-game machines. There is a special High Limit pokies area, featuring pokies machines with payouts up to $500,000.
The race and sportsbook is a state-of-the-art betting area that features thirty-six 60-inch plasma TVs, along with twenty-four 42-inch plasmas. Bets are offered on a range of sports including soccer, football, boxing, MMA and more. They are also the first room to offer what they call 'SkyBoxes'. These boxes can hold up to ten guests and come with beverage servers and complimentary food
MGM Grand House Way for Pai Gow Poker
The following is the house way for the MGM Grand as mentioned by Wizard of Odds and taken from a document on the procedures of the game, dated 2002.
NO PAIR: Use the highest card in the high hand, then use the second and third highest as the low hand.
ONE PAIR: Always use the pair as the high hand and use the highest ranking cards for the low hand.
TWO PAIRS: Pairs will be broken into three groups (when splitting, always play the lowest pair in the front hand).
- 2's thru 6's — Low Pair
- 7's thru 10's — Medium Pair
- Jacks thru Aces — High Pair
Play the two pair as follows:
- NEVER SPLIT ANY TWO LOW PAIRS (6 OR UNDER).
- LOW PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- LOW PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- MEDIUM PAIR — MEDIUM PAIR: Split unless holding an Ace, then play two pair in high hand.
- MEDIUM PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
- HIGH PAIR — HIGH PAIR: Always split.
- PAIR OF ACES AND ANY OTHER PAIR: Always split.
THREE PAIRS: Always play the highest pair for the low hand.
THREE-OF-A-KIND: Always keep, unless Aces, then play one of the Aces for the low hand.
(TWO) THREE-OF-A-KIND: Play Pair of the highest Three-of-a-Kind for the low hand.
ALL STRAIGHTS, FLUSHES, STRAIGHT FLUSHES AND ROYAL FLUSHES
WITH NO PAIR: When given a choice to play either a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush, play the category which will allow the highest two cards to be played on the low hand.
WITH ONE PAIR: Play pair in front hand if a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush can be preserved in high hand. With Ace or Joker and pair of 10's, Jacks, Queens or Kings — play Ace or Joker in front hand and pair in high hand, unless a straight or flush can be maintained with an Ace in the low hand.
WITH TWO PAIR: Use two pair rule. (With two low pair, play straight or flush unless you can play two low pair in the high hand with at least an Ace in the low hand. )
WITH THREE PAIR: Use three pair rule.
WITH THREE-OF-A-KIND: Play pair in front hand.
WITH FULL HOUSE: Use full house rule. Example: (A Heart, Joker, J Heart, J Spade, J Club, K Heart, 2 Heart, play: Ace, Joker/J, J, J, K, 2)
- Three-of-a-Kind and pair: Always split and play pair in front hand. Exception: When the hand contains a pair of 2's, an Ace, King and Three-Of-A-Kind, you will play A, K as low hand and the pair of 2's and three-of-a-kind (full house) in the high hand.
- Three-of-a-Kind and two pair: Play highest of the pairs in front hand.
- Three-of-a-Kind and Three-of-a-Kind: Play highest of Three-Of-A-Kind as a pair in front hand.
FOUR-OF-A-KIND
- 2's thru 6's: Never split, play in high hand.
- 7's thru 10's: Split unless an Ace can be played in the front hand, then keep four in high hand.
- Face Cards and Aces: Always split.
FOUR-OF-A-KIND WITH A PAIR (OR THREE-OF-A-KIND)
- Always play Four-of-a- Kind in the high hand. (The only exception will be four Aces which will always be split.)
- Four Aces and a pair: split four Aces, except if you have a pair of Kings and four Aces in back.
FIVE ACES: Always split and play two Aces in front hand. The only exception will be if you also have a pair of Kings in front and five Aces in back.
Points to note:
- The bank cannot set an automatic loser!
- The 'A-2-3-4-5' is the second highest straight.
- The Joker will be used as an Ace or may be used to fill a straight, flush, straight flush or a royal flush.
When the Joker is used to fill a Flush, the Joker will be used as the highest value card not already held in the hand. Example: Ace, Joker, King, 7, 5 will be played as Ace, King (Joker='Queen') 7, 5 in the flush.
The system of playing pai gow poker
The strategy of forming combinations requires careful study. Let's understand step by step how to play pai gow poker.
