Paigow Training Hai J Shen International Association of Certified Surveillance Professionals

Introduction  Pai Gow Poker is a variation from Pai Gow Tile  Originally from Macau in late 70’s  Introduced to USA in late 80’s  Play with 2 decks of 53 cards  There are 6 Players at the game plus a house hand  4 cards were not played during the game  The 1 st hand was determined by the random number generator or 3 dices  5% vig is charged on all player winning

Ranking  Pair Two Cards that have the same value NEVER split a pair  Three of Kind Three Cards that have the save value Only Split Three of Kind Aces

Ranking #2  Straight 5 cards that in consecutive numerical order Some Houses will break the Straight if there are two pairs involved  Flush 5 cards that in the same suite Some Houses will break the Flush if there are two pairs involved

Ranking #3  Full House Three of Kind & One Pair Place the Pair in Low Hand & Three of Kind in High Hand Four of Kind 4 cards that have the same value Break the four of kind according to house rule

Ranking #4  Straight Flush Straight with the same suite  Royal Flush Straight Flush from 10 to Ace

DAR Entry #1  Who Player Name & Account Number  When Time Entered Game & Departure  Where Table Number & Spot Number  How Much Play Buy in, Wager & Bonus Wager  Pattern

DAR Entry #2  Other Players On the Game Player is alone Player has friends next to him Player shares bank roll with friends

Coverage  Tri-Shot Coverage Table Shot It is a fixed shots that covers entire action of the table Overall Shot It is a fixed shots that initiated from the back of the player. It is able to identify the Floorperson Dealer and Players. Zoom Shot It is a PTZ camera that allows investigator to zoom in and look into specific hands and pay out.

Opening the Game  Spread cards in the center of the game  Placing the Joker in the middle  Check the front & back of the cards  Wash the cards  Hand Shuffle the cards  Placing the cards into the shuffler

House Rule Stratosphere Hotel Casino & Tower House Rule Low Pairs: 2s to 5s Medium Pairs: 6s to 9s High Pairs:10s to Kings Pair of Aces

House Rule #2  Two Pair Rules Low Low & Low Medium  Ace or King in Low Hand  Otherwise split Low High & Medium Medium  Ace & Face Card in Low Hand  Otherwise split High High & High Medium  Always Split

House Rule #3  Two Pairs Rule: Any Pair with Pair of Aces  Always Split  Three Pairs Rule: Highest pair in Low Hand  Four of Kind Rule: Split according to the two pair rule

House Rule #4  Straight or Flush Rule Keep the Straight or Flush If there are two pairs involved, follow the two pairs rule If there is a Straight or Flush at the same time, make decision to enhance the Low Hand

Dealing the Game  The 1 st set of cards were dealt to the spot determined by the number generator  The 2 nd set of cards were dealer to the spot on 1 st hand’s right hand side  The cards were dealt counter-clockwise regardless if the spot was occupied or not  Spread the remaining 4 cards

Dealing the Game #2  Players review their cards and set 2 card in low hand & 5 cards in high hand  Dealer review his/her hand after all the players finished with their hands and set the hand according to the house way  Dealer compare his/her hand with the player’s hand starting from his/her right hand side move counter- clockwise Dealer collect the losing wager & placing the cards to the discard rack Dealer push the player’s wager & placing the cards to the discard rack Dealer will leave the player’s cards and wager on the layout if the player’s winning and paying the player later

Player Banking  Player has to wager the previous hand  Player can wager up to the previous wager  Player can not bank the game more than once  The 1 st spot is the player banker  Player pays 5% vig on total winning

Player Banking #2  Player indicated that he is going to bank the game  Dealer placing the banker button in front of the player banker  Dealer placing equal amount of cheques at his/her right hand side  Game was dealt as if the player is the dealer  All player review their hands and set their hands  The player banker review the hand and set his/her hand

Player Banking #3  Dealer review his/her hand and compare his/her hand with the player banker If banker won dealer placing the house hand under the cheques If banker push, dealer placing the cheques back to the rack If banker loss, dealer placing the cheques back to the rack & collect the losing wager  Dealer placing the player banker’s hand at house hand’s position and proceed the game

Bonus Bet  Bonus Wager is a side bet that player can make Player has to have minimum Straight to win (with or without Joker) Player does not have to keep the bonus hand in the high hand

Bonus Bet Pay Table Straight 2 to 1 Three of Kind3 to 1 Flush4 to 1 Full House5 to 1 Four of Kind20 to 1 Straight Flush50 to 1 Royal Flush w/ Joker100 to 1 5 Aces250 to 1 Royal Flush w/o Joker1000 to 1 7 Cards Straight Flush5000 to 1

