mini pai gow?
 

For those who haven't seen it, mini pai gow is simply pai gow poker played with 6 cards instead of 7. You make a 5 card hand and a 1 card hand and play against the house in the usual way. The only other difference is that it's spread without any commission. Presumably, the since the front hand will tie so much more often, that makes up enough of a house edge that they don't need the commission.

Does anyone know what the house edge for this game is? I did a google search and checked wizard of odds, but was unable to find anything. Intuitively, it seems like it should be around the same as pai gow with a 5% commission (roughly 2.5% house edge), although it should move faster, which is a bad thing.

I'm asking because I'm heading to vegas this weekend and I'm thinking pai gow is the perfect "drink myself even" game. The casino I'm staying at (Flamingo) spreads mini pai gow, though, and I'm wondering if I should go someplace else to play normal pai gow or not.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

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. Presumably, the since the front hand will tie so much more often, that makes up enough of a house edge that they don't need the commission.

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Presumably, this means that there is no ouside bank.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

There's no house advantage in the game you describe w/out antes.

Sounds good to me.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

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There's no house advantage in the game you describe w/out antes.

Sounds good to me.

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By "antes", I assume you meant commissions.

There certainly is a house advantage if the option for an outside bank is eliminated.

The chance for a low tie would be significantly greater than 1:17 -- first because the low hand would generally be an unpaired card, and second because it would generally be the highest unpaired card.

The house advantage may actually be quite a bit higher than Pai Gow. That would be my guess.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

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The house advantage may actually be quite a bit higher than Pai Gow. That would be my guess.

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Before I left I talked about this with some other gambling nerds, and this was the conclusion that we came to as well. Any time that the dealer has a pair or better and an A, he is guaranteed to at least push. The bug makes this even more likely.

I also ran a few hands out to see what it's like, and it's just not nearly as fun as regular pai gow. So good 'ol fortune pai gow was my drinking game for the weekend.

I didn't even think about the banker part, tbh. I know that banking is the only way to actually get in edge in pai gow, but I play it to just chill and drink and only lose a little along the way - I don't wanna endure the swings of banking.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

i played it at the flamingo in march. one other rule was that if the player is able to use the joker for their low hand (single card), it is an automatic win. so basically if you have a pair or better with the joker, you win.

i would be interested to hear exact odds. the banking feature seems much more +ev than the normal pai gow game since it has more ties possible and no commission. the joker rule is the only drawback.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

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the banking feature seems much more +ev than the normal pai gow game since it has more ties possible and no commission. the joker rule is the only drawback.

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If there's a banking feature in this game -- I'm missing something.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

there indeed is a banking feature. i believe there were 6 seats at the table which were all full. they would only allow me to bank every 12th hand. the player option didnt get passed along as it does in the normal game.

Re: mini pai gow?
 

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there indeed is a banking feature. i believe there were 6 seats at the table which were all full. they would only allow me to bank every 12th hand. the player option didnt get passed along as it does in the normal game.

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I sense an opportunity to make some money. All you should need is a group of five players giving you action >= 13x on an x minimum table.