Playing Pai Gow – Part 1

In a recent article, I talked about how I love to play Pai Gow and I gave you a little intro into the game. Today, I’m starting a beginner’s series on how to play Pai Gow. It’s an easy game to learn and we’ll take our time-going over everything in detail.

Quick Recap

Pai Gow is played with your typical 52-card deck and one joker card. You’ll receive seven cards and you’ll divide them into two hands. Your job is to beat the bank’s hand and as a player, you’ll have the chance to be the bank-unless the casino doesn’t offer that option.

Getting Started

The invention and growth of online casinos has really helped the low-limit Pai Gow players. It used to be that you’d have a tough time finding a Pai Gow game lower than $10 and even $10 Pai Gow games were hard.

Today, you can just jump online and find $5 Pai Gow games all over the Internet.

After you make your wager-and other player’s do the same-the dealer shuffles up the deck and deals out seven cards per hand spot. It’s important to note that the entire deck is used for each hand-unlike Blackjack where you just keep playing through the deck until it’s gone.

After this is complete, the hands at the spots where there are no players are taken. Yes, the dealer deals to empty spots. This is part of the game play. So, unlike Blackjack where players coming and going can affect hands, it doesn’t matter in Pai Gow.

We’ll talk about the bank later, but now that the hands are dealt and the bank is decided, it’s time to examine your hand. You’re going to break up your seven cards into two hands. The first hand will consist of one five-card hand, which is your best hand. Then the remaining two cards will make up your “2nd Highest” hand.

Now, before you rush out and player, there’s one important item you need to know. Your five-card hand MUST be the highest-ranking hand or you forfeit your money. For instance, you couldn’t put two Aces are your two-card hand and then have a pair of 2s as your five-card hand.

The strategy comes in decided how far to go. For instance, do you go with two pair as your highest hand and nothing as your 2nd highest hand or do you break them up? We’ll go over Pai Gow strategy in other articles.

Time To Win

Once all the hands are set, meaning they’ve all been split into the highest and 2nd highest hands, it’s time for the dealer to play. The dealer (not always the bank) will turn over the hand and set it according to casino rules.

To win, both of your hands need to beat both of the Banker’s hands. If you win one and lose one, it’s a push. Should one of your hands be exactly like one of the Banker’s hands, it’s called a “copy” and the Banker wins the hand.

In part two, we’ll continue with more on the Banker.

Playing Online Slots

OK, maybe you don’t get to feel the slot machine handle in your hand, but when you play online slots you don’t have to put up with the crowds, the traffic, or the person next to you spilling his drink in your lap. Online slots are hot and you can win a lot of money without ever leaving your home.

You can find multi-line online slots, progressive online slots , 3-reel online slots, 5-reel online slots and bonus online slots nearly everywhere you look. A lot of the online casinos have online slot club cards where you can earn prizes and bonuses just for playing.

The three-reel online slot machines have three reels and only one pay-line. These are the most basic of slots with the smallest jackpots.

All multi-line slot machines also have three reels, but they have multiple pay lines which offer more chances to win.

Bonus online slot machines offer free bonus spins which give you additional chances to win without risking your money. Some machines have a second screen where you can win additional money.

Online slots games are probably the most popular kind of gaming on the Internet. Although online slots are a game of chance, and no skill is required to win, you can increase your chances of winning more then you spend if you play strategically.

One of the best online slots strategy is to participate in online slot machine tournaments. Slot tournaments are very popular these days and you can find them at small and large online casinos around the world.

Online slots tournaments are exciting, fun, and there are some huge cash prizes available. In fact, some tournaments offer prizes as high as $25,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place winners.

Online slots tournaments are often not open to anyone who is not a slots club member. That’s why it is important to join online slot clubs if they are offered. You’ll usually receive notification of an upcoming online slots tournament via email or when you log into your favorite online casino.

Online slot tournament spaces fill up quickly and once they are filled no one else can join. Keep an eye open for upcoming online slots tournaments and join one if you can.

Another winning online slots strategy is to play progressive online slot machines. This type of game involves a network of online slot machines that are linked together electronically. A percentage going into each online slot machine is added to the jackpot. If a player hits the jackpot symbols they win the pot. You are usually only eligible to win the jackpot if you play the maximum number of coins for each spin.

