United States of Casinos

Despite its popularity in some of the Californian brick and mortar gambling establishments, mentioning Pai Gow Poker among online casino enthusiasts just a few years ago would have hardly warranted any attention. Nowadays, it’s one of the hottest table games available at US-facing gambling casinos, so it should come as no surprise that more and more online casino operators allow their customers to clear their bonuses while playing this exciting game.

Rank	Best Pia Gow Casino	Review	More Information	Visit
1	High Noon Casino	Review	$60 No Deposit Bonus and a 200% Slots Bonus
2	Miami Club Casino	Review	$800 in free bonuses on your first 8 deposits
3	Slotocash Casino	Review	Up to 200%, $7777 bonus on your first 5 deposits

The rules are fairly simple, especially since it’s pretty much a westernized version of a popular Chinese domino variant. Pai Gow Poker is played with a 52-card deck and a single joker on tables designed for six players and a dealer. Each player receives seven cards and has to create a five-card hand and a two-card hand in an attempt to defeat the banker. What’s more, the five-card hand must contain a stronger combination than the two-card hand.

Usually, Pai Gow Poker games follow the standard poker hand rankings when it comes to determining the winner, but some casinos – particularly in Nevada – rank an A-5 straight above a king-high straight, which makes it inferior only to a straight from ace to ten. Nevertheless, this rules doesn’t apply in every casino, so I’d generally recommend reading the rules before joining the table to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

Another important aspect of Pai Gow Poker is the role of the joker. Usually, this card can be used to complete any straight or a flush whenever possible – otherwise, it counts as an ace. Keep in mind that some casinos expand on this rule and treat the Joker as a wild, which means it will always count as a card that’d result in the most advantageous combination. It’s also important to point out that winning both hands is needed to receive a payout; whenever the banker wins one hand and the player wins another, the hand is considered to be a “push” and no money transfer occurs. Obviously, if the banker wins both hands, you lose the money you staked.

The house advantage in Pai Gow Poker lies in the fact that the dealer wins all ties – so even if you manage to win one hand, but tie in the other the outcome is still a push. As you can see, winning in Pai Gow Poker takes a lot of skill and a fair amount of luck, which is why I’ve prepared a short review of the top 3 US catering casinos that allow you to earn lucrative bonuses while playing this game in order to help you stack the odds in your favor.

High Noon Casino: Best Pia Gow Casino

High Noon Casino may be based in the United Kingdom, but it’s definitely one of the most US-friendly online casinos I’ve seen in my entire online gambling career. The casino offers plenty of Slot, Blackjack, Roulette and Pai Gow action, but the important part here is the fact that it also offers a $500 Welcome Bonus, which is a 100% match on your first payment and which can be cleared entirely by playing Pai Gow Poker. All you have to do to access this particular bonus is to use a coupon code HIGHNOON100 when making a deposit, but if you want to play Pai Gow don’t make the mistake of going for the $2,000 bonus with a 200% match on your deposit, as the only games available for clearing it are Slots, Scratch Cards and Keno.

High Noon Casino supports the following deposit options: Visa, MasterCard, Instadebit, Eco, Click2Pay, Neteller, and MyPaylinQ. All payments will be credited to your account without any unnecessary delays. Keep in mind that the maximum amount of money you can deposit is $1,000, while the minimum is $20/$21, depending on the banking method you choose.

Withdrawals on the other hand can take from 10 days in the case of a standard wire transfer to a few hours tops if you decide to go for InstaDebit, ECO Card or Neteller. The minimum size of your cash out varies from method to method, but it’s important to remember that the maximum withdrawal is always $4,000 per week – any requests for a larger amount will be paid in weekly installments.

Read the High Noon Casino Review for more information on why High Noon Casino is one of the best places for USA players to play Pia Gow online.

Miami Club Casino: Best Pia Gow Casino

MiamiClub is well known for being extremely friendly to US customers despite all the annoying regulations plaguing the online casino market these days. Aside from Pai Gow Poker, the available games include numerous Slots, Blackjack, Roulette and Video Poker offerings.

The only Welcome Bonus mentioned at the casino is called Slots Bonus, but once you check the terms and conditions you’ll notice that it can be cleared while playing Pai Gow. The amount of money you can receive is $800, which is a 100% match on your first eight payments. Please be advised that the promotion has a wagering requirement of 20 times the sum of deposit plus the money and unlike Slots, Pai Gow has a rather low game multiplier of 10% – but in the end it’s still one of the better offers available at any casino site these days.

The supported deposit methods include Neteller, Skrill, Eco and QuickCash, as well as all the popular credit card types like Visa and MasterCard. Keep in mind that when it comes to withdrawals, the only accepted method when dealing with American players is wire transfer, which may take up to 10 days and is charged $45. Unfortunately, Miami Club Casino does not cash-out to the credit cards that were used when making your payments due to legal restrictions. The maximum amount of money you can withdraw is $2,000 – and just like in the case of High Noon Casino, if your request exceeds that sum, you’ll receive your money in $2,000 increments on a weekly basis until the entire request is processed.

