Barona House Way

Last Update: Jun 30, 2009

This is the house way used at the Barona casino, near San Diego. The Barona, like most casinos in California, treat the joker as fully wild in pai gow poker.

1. Pai Gow (no pair or better): 2nd & 3rd highest cards in front.
2. One pair: Pair in back, next highest 2 cards in front.
3. Wild One Pair: 1st & 3rd highest cards in front.
4. Two Pair:
   
   • High pair is A’s, K’s, Q’s: always play as Pair – pair
   • High pair is J’s, 10’s, 9’s: play as Pair - pair unless you have an Ace.
   • High pair is 8’s, 7’s, 6’s: play as Pair - pair unless you have K or Ace.
   • High pair is 5’s, 4’s, 3’s: Pair - pair unless you have QUEEN or higher
5. Two-Pair plus joker plays as Pair - trips unless highest card is 3 pts.
6. One Pair plus joker, plays as Pair – Pair
7. Three pairs: always play highest pair in front.
8. Three of a kind: Aces split 2 & 1; Kings and lower – never split.
9. Two Three of a kind: Put pair from highest set in front.
10. Three of a kind plus joker: plays as a pair in front, with trips in back.
11. Straight, Flush, or Str. Flush: Best hand in front with Straight or flush.
12. Straight, Flush, or Str. Flush with one pair: Same as above
13. Straight, Flush, or Str. Flush with two pair: Play as two pair strategy.
14. Full House: Pair in front, trips in back.
15. Full house or Quads plus pair: Pair in front, full house (or quads) in back.
16. Full house plus joker: Highest pair in front that will leave any full house or quads in back.
17. Four of a kind:
    
    • A’s, K’s, Q’s Always split
    • J’s, 10’s, 9’s Split unless KING or higher
    • 8’s, 7’s, 6’s Split unless QUEEN or better
    • 5’s and below Never split

Exception: A COMPLETE hand in back WITH a PAIR in front supersedes other rules.

My Pai Gow Poker coverage Rules, strategy, & house edge Dealer Probabilities:Shows the probability the dealer will form any given hand orless. Useful for making accurate strategy decisions. When to split a two-pair:My advice on when to split a two pair. Side Bets: Analysis of variouis side bets such as Fortune, Jackpot, and Emperor's Challenge. No Push Pai Gow Poker:My analysis of this PGP variant. Pai Gow Mania:My analysis. Washington State pai gow poker: In Washington often there is no commission charged if the player makes the Fortune bet. I address this rule variant in my "Ask the Wizard" column. New game. Play my new and improved Pai Gow Poker game. Old game. Play my classic old Pai Gow Poker game.

House Way for... Bally's (Atlantic City) Barona (San Diego) British Columbia (Canada) Canterbury Park (Minnesota) Claridge (Atlantic City) Four Queens (Las Vegas) Flamingo Hilton (Las Vegas) Golden Nugget (Las Vegas) Texas Station (Las Vegas) Trump Plaza (Atlantic City) Santa Ana Star (New Mexico)