Online pai gow poker: rules and odds

What is online pai gow poker?

Online pai gow poker is a card game where you build two poker hands from seven cards and play both against the dealer's two hands. RealTime Gaming's version appears in GamblingNews' list of RTG table games (opens in a new tab). No source we found publishes RTG's exact rules or its return to player, so this page explains the standard game and flags what to check in the help screen.

The game borrows its name and two-hand idea from pai gow, a Chinese domino game; our pai gow glossary entry has the short version. What makes it different from most table games is the push. Win one hand and lose the other, and your bet simply comes back, which happens in roughly two hands out of five.

That makes it one of the calmer games in the online casino games hub. Results swing less than in casino war or craps, and every hand includes a real decision: how to split your cards.

How to play online pai gow poker, step by step

A round of online pai gow poker follows the same pattern every time. Here it is under standard rules.

1. Place your bet. In standard pai gow poker there is one main wager, sometimes with an optional bonus side bet.
2. You and the dealer each get seven cards from a 53-card deck: a standard 52 cards plus one joker.
3. Split your cards into a five-card back hand (also called the high hand) and a two-card front hand (the low hand).
4. Check the rule that your five-card hand must outrank your two-card hand. If it doesn't, the hand is a foul under standard rules; RTG's help screen explains how its game handles that.
5. The dealer sets its hands using a fixed rule book called the house way.
6. Each hand is compared: back against back, front against front. Ties, called copies, go to the dealer.
7. Win both and you're paid 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission. Lose both and you lose the bet. Split the two and it's a push.

Many online versions offer an auto-set or house way option that splits the cards for you; check whether RTG's does. The house way is a reasonable default, and it's how the simulation below was run for both sides. The full walkthrough with more examples is in our guide to how to play pai gow poker.

Pai gow poker hand rankings, the joker and copies

The five-card back hand uses normal poker rankings, from high card up to a royal flush, with one twist: five aces (four aces plus the joker) is the top hand in standard rules. The two-card front hand can only be a pair or high cards, so a pair of aces is the best possible front.

Copies matter more than they look. If your two-card hand is K-Q and the dealer's is also K-Q, the dealer wins that hand. That tie rule, plus the commission, is where the house edge comes from. The commission entry in our glossary covers how casinos charge it in other games too.

How to set your hands: a simplified house way

Setting the hand is the one skill in pai gow poker. The goal is to give both hands a fair chance, because winning just one only gets you a push. The house way that casinos use is a detailed rule book; this simplified version follows the same logic and is close to what most online house way buttons do.

A quick example: you hold A, K, 9, 9, 6, 4, 2 with no flush. You put 9-9-6-4-2 in back and A-K in front. Splitting the other way, say 9-9 in front, would leave a weak ace-high back hand that loses most of the time.

Online pai gow poker odds: wins, losses and pushes

Because the number of ways to split two seven-card hands is huge, the cleanest way to get the odds is to deal a very large number of hands. A 1.6-million-hand computer simulation of standard rules, with both player and dealer using the simplified house way above, a joker in the deck and copies going to the dealer, gives the figures below.

So the player wins slightly less often than the dealer, because of copies, and is also paid slightly less, because of the commission. Neither effect is large, but together they produce an edge of about 2.66%, which rounds to 2.7%. The simulation's margin of error is under 0.1 percentage point.

These figures are computed for standard rules with a simplified house way. RTG's game may use a different commission, joker rule or house way, which would change the numbers. No source we found publishes RTG's figures.

The 5% commission and the pai gow poker house edge

You can split the 2.7% into its two parts with simple arithmetic. The commission costs 5% of the 29.0% of hands you win: 0.05 × 29.0% = about 1.45% of every unit you bet. The rest, about 1.2%, comes from the dealer winning slightly more hands thanks to copies.

In dollars: on a $20 bet, a win pays $19 instead of $20. Over 100 hands at $20, you'd expect about 29 wins, so the commission alone costs 29 × $1 = $29. Copies add roughly another $24, for an expected total near $53, which matches 100 × $20 × 2.66%.

Some land-based games let you take turns as the banker, which removes the copies disadvantage while you bank. No source we found describes a banking option in RTG's online version, so assume you always play as the player. Our house edge explainer shows how to read edges like this.

What real money pai gow poker costs: worked examples

Expected loss is total stake × house edge. Using about 2.7% for standard rules, here's what 100 hands of real money pai gow poker cost on average at different bet sizes.

Pai gow poker's pushes make sessions smoother than in most games. With about 41% of hands returning your bet, a $10 player's balance usually drifts rather than jumps. That's a feature for budget control, but the edge still applies to every hand you play. Our gambling budget guide shows how to set a spending limit before you start.

