Pai Gow Poker Envy Bonus Payouts

Fortune Pai-Gow Poker is identical to Pai-Gow Poker but with an additional bonus wager. It’s mandatory that the player have money on a normal Pai-Gow Poker bet if they wish to play the Fortune Bonus, they cannot play the bonus by itself. The player can bet any amount they want on the bonus; it doesn’t have to be the same amount as their original wager. The minimum a player can bet is $1, while the maximum can be either $50 or $100, depending on the house.
In order to win this bonus, the player must have a qualifying 5 card poker hand out of all 7 cards that were dealt. It doesn’t matter how the player sets their hand, if they qualify, they’ll still receive their winnings.
A list of the Fortune Bonus payouts will be posted either on the layout or on a sign. If you see “Royal Match” on the list, this is referring to a King and a Queen with the same suit located in the low hand.
No Fortune Bonus wagers are allowed on a Dragon Hand. If the player wants to tip the dealer on a fortune bonus bet, be aware that some casinos have a maximum payout for tipping.
If the player is banking then they’re allowed to make a fortune bonus bet and the other players are allowed to envy the Player-Bankers hand. But, as always, every casino is different so make sure you know your house rules. The house will always handle the Fortune Bonus payouts, not the Player Banker.
If the player makes a Fortune Bonus wager of $5 or more, then that player qualifies for an Envy Bonus. All Envy Bonus payouts are listed somewhere on the table. The dealer will place a button in front of the Fortune Bonus wager to show the camera’s that it qualifies for the Envy Bonus. If the player wins a bonus, make sure to spread the cards out far enough so that the cameras can see them clearly. The dealer will pay the player accordingly, and if the winnings are over $100, alert your floor. If the player doesn’t win a bonus, then their bet is taken but the dealer will make sure to leave the Envy button up. This way if another player has a qualifying hand then your envy bonus will still be recognized and paid. Only at the end of the hand will the dealer make sure to remove all Envy Bonus buttons that don’t apply anymore.
At some casinos, to make wagers do not qualify for the Envy Bonus. If there is a situation where more than one player has a qualifying hand, then all Envy Bonuses will be paid accordingly for each qualifying bet.
The player cannot envy the dealer’s hand or their own, regardless of whose banking. No matter how much the player wishes, begs, or pleads, the house will not pay the player for the dealer’s good hand. They are in the business of making money, not losing it.

Pai Gow Poker basics

• Envy Bonus—An additional fixed sum payout made to a player who placed a Qualifying Wager when another player at the Pai Gow Poker table is the holder of an Envy Bonus Qualifying Hand. Envy Bonus Qualifying Hand —A player’s Pai Gow Poker hand with a rank of a four-of-a-kind or better formed from the seven cards dealt to a player.
• EZ Pai Gow Poker—A variation of Pai Gow Poker in which vigorish is not collected. Envy bonus- shall mean an additional fixed sum payoff made to a player who placed a bonus wager of at least $5.00 when another player at the pai gow poker table is the holder of a premium qualifying poker hand.

5 cards and 2 cards

The rules of Pai Gow Poker are relatively simple: each player receives seven cards and splits them into two separate hands - a hand of five cards, called 'the back', and a hand of two cards, called 'the front'.

NB The five card hand must always rank higher than the two.

That’s called a push. Pushes do not result in Pai Gow Poker payouts. Keep in mind that pushes happen in 41.48% of the hands you’ll play. If you’re waiting for a payout after winning a single hand, you’re going to feel frustrated. How The Commission Affects Pai Gow Poker Payouts. Let’s suppose you bet $20 and win both hands. A 'pai gow' in pai gow poker is a hand with seven singletons, where no straight or flush is possible. This side bet wins if the player had a pai gow, the lower the highest card, the more it pays. The following return table shows the details. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.35%.

Win both hands

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If both hands beat the dealer's hands, the player wins even money or 1:1 for their bet (though the bank takes a 5% commission from your winnings). If both hands lose, the dealer takes the bet. If you win only one of the two hands, the round finishes in a tie and your bet is returned to you.
Winning both hands in Pai Gow Poker is not as easy as it may seem. Quite often, you'll have to compromise one hand in order not to lose, rather than to win (this is explained fully in our page on Pai Gow Poker Strategy). As a result, you should consider the game as an evens chance bet, suited to lower-risk players who enjoy turning a steady profit without risking too much.
Compared to, for example, Baccarat , Roulette, or the insanely exciting Sic Bo, it can be a little slow for high rolling, high-risk gamblers, who often prefer the following variation:

Bonus / Fortune Pai Gow Poker

Bonus Pai Gow Poker (sometimes called Fortune Pai Gow) is played in exactly the same way as normal Pai Gow Poker, except that you're given a bonus payout of up to 8000 times your bet if you place a bonus bet and your seven cards hand contains a winning combination - regardless of how you set the front and back. The winning combinations and bonus payouts are given in our Pai Gow Poker Odds table.
The reasons that Bonus / Fortune Pai Gow is more suited to higher-risk players are:
a) you're betting twice as much per game (the bet and the bonus bet) and
b) in the event of a tie, the bonus bet is not returned to you.
But if, for example, your seven cards contained four of a kind, you would receive a bonus payment of 25 times your bonus bet, regardless of your winnings in the 'normal' play.
The odds against getting these hands are larger than the payouts, giving a consequently higher house edge, but the possible payouts suit those who enjoy taking more of a risk.

Pai Gow Poker terms explained

The back - 5 card hand

The Five card hand is ranked according to standard poker rules. If you're not sure about these standard rankings, or just need a reference point, click on our Poker Hand Rankings page.

The front - 2 card hand

The two card hand has to rank lower than the five card hand. Again, standard poker rules apply: a pair of Aces is the highest pair, a pair of 2s the lowest. If the hand is not a pair, it is ranked as a high, named after the highest card i.e. J9 is a jack high. If two 'high' hands have the same highest card, the next highest card is used to determine the winner e.g. if both players have Ace high, one player with AQ and the other with A9, the player with AQ wins.

Joker Card

The joker can be used to complete a flush, straight or straight flush, or can act as a single Ace.

House Way

Pai Gow Poker Envy Bonus Payouts 2019

The House Way is the set of rules that a traditional casino would instruct its dealers to use when setting their hands. In land based casinos, knowledge of this would form the basis of a winning strategy (see our Pai Gow Strategy page). Some online casinos offer a 'house way' button. By pressing this, your cards will automatically be set for you using the same rules the dealer/casino uses. Obviously, this negates the edge you may achieve by setting hands manually.