Remember that playing online slot machines is fun, but it’s still gambling. Never risk more than you can afford to lose, and turn your computer off for the night if you’re having a losing streak. There’s always another day to play online slots machines.

Playing Online Poker Vs. Offline Poker Games

Internet poker scare a lot of people. Real casino poker rooms really panicked when the internet gave birth to the first online poker rooms a few years ago. And they were right to be scared because playing online is much easier and people might prefer feeling more comfortable.

The online providers felt at that time the good side of virtual poker. They didn’t need actual live dealers, they could perform 24 hours a day and could choose customers from anywhere they liked. This is a reason why some of the real life card rooms were really closed, not being able to compete with the great casinos and now with the internet as well. Some kept on, not wanting to quit, hoping and even spreading rumors that online card rooms are closing very soon, as people don’t trust them. But what was not to trust? Many people would rather put their trust in an unemotional program than in a tricky dealer.

The skeptics were very wrong. Virtual poker rooms are the reason why the poker business has flourished again, before them the poker had became an outdated game with a lowering popularity. So, internet poker helps the real life poker too. It saved the industry. Nowadays casinos and poker rooms are more popular than ever before and all this is the work of internet poker.

Online poker can offer services which real poker rooms never did .Lack of capital and fondness made them unable to do this.

Internet poker might be looked at as a school for beginners. They could practice with easy games before risking at tables with high bids. Of course the risk can be just a little one, because the players can take their chances and test their capabilities even for $10.

The internet is also a good source of information when it comes to poker. You can find tips on all poker sites, the pros reveal strategies and secrets of their game, and everyone comes out and helps the beginner that has no idea what to do first.

Virtual poker players can not be stopped to go and try out their skills in a real poker room. This is unavoidable and they all did it at least once. The internet allows the winners to have a much bigger income than in real life poker rooms, because the number of the players is greater. The online business owners have found this way a way to flourish their business and throw a helping hand at their opponents as well.

Another area the internet improved is communication. Information everything that is going on is available from anywhere at any time. So all the activity in the rooms and everything related to poker or your poker can be followed from the computer.

Playing Online Poker Freerolls

Freerolls are the free tournaments of online poker. There is no entrance fee as in real life tournaments and there are money prices offered usually by the organizer or by the sponsors of that particular game. How to play better if you are engaged in such a tournament will be explained in this article, given the fact that people play freerolls in a strange way, and there isn’t such a big commitment because nobody is loosing money.

When deciding to go on and enter a freeroll you must pick a moment when your patience resources are at the top measure. These types of tournaments last a lot mostly because there are many players involved.

After entering, you must play more aggressively than you would usually do. When having a hand like AA or KK you must raise or increase the bid. You will surely get a call, because of so many participants. And you need at least one or two or the bid will lose its power after the flop.

You must play fewer hands. Just wait for the proper cards and play them aggressively. If in normal poker tournaments, played for money, people don’t call all the time when they see a big raise from an aggressive player, in freerolls things usually are quite the opposite. If a bad hand appears, drop it. Drop even hands like 6-6, 4-4. But try not to be predicable because some players might keep an eye on you and if you end up playing the finals with them they can tell the way your playing style.

Take a good lock at your position. It helps to know when you are in the first positions and when you are among the last ones. If you get a hand containing Q-10, J-6 and you are in the first positions you should throw them. If on the other hand you are last then call.

As in all types of online poker games, you have to find a way to stay focused. There are many temptations if you get bored and nothing to restrain you from them. There is TV, emails, chatting, talking on the phone. All that must be avoided. Another thing that you must avoid is bluffing. The chances that someone would actually keep on playing are pretty high in this type of competition.

Don’t go changing that lucky card or draw. If you almost have a flush or a straight it’s tempting to go along with it, but when you have to give away many chips in order to do that it is not recommended. The one that raised the bid so high must already have something and you still need a card or two to actually have a good hand.

These types of tournaments must not be taken as a model. They don’t really mean poker, they are full of beginners and the lack of the actual chance of wining or loosing at every hand affects the normal ways of poker. Try not to give importance to hand you’ve lost or won here, just get over them quickly. Freerolls are not to be played forever because they can make you create a style of playing that is not recommended for real poker. Play freerolls when you are a beginner or out of money, and with the money won here play ring games or real tournaments.

Verified by MonsterInsights