Strip Pai Gow Poker Help

Pai Gow Poker is a common game on modern casino floors. The game is easy to pick up, but has intricacies for advanced players. The "strip" version of Pai Gow Poker is a bit more simple to play than the casino version, since there is no dynamic betting. If you're interested in a more traditional poker experience, try out the sister game Strip Texas Holdem Poker.

This version of the game is played by one dealer and five players: one user-controlled player (that’s you!) and four AI players.

At the beginning of the game, you are presented with a choice of characters to play. While each character has their own style of playing when played by the AI, the choice is purely cosmetic for the user. Four of the remaining characters are randomly chosen to be the AI players.

During play, the dealer hand is shown at the top of the screen, your hand is shown at the bottom, and the four AI players are found in between, on either side.

Playing

The game is played in rounds. In each round, every active player is dealt seven cards. From these, the player must select two cards to form the Small Hand, and the remaining five form the Big Hand. Both of these hands are scored according to poker rules (see Scoring, below), with the restriction that the Big Hand must outscore the Small Hand. The dealer and AI players will be picking big and small hands of their own, but their cards will be face-down to you.

Once you have chosen your hands, press the "Play These Cards" button to advance. The round now enters the judgement phase. The dealer's cards are revealed, and then each player in turn has their cards revealed. The small hand's score is shown, followed by the big hand's score. To determine which players win and lose the round, their hands are compared against the dealer's.

A round is won only when the player’s Big Hand outscores the dealer’s Big Hand, and the player’s Small Hand outscores the dealer's Small Hand.
A round is lost when the player’s Big Hand does not outscore the dealer’s Big Hand, and the player’s Small Hand does not outscore the dealer's Small Hand. This includes tied hands, which are called in favor of the dealer.
A round is a draw when one of the player’s hands outscores the dealer’s respective hand, but the other hand does not.

Each player starts with four items of clothing. For each round lost, the player loses an item of clothing. For each round won, the player regains an item of clothing, up to the original four. No clothing is gained or lost for a Draw.

The game is lost when a player has no clothes left at the end of a round. AI players that lose before the user loses must sit out for the rest of the game. If the user loses, the game ends right away.
The game is won when a player is the only player left with any clothes at the end of a round.

If you defeat three AI players so that only you and a single AI remain, the game becomes a Duel. During a Duel, the dealer does not receive cards. The two remaining players compare cards against each other at the end of each round instead of comparing against the dealer. Tied hands (which are normally called in favor of the dealer) are regarded as a loss for both players.

Controls

When not in the Judgement phase, your own cards may be dragged using mouse or (where supported) touch. Cards can be moved between the user's Big Hand and Small Hand. Cards dragged onto other draggable cards will swap positions.

The Auto Sort button appears when all seven cards are in the Big Hand. Pressing this button will order them low-to-high according to face value.

Most PC web browsers will let you play in Full Screen, toggled on and off with the F11 key.

Scoring

Standard poker rules for scoring apply to both hands. Recognized hands in descending order of value are:

Straight Flush

Five cards with consecutive values and the same suit.
Four of a Kind

Four cards with the same value. Note that it’s actually possible to get five Aces using the Joker (see The Joker, below), but it will only count as Four of a Kind.
Full House

A set of three cards of one value, and two cards of a second value.
Flush

Five cards with the same suit.
Straight

Five cards with consecutive values.
Three of a Kind

Three cards with the same value.
Two Pair

Two sets of two cards with the same value.
Pair

Two cards with the same value.
High Card

If no other matches are found, the highest valued single card available is compared.

Since the Small Hand is comprised of only two cards, only High Card and Pair can apply to it.

A Broadway Straight is a special name given to the highest possible Straight (10-J-Q-K-A).

A Royal Flush is a special name given only to the highest possible Straight Flush (10-J-Q-K-A all in the same suit), and is the highest possible scoring hand.

This game uses the Nevada Rule affecting Straights and Straight Flushes, which scores an A-2-3-4-5 Straight higher than any other Straight except for a Broadway Straight (10-J-Q-K-A).

For hands in which the primary match does not take all available cards, and would otherwise tie with a compared hand, a Kicker can tip the balance. For example, a user with 5-5-9-9-Q would beat a user with 5-5-9-9-J, since both hands have an identical Two Pair, but the remaining cards (Q and J) are not equal. More commonly, a kicker is often the deciding factor in the Small Hand, where for example an A-9 would beat an A-8, despite both hands being described as "Ace High".

