pai gow: is vegas or california better odds?

[Bulbarainey]

For pai gow, at LA casinos a fee of $1 is taken for bets up to $100. In vegas, a 5% commission is taken on all bets. Given all the frequent pushes in pai gow, which is better?

[Double Down]

It's better in Cali for a few reasons.
In either game, you need to bank about 12x as much as you wager as a player. Problem with Vegas paigow is that opportunities like that are much rarer. The action of the other people combined might not equal 12x what you have been wagering. But in LA, if you bet the minimum as a player, you can easily bank 12x that when it is your turn to bank.

Also, in most casinos, you can bank up to 6 hands per orbit (and an orbit is 16 hands) so you can bank much more.

Keep in mind, it's +EV, but your advantage is razor thin. Also, if you really want to push the edge, you have to learn optimal strategy, which is a major bitch to learn. Took me months (I used to work for a corporation that banked pai gow) and it still only increases your edge by .4%. Optimal strategy makes card counting look like a walk in the park.

And the swings are huuge. My company combined actually once lost money over a span of 3 months. Not really a good game to make money, but if you're just looking for a game to play recreationally where you might make a few bucks, pai gow isn't a bad way to go.

[Bulbarainey]

tbanks for the in depth info... it seems fun to play here and there, better than california BJ, the fee rapes you there. Is it best to do 100$ bets because its a $1 fee up or is it better to play min's only and then do max on bank?

[lastsamurai]

If you are going to play paigow in california..dont even bother playing anything less than the $100...the collection will kill you...Unless you bank the games...

The key number to banking the table is cover 70% of the action...+++EV

[Double Down]

Exactly. Minbet only and max when banking. Don't think about your bets compared to the collection. Collection is just a separate, fixed thing.

Just so you know the stats, the bj actually isn't as bad as pai gow. No bust blackjack, played with perfect basic, gives the bank a 1% advantage (less than 1.3% at pai gow poker). Of course, the problem is that NO ONE knows what the perfect basic is for the game except for the corporation. We paid big bucks to Stanford Wong to create it for us. So most people are actually playing between a 2-6% disadvantage! Now, of course, if you are banking at blackjack, this is a very good thing, so that game also may be worth betting the minimum and banking the max.

There are also other ways to increase your odds at that game, but I could get majorly sued if I told, so figure it out yourself! /images/graemlins/blush.gif

[lastsamurai]

[ QUOTE ]
Of course, the problem is that NO ONE knows what the perfect basic is for the game except for the corporation. We paid big bucks to Stanford Wong to create it for us.

[/ QUOTE ]

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