Read the Miami Club Casino Review for more information on why Miami Club Casino is one of the best places for USA players to play Pia Gow online.

Golden Cherry Casino: Best Pia Gow Casino

Golden Cherry is yet another US-facing casino with plenty of quality games for your enjoyment, such as Keno, Slots, Video Poker and numerous kinds of table titles, including Pai Gow Poker. The casino has a neat $888 Welcome Bonus, which will give you a 50% match on the first two of your deposits – up to $444 each time.

To activate the bonus you’ll have to redeem bonus codes CHERRY1 and CHERRY2 on your first payments, but the important part is that this bonus can be cleared by playing Pai Gow Poker with the bets counting as 25% of their original value towards play-through. Please remember that in order to withdraw winnings from this promotion, you’ll have to wager the bonus and deposit amount 40 times.

When it comes to banking, Golden Cherry accepts deposits via credit card, Eco, Neteller, Ukash, ClickandBuy as well as the standard wire transfer; the minimum deposit amount is $25, while the maximum is $1,000. Deposits are processed instantly, while withdrawals may take between 5 and 10 business days. The minimum cash out is $100, while the maximum is $2,500, and any cashouts that exceed this value will be paid in weekly installments.

In Pai Gow poker, a player will aim to make two different poker hands from seven cards, a five card hand and a two card hand. The value of the five card hand should exceed the value held by the two card hand and there is always a need to come out on top against the banker.

Best Pai Gow Casinos For US Players

We have broken down the best Pai Gow Casinos for US Players below:

Rank	Casino	Visit	Review	More Information
1		Bovada Casino	Review	Best Cashier for US Residents
2		Begado Casino	Review	Deposit Bonus Up to $9999
3		Lucky Red Casino	Review	400% Bonus Up to $4000

How To Play Pai Gow Poker

The game is played with a deck of 52 cards but a joker is also used. The joker can be used to play as an Ace or it can used in order to complete a flush or a straight. All players involved with the game can place their bet into a circle which is directly in front of the players. After this, the dealer will roll a dice and this will determine which of the players around the table will receive the cards first.

From here, players receive seven cards and it is up to them to make two distinct poker hands, one of five cards and the other with two cards. The five card hand will be referred to as the high card section and the two card hand will be referred to as the low card section. Players need to ensure that their five card hand is the one that scores highest. If they don’t, they lose straight away so this should always be on your mind when playing Pai Gow.

If the low hand is higher than the high hand, this is referred to as a “foul” and the player will in essence forfeit the bet that they have played at this point of the game.

Pai Gow Poker Strategy: You must think of both high and low hands

In order for a player to win, their highest hand and their second hand must be better than the highest hand and the second highest hand from the dealer. If both the dealer and the player win a hand each, it is referred to as a tie or a push. In this instance, the bet is not won and it is not lost.

One of the things that helps to make Pai Gow interesting is the fact that any player involved with the game can ask to become to the banker. When this happens, every player around the table will compare the hands that they hold with the banker and not the dealer. In this instance, the banker will be the winner in any push or tie game. The banker will collect any wager that loses and they need to pay the winner from their own supply of cash. However, even if this happens, the casino will still collect as they take a 5% commission on all winning hands. This is the same as per the rules of baccarat or for mini-baccarat.

Given that the banker holds an advantage with the fact that they win tie games, it is often sensible to rotate the position of banker around the table. This is to ensure that every player has the same chance of winning over the course of an evening or an extended passage of play. Not every player has to be the banker and it up to players to decide if they wish to drop out or not. In some cases, this will see the banker role reverting back to the house or it could pass on to the next player at the table.

When it comes to ranking the high hand, the following order is the one that is commonly used in Pai Gow poker:

• Five Aces, which utilizes the joker card as being the fifth and final ace
• Royal Flush, which represents a 10, J, Q, K and Ace from one suit
• Straight Flush, which represents 5 cards of the one suit in a row and this is a slight change from the traditional rules of poker.
• Four of a Kind
• Full House, which is 3 cards of one rank and then a pair of cards of a separate rank
• Flush, which is 5 cards of one suit
• Straight, which is five cards in a sequence
• Three of a Kind
• Two pair
• One pair

Given that the lower hand needs to be a of a lower value than the high hand, once the ranking starts to dip down to two pairs and one pair, it is important for players to rank and position their cards accordingly. While the chances of winning may be slim if this is the level of cards that the player is able to play, it is better to have a valid pair of hands than to automatically forfeit.

Pai Gow, while always being a niche game in many casinos has managed to flourish in the era of online casinos. When it comes to finding a game that utilizes the rules of poker but provides them in a fresh manner, Pai Gow poker is a natural choice for many players.