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Bonanza Pai Gow Side Bet

Introduction

Bonanza Pai Gow is a side bet for pai gow. I have had reports of it at the Crown casino in Melbourne, Australia, and the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. The bet pays based on the highest win. For purposes of the side bet, it does not matter how the player sets his hand. The following tables show the winning hands, what each pays, the probability, and contribution to the return.

 

The following pay table is reported to be in use at the Crown in Melbourne. The lower right cells shows a return of -9.61%, or a house edge of 9.61%.

 

Bonanza Pai Gow — Melbourne Pay Table

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Gee-Jun and Teen pair 200 1 0.000028 0.005562
Gee-Jun and Day pair 60 1 0.000028 0.001669
Heaven pair and Earth pair 30 1 0.000028 0.000834
Lame Duck 20 64 0.001780 0.035595
Two Pair 12 117 0.003254 0.039043
Gee-Jun, Teen or Day pair 5 1260 0.035039 0.175195
One Pair 2 5460 0.151835 0.303671
Wong 1 2704 0.075195 0.075195
Loser -1 26352 0.732814 -0.732814
Total   35960 1.000000 -0.096051

 

The following pay table is reported to be in use at the Commerce Casino. The lower right cells shows a return of -6.07%, or a house edge of 6.07%.

 

Bonanza Pai Gow — Commerce Casino Pay Table

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Gee-Jun and Teen pair 200 1 0.000028 0.005562
Gee-Jun and Day pair 100 1 0.000028 0.002781
Heaven pair and Earth pair 50 1 0.000028 0.001390
Lame Duck 20 64 0.001780 0.035595
Two Pair 10 117 0.003254 0.032536
Gee-Jun, Teen or Day pair 4 1260 0.035039 0.140156
One Pair 2 5460 0.151835 0.303671
Wong 2 2704 0.075195 0.150389
Loser -1 26352 0.732814 -0.732814
Total   35960 1.000000 -0.060734

 

A lame duck is a 2-1 hand, which can only be composed with a high-6, low-6, any 7, and any 4.