Pai gow poker vs other online table games

How does online pai gow poker compare on cost? Here are figures computed for standard rules on this site's game pages. They're not RTG's published numbers, which we couldn't find.

Read more on Let 'Em Ride, craps and baccarat. If you like poker hands but want a faster game against a dealer, Caribbean Hold'em is another RTG option.

Pai gow poker strategy limits and myths

• Setting hands well helps, but it can't remove the copies rule or the commission. The edge stays positive for the house.
• Dealer streaks mean nothing. Each RNG hand comes from a freshly shuffled deck, so past results don't affect the next one; see how RNGs work.
• Raising your bet after losses, the Martingale idea, doesn't change the 2.7%. It only makes losing streaks more expensive.
• Bonus side bets with big payouts for straight flushes or five aces generally carry a higher edge than the main bet. Check their pay table before you play them.

The realistic aim is to set every hand sensibly and to bet an amount that fits your budget. Losses are likely over time.

Online pai gow poker and casino bonus terms

Bonuses at offshore RTG casinos are designed for slots. Silver Oak's own terms name Pai Gow Poker in their list of games excluded from bonus play, alongside baccarat, craps, roulette and sic bo. SlotoCash's terms exclude table games by default. Esports.gg, a third-party site, describes Slot Madness's welcome bonus as valid on slots and keno.

If you play an excluded game with bonus money, the casino can remove the bonus and any winnings. Play pai gow poker with your own cash balance, or finish any bonus first. Our guides to bonus game weighting and the table games bonus explain the rules casinos use.

RTG pai gow poker: software and fairness

RealTime Gaming was set up in Atlanta in 1998, according to Wikipedia and other reference sites, and PokerListings reports that it adopted the SpinLogic Gaming name for its US-facing business in 2022. See our RTG software page for the full history.

LCB and GamblingNews report that RTG games are tested by Technical Systems Testing (TST). We found no public certificate or RTP for Pai Gow Poker specifically. The figures on this page are computed for standard rules; if you want to judge RTG's version, read its help screen for the commission rate, joker rule and tie rule.

Is online pai gow poker legal in the USA?

State law decides. Seven states license real-money online casinos: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Players in those states can use state-licensed sites with state-backed protections; our list of states with legal online casinos has the details.

The RTG casinos below are offshore. They aren't licensed or regulated by any US state, so there's no state regulator to take a complaint to and no state protection for your balance. The Michigan Gaming Control Board has named several of them in cease-and-desist releases. Federal law (the UIGEA) targets payment processing rather than players, so check your own state's rules; our page on offshore casino legality explains more.

Where to play online pai gow poker: RTG casinos with an offer via our links

We picked these three because there's at least some evidence they carry Pai Gow Poker. Third-party game lists for the Slot Madness and Planet 7 group include it, and Silver Oak's own terms name it among excluded bonus games. Still, check the table games section of the lobby before you deposit. All three are offshore casinos, not licensed by any US state; check your state's law first. We earn commission from these links, and our order is commercial.

• Slot Madness Casino: $2,500 Welcome Bonus + 50 Free Spins, via our link (new players, 21+ or 18+ where allowed, terms apply).
• Silver Oak Casino: $2,500 Welcome Bonus + 50 Free Spins, via our link (new players, 21+ or 18+ where allowed, terms apply).
• Planet 7 Casino: $2,750 Welcome Bonus + 45 Free Spins, via our link (new players, 21+ or 18+ where allowed, terms apply).

Slot Madness: its own terms couldn't be read. LCB's Slot Madness listing (opens in a new tab), a third-party source, reports code MAD275 at 275% up to $2,750, a $30 minimum deposit, 30x (bonus + deposit) on slots and no max cashout. The Michigan Gaming Control Board named it in an August 14, 2025 release (opens in a new tab). See the Slot Madness review.

Silver Oak: its own offer page advertises $10,000 as a 100% match on each of the first ten deposits with no max withdrawal, but the offer page says 30x and its terms and conditions (opens in a new tab) say 40x for slots, so confirm before claiming. Deposits start at $30, and pai gow poker is excluded from bonus play. Michigan's board named it on April 9, 2025. See the Silver Oak review.

Planet 7: LCB reports code WELCOME200 at 200%, 30x (bonus + deposit) on slots and a $1,000 max cashout, with minimum deposits of $30 by card and $5 by Bitcoin Lightning. The Michigan board named it on April 9, 2025. See the Planet 7 review. The casinos' own packages differ from our offers, so the terms shown at sign-up apply.

Pai gow poker is entertainment with a cost. If you'd like support, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), or see our national helpline page.

21+ (18+ where allowed). Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: responsible gambling tools and free help. Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738).