Pai Gow Poker

This has always been one of my favorite casino games because it’s low-key and usually friendly. It’s not the game for someone who wants a lot of fast-paced action, but it can definitely make you some money (case in point: a dealer named Harvey at the Circus Circus told me that he once witnessed a player turn $400 into $17,000 in one run, incredibly enough). Here are a five quick tips to help you maximize your returns when you play pai gow poker:

1. If you’re holding two pair, you should usually split them up—highest pair in the 5-card hand, the other in the 2-card hand. If you’re also holding an ace or a king, though, a better strategy is the keep the pairs together in the 5-card hand and put the ace or king in the 2-card hand.

2. If you’ve got three of a kind, keep them together in the 5-card hand. (If your three are aces, though, split them so that your 5-card hand has a pair of aces and your 2-card hand has the third ace.)

3. If you’ve been dealt a full house, most of the time you should split it up (three of a kind in the 5-card hand, pair in the 2-card hand). An exception is if your pair is very low and one of your remaining cards is an ace or a kind, in which case you should play the full house in your 5-card hand and the ace or king in your 2-card hand.

4. If you’re lucky enough to be holding 4 of a kind, most of the time you should split it up to make a pair for each of your hands. But, if one of your three remaining cards is an ace or a kind, keep the four of a kind intact and play the ace or king in your 2-card hand. (You might also want to keep the 4 together if they’re very low—say, 2’s through 6’s.)

5. Be the banker as often as possible.