The Joker

The Pai Gow Poker deck consists of the standard 52 cards (2 trough 10 plus Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all in four suits) plus a single Joker card.

In a hand, the Joker usually reads as an Ace. For example, the hand 5-5-8-A-Joker would read as Two Pair with Fives and Aces.

The Joker may also act as a Wildcard, but only to complete a Straight, a Flush, or a Straight Flush. For example, 5-6-7-8-Joker would read as a 5-6-7-8-9 flush.

Basic Strategy

The choice of which two cards to pick for your Small Hand is what guides your fate in this game. Developing a good strategy for this is crucial to victory. In the examples below, the two highlighted cards are the ones that should be chosen for the Small Hand.

If dealt seven cards that no matches can be made from (no Straights, no Flushes, no Pairs), you should always choose the second and third highest value cards as your Small Hand. You cannot pick the highest value card, since this would value the Small Hand over the Big Hand. You have statistically very little chance of winning the Big Hand with cards like these, so you should make your Small Hand as strong as possible.

If dealt a single Pair, always pick the two highest value cards outside of the Pair for your Small Hand. The logic for this is similar to the above; any single Pair (especially low-value pairs) in the Big Hand may be easily defeated, so maximizing your Small Hand could save your skin (or at least your underwear).

- or -
If dealt two Pairs, you have the choice of keeping them together (having the Two Pair in your Big Hand, and a mismatched Small Hand), or splitting them up (having the low Pair in your Small Hand and the high Pair in your Big Hand). If it’s impossible to make a decent Small Hand with the remainders (no face cards remaining, for example), it may be worthwhile to split them up, especially if you’re trying to regain clothing.

If dealt three Pairs, it's a good idea to choose the highest value Pair to be your Small Hand. The remaining Two Pair will still outscore the single Pair, so this is a legal move.

- or -
If dealt one Pair and Three of a Kind, you have the option of playing a Full House. If the remaining two cards form a strong Small Hand, absolutely play them that way. But since these cards are just two random cards, it's very likely that they form a very weak Small Hand. What's best to do in this case depends on your situation. If you are trying to win back clothing, splitting the Full House up into a Small Hand of a Pair and a Big Hand of Three or a Kind (both fairly strong hands) has a decent chance of winning you the round. On the other hand, if you are at full clothes and trying to maintain a lead, playing the Full House plus the weak Small Hand will practically guarantee you a Draw. Full Houses can only be beaten by Four of a Kinds and Straight Flushes, both of which are rare indeed.

If you are lucky enough to be dealt four Aces (or three Aces and the Joker), always split them up to a Pair of Aces in each hand. The A-A Small Hand cannot be beaten, since with four of the five Ace-valued cards in your hand, your opponent cannot possibly have the two Aces needed to form a Small Hand that can compete with yours. The remaining Pair of Aces in the Big Hand makes a fairly strong hand itself.

Always check your hands for a Flush! If you're concentrating on the values of the cards and not the suits, a possible Flush can easily be missed. Sacrificing a potential Pair or two for a Flush is almost always a good move.

The AI players have varying degrees of competency in terms of strategy. Generally speaking, the characters that look happy or flirty once they've lost some clothes are weak players, and the characters that look annoyed or embarrassed are strong players. The dealer AI always tries to play the strongest game it can. That said, these are all AI players, and not nearly as good as a strong human player.

Finally, always remember that despite any strategy a player may or may not have, the luck of the draw is usually the most important factor in this game. All strategy can do is give you an edge.

Credits

This game uses the Free Vector Playing Card Deck from freedesign4.me for all cards except the Joker card.

Also used is a modified version of the felt texture from noctua-graphics.de.

Version History

Version	Release Date	Features
2.0	September 6. 2014	• Integrated character system with sister game, Strip Texas Holdem Poker. • Added two new characters: Blackheart and Buck. • Game speed increased. • Help opens in tab rather than in pop-up. Help page restyled. • Added game title and version to character select screen. • Added joker icon to game and help pages.
1.2	June 5, 2013	• Fixed touch events. Tested successfully on Android Chrome and iOS Safari. • Five-way loss now properly acts as a game loss for the user. • Some issues remain with the help page on iOS, but I blame them. • AI personalities tweaked a bit. • Made draging card motion more responsive.
1.1	June 5, 2013	• Timing/stability fixes. Game will now run at intended speed regardless of frame rate.
1.0	June 3, 2013	• Initial release.