Envy Bonus  Envy Bonus is $5 or more on the Bonus Bet Player will not be paid if the player himself or the dealer hits the bonus Dealer will place a Envy Button at the bonus wager

Common Problem with Envy Bonus  Dealer will forget taking down the Envy Button if the player reduce the bonus wager  Dealer will pay 5 to 1 on Four of Kind  Dealer will forget taking down the Bonus Wager

Envy Bonus Table 7 Card Straight Flush$1000 Royal Flush$250 7 Card Straight Flush $100 5 Aces$50 Royal Flush$25 Straight Flush$10 4 of a Kind$5

Common Cheating & Tells#1  Press & Pinch the wager  Move or Increase the Tokes Dealer move the toke from wager to bonus wager resulting high toke amount Not taking down the Losing toke bet  Switch Cards Between two Players Introduce foreign cards

Common Cheating & Tells #2  Dealer & Agent Collusion Not Collect Losing Wager (Push the Loser) Paying Pushing Wager (Pay the Pusher) Expose the dealers cards Fail to set correct house hand Ignore the Players act Not charging correct amount vigs Floorperson distract dealer in the middle of the game Dealer will identify an in-experienced player on the game. When agent bank the game, dealer will sacrifice this victim player. Dealer will benefit from the toke.

Watch the Game  Observe the Opening & Shuffling Procedures  Make sure the 1 st hand was dealt to the correct spot  Make sure Dealer check the remaining 4 cards  Make sure Dealer does not spread the house cards  Make sure Dealer set house way correctly  Make sure the player handling the cards correctly  Make sure the take & pay procedures were followed  Make sure the cards were shuffled correctly before placing into the shuffle machine

Watch the Game #2  Losing Hand: Dealer has no pair Dealer has two low pairs w/o Ace or King  Pushing Hand: Dealer has 3 Pairs Dealer has strong High Hand but weak Low Hand  Winning Hand: Dealer has a pair in Low Hand & at least Three of Kind in High Hand

Watching the Game #3  When Dealer has Losing Hand, focus on the paying & vig  When Dealer has Pushing Hand, focus on the players hand to make sure Dealer did not pay a push or push a losing hand  When Dealer has Winning Hand, focus on collecting losing wagers

Common Dealer Error  Two Pair Rules Small Small & Small Medium: Dealer will confuse 6 as small and 10 as medium  Three Pairs Fail to place the strongest pair in low hand  6 Cards or 7 Cards Straight Fail to place the strongest card in low hand  Four of Kind Simply Split Two Pairs

Common Dealer Error #2  Flush & Straight Fail to Identify which decisions will enhance the low hand  Calculate Vigs $5 charges $0.25 $25 Charges $1.25 $375 Charges $18.75 ($300 Charges $15 & $75 Charges $3.75)

Typical Asian Play  Blue or Red Player is particularly wagering higher amount of money on Blue or Red Deck  Bank the Game and Beat Dealer Player will bank the game after one or more losing hands. The ideology is to receive stronger cards that dealer use to have. Normally other player will not play when Player is banking the game.

Typical Asian Play #2  Follow the Zin & Zen Player will increase the wager when dealer shows weak hands. Player will increase the wager when his weak hand beats dealer’s weaker hand. Player will increase the wager when his stronger hand beats dealer’s strong hand. Player will decrease the wager after consecutive push hands.

Typical Asian Play #3  Record play pattern All above play pattern was not mathematically proved. However, most Asian player has their pattern. DAR should record these pattern when we watch their play. The deviation from the pattern may suggest that guest may have knowledge about information that we are not aware of.

Macau Rules  Several Layer Deep The players were allowed to play up to 5 layer deep and the one player with highest wager makes the decision for others

Macau Rules  Player is allowed to bank the game twice If the player won the previous hand The player has to wager twice the first wager  The Player who bank the game only loss/win as much as he was betting

Pai Gow Terminology  House Hand: referring to the dealer’s hand  Player Hand: referring to the guest’s hand  Banker: referring to whoever bank the game  Copy Hand: referring to the player and the banker are having the exactly same cards  Pai Gow: referring to a hand without a pair  Fail Hand: referring to the low hand is stronger than the high hand. It is an automatic loss.  Joker: Joke can be played as Ace, Straight Flush, Even Straight Flush whatever strongest

Thank You ! The End