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Gaming Guru  Try Pai Gow Poker27 July 2021
By Frank Scoblete I am an aficionado of Pai Gow Poker, the seven-card game that unfortunately has not swept the nation. Luckily there are enough players to keep Pai Gow Poker tables available in most medium to large casinos. This game has replaced craps as my favorite game. I don’t know why the game hasn’t caught on like gangbusters. The game is leisurely, maybe 40 decisions an hour and unlike blackjack there are rarely (very rarely) players who attempt to tell you how to play your hands (if they can even see your hands). It is a game where your decisions matter too. While the cards are shuffled after each round, how you play your hands has a meaning. If you are the least bit nervous about how to do what you need to do the dealer will tell you the correct way to play based on the “house way.” The “house way” is an excellent way to play too. The game is simple. The dealer gives each player a stack of seven cards. When all the players have their stack, they are allowed to set their hands. There are two hands to set, a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand must be stronger than the two-card hand. For example, if you have a pair of aces and a pair of kings, you put the aces in the five-card hand and the kings in the two-card hand. However, there are many permeations to how you play each hand. [Please note: Let me recommend the book “Everything Casino Poker” which has excellent chapters on Pai Gow Poker.] The casino edge is about 2.6 percent but the relaxing nature of the game means you are not playing so many hands that the edge is devastating as the edge at a game such as mini-baccarat, which has a much lower house-edge on two of its three possible bets, but can be brutal with 150 hands being played per hour. Pai Gow Poker has many pushes which also help keep the number of hands low. Now there is a new option for Pai Gow Poker called Face-Up Pai Gow Poker. Usually when casinos add new types of games or options to traditional games those games are not as good as the originals. Face-Up Pai Gow Poker is even better than the traditional game. Instead of the player making his or her hands first and then waiting for the dealer to set his hands, in Face-Up the dealer makes his hands first (which means face up) and then the players can make their hands already knowing what they need to beat the dealer. This option will change the nature of the game in many ways. And you can still ask the dealer what the optimum set is to beat him or her. The house edge on Face-Up is approximately 1.8 percent. If you can find this game then play it! One last thing: If the Pai Gow Poker game has all sorts of additional added “bonus” bets avoid them. These have been added to get more money for the casino and the house edges on those “bonus” bets are rather large. All the best in and out of the casinos! Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books and at bookstores. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Make a Killing: Slots or Table Games?20 July 2021
The greatest fantasy of casino players (and lottery players) is to make a killing. To tear to shreds the casino’s house edge and come home with wheelbarrows of money. “Look everyone, I killed ‘em. All that money is now mine!” Most players never get to say that. That is a given. If every player brought an ... (read more)
Slot Revolution13 July 2021
In a former column I discussed the evolution of the slot machine over an approximately 130 year period beginning in 1890-91 with the Sittman and Pitt mechanical device which ruled the bar scene for a few years to be replaced by Charles Fey’s true slot machine, the Liberty Bell, in about 1893. Other ... (read more)
Meant to be Famous6 July 2021
I was meant to be famous. I knew this from the time I could speak and understand what others spoke. My father told me so. In fact, he seemed to demand it. “Frankie, you will be famous one day. I’ll bet on that.” Of course, this fame would be in athletics, baseball specifically. My father told me from childhood that I would be the next Joe DiMaggio, who was the famous Yankee Clipper. ... (read more)
Ask Frank: Spanish 21 StrategyHello there, Living in Canada, I find that the rules are more liberal here than at other casino locales, such as the dealer standing on all 17s for Spanish Blackjack. In your book, Armada Strategies for Spanish 21, there is only a strategy for when the dealer hits soft 17... (read more)Ask Frank (Playing Winning Craps)Dear Mr. Scoblete: In your book Forever Craps, you recommend to play one Don't Come bet per shooter without odds in order to reduce your exposure to the house. I usually play at casinos that count the spread and odds. If I play one ... (read more)Bad Ways to Play Good Casino GamesYou've met this guy before. He's cantankerous, witless, and loud. He knows everything about everything when it comes to casino games. He's a self-made expert who knows more than all writers and mathematicians combined, and as he doubles on his thirteen against the dealer's ... (read more)The Craps to English DictionaryCraps is another country, a kingdom with its own mores, legends, myths, rites, rituals, superstitions and government. It also has its own language, much of it easily misunderstood as sexual or scatological references. For those of you interested in journeying to this other ... (read more)Craps Crap and Craps Gold - Part 1What do the following sayings have in common? "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." "Better late than never." "High fences make good neighbors." "Always play the Pass/Come and take full odds." Answer: The above statements are true. Yes, some people might quibble and say that you can eat as ... (read more)Frank Scoblete |
Frank Scoblete |