The optimal strategy for playing Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker Hands
On specialized foreign sites devoted to Pai Gow Poker, and forums, where fans of the game, you can find a very detailed table of the basic strategy. They go into great detail on what to do with the cards. We're going to give you simple rules that should be followed to reduce your casino advantage substantially. Let's start with the fact that the entire strategy of playing Pai Gow Poker can be reduced to one rule: you must form the maximum combination of two cards, which is possible with a stronger hand of five cards.
Very often it will look like this: a fairly weighty pair in the high hand and one or two big cards in the low hand. Believe me, with such a seemingly unlucky hand, you'll often win on two hands at once.
Also, you'll have to get used to the idea that big combinations (a square, a royal flush, a straight flush) don't bring extra payouts, so they often need to be separated.
Now let's analyze various typical situations.
Pairs and combinations over no
You should pick the second and third strongest cards in the low hand and leave the strongest card in the high hand. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are rare and have almost no effect on your casino advantage. Virtual baccarat online casino.
Pai Gow Poker House Way Rules
There is one pair in the cards
Pair should be left in the high hand, and the two highest cards from the remaining cards selected in the junior combination. There are no exceptions. You will see the above two examples in over sixty percent of your pai gow poker games. So these rules should be memorized by heart.
There are two pairs in the cards
This is probably the most difficult case where you have to make different decisions, depending on the circumstances. After all, a player can leave two pairs in five cards, or he can divide one pair for each hand. As a rule, the older one of the pairs is, the more often they have to be taken out in a low hand.
Here are some basic guidelines for playing two pairs
- Always put a pair of aces in your low hand. Regardless of what cards make up the other pair.
- Send a pair of kings to the junior combination if the second pair is sevens or higher.
- If you have an ace with a weak card, split kings with a pair of threes or higher; queens with a pair of fives or higher; jacks and tens with a pair of nines and eights.
- Always leave two pairs in the high hand if you can take an ace in the low hand with any picture. But separate the two pairs from the pictures if there is no ace-king in the junior combination.
- Never split small pairs (sixes and below).
In all other cases, leave pairs together with an ace and any card. If there is no ace, split pairs into two hands.
The cards have three pairs.
Here it's simple and without variations: you have to take the highest pair in the junior hand.
In cards with one or two tris
Tris are played in different ways:
- Tris of queens and less strong cards should always be left in the high hand.
- Three aces should always be split, leaving a pair in five cards and separating one ace with the high card.
- The three kings must be split in the same way if the high card is a jack or lower.
- If there are two threes, you must separate a pair from the high card into a low combination.
- In straight and/or flush cards (straight flush, royal flush)
Streets, flushes, and straight flushes should also be played according to the situation:
- If the cards only have a flush or straight, leave the combination and put the remaining cards into a low hand.
- If there are two such combinations (flush, straight, or flush and straight), you have to keep one of them, putting the maximum possible cards into the low hand. For example, if you have seven cards in order, you need to separate the two highest cards. Similarly, you should sacrifice a flush in favor of a straight if that strengthens your low hand.
Rules For Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker Rules Strategy
With a straight or flush with one pair, a card from which is part of the combination, you have to act according to the situation. If you can keep a pair of cards and put an ace with a picture into your junior hand, just do so and forget about the straight or flush, which only allows you to keep a queen or a weaker card.
- If a straight or flush is caught with two pairs, act according to the recommendations for drawing two pairs, and ignore the straight and flush.
What Is Pai Gow Poker
- Play the straight and flush with three pairs following the three-pair guidelines, ignoring the five-card hand.
- You don't need to split the straight and flush with three pairs. Separate a pair or even an ace from them.
- Straight flushes and royal flushes are played as straight and flush in all cases.
In full house cards.
Usually with a full house, you keep the three in the high hand and put the pair in the low hand. However, if you have a very small pair and the side cards are very strong (ace and picture), a full house can be left.
In the cards of the square.
The caret should almost always be split into two pairs if the other cards don't have a pair or higher cards (such as an ace). We won't focus our attention on the rare cases of the square.
As you can see, even the simplified strategy of playing Pai Gow Poker looks not so simple. You can meet the recommendations, which on some points differ from ours. Particularly frequent discrepancies are found in the advice on playing two pairs or straight flushes.
This indicates that many attempts have been made to simplify the complex optimal strategy for pai gow poker. Also, unusual nuances of the rules (side bets and so on) may be taken into account. Yes, and disputes over some nuances still persist. In any case, the differences in the effectiveness of different versions are insignificant. If even the basics are observed, the casino's advantage drops to about 2.7%.
