Pai Gow Poker Hand Rankings: Which 7-Card Splits Are Legal

Pai Gow Poker is a card game played against the dealer in which each player gets seven cards and splits them into a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand. Across 200,000 random deals, the average was 17.9 legal splits out of the 21 possible; a split is legal only if the high hand is strictly stronger than the low hand. Pai Gow Poker hand rankings follow standard poker order for the five-card hand; the two-card hand can only be a pair or high card.

That average comes from 200,000 random deals, 52 cards. The assumption that affects it most is conservative: splits where the two hands tie in rank, such as the same top card K and the same second card 9 in both hands, are not counted as legal. Such splits occur about 0.1 times per deal, roughly 0.6% of the 17.9 average; if a house accepts them, the count rises slightly. WSGC does not regulate this case.

What is Pai Gow Poker, and how does it differ from Pai Gow Tiles?

Pai Gow Poker uses playing cards, while Pai Gow Tiles is a different game: 32 tiles, 16 ranked pairs. For that game, use the Pai Gow Tiles strategy guide; its rankings do not apply to the card game.

In Pai Gow Poker, you compare your high hand with the dealer’s high hand and your low hand with the dealer’s low hand. You do not compare your five cards against the dealer’s two cards. Each hand has its own corresponding opponent.

Your task is therefore different from simply finding the best five cards in a seven-card holding. Keeping a powerful high hand may leave your low hand weak. Moving useful cards into the low hand can improve that side of the comparison, but the resulting split must still satisfy the high-hand requirement.

53 cards and the deal

The game uses 53 cards: 52 ordinary cards plus one joker, and each player receives seven cards. The dealer usually banks the game and must bank at least every other hand; a player may also bank, then playing against the dealer and the other players. The Washington State Gambling Commission’s Pai Gow Poker Game Rules, rev. 10/2013, also require the five-card hand to outrank the two-card hand. That version is the source for the wheel, push, dealer-tie and commission rules used below.

Keep the game’s deck separate from the calculation conditions. Our main check uses a standard deck without a joker. The limited joker-as-ace comparison discussed later does not model all the joker’s permitted uses.

When you inspect your seven cards, first identify repeated ranks, then look for possible straights and flushes. After that, consider which two cards could form the low hand. That order is a checklist, nothing more.

How to split seven cards legally

A legal split puts exactly five cards in the high hand and two in the low hand, with the high hand strictly stronger than the low hand. You must use all seven cards, and no card can appear in both hands.

Check a candidate split in this order:

1. Set aside two cards as the low hand.
2. Identify the combination formed by the remaining five cards.
3. Compare the high hand’s strength with the low hand’s strength.
4. Change the split if the high hand does not outrank the low hand.
5. Only then assess how the two hands might perform against the dealer.

For example, a low hand containing a pair of aces requires a high hand with at least two pair. A high hand containing only a pair of kings cannot support that low hand. Calling the five-card holding the “high hand” does not automatically make it stronger.

When neither hand has a pair, compare the highest cards first and then the next cards if needed. Do not stop at the first card when both hands share that rank.

The following results all come from 200,000 random deals, 52 cards, using the assumptions stated above. The displayed average is rounded to one decimal place.

These figures describe available combinations, not betting results. The strongest legal high hand also need not provide the most suitable balance between the two hands.

Five-card hand rankings

The high hand uses standard five-card ranks, from royal flush down to high card, subject to the joker and straight exceptions below. The ranking order is the familiar one from video poker. The site’s video poker calculator is a Jacks or Better hold trainer; it does not evaluate a seven-card split into two hands.

Read this table from strongest to weakest. The wheel note concerns the ordering of straights, not an additional hand category.

Wheel note: Washington’s rules, rev. 10/2013, allow an exception for some games: the A-2-3-4-5 straight ranks above a king-high straight and below A-K-Q-J-10.

Four aces and a joker played as an ace make five aces. The cited WSGC provisions do not say where that combination ranks, so check the table’s own rules.

Within the same category, the ranks of the cards matter. A higher pair beats a lower pair. When the main combination is equal, the remaining cards may be needed to settle the comparison.

This table ranks a completed high hand. It does not tell you which two cards to remove from your seven cards: you still need to evaluate the low hand and check whether the entire split is legal.

Two-card hand rankings

The low hand has only two categories: pair and high card. “Any pair beats any two unmatched cards,” as explained by pagat.com, updated 1 December 2016.

A low pair therefore beats an unmatched ace-high hand. Two high cards of different ranks remain a high-card hand, even if they share a suit or are consecutive.

Do not apply five-card categories to this hand. Two suited cards do not make a flush, and two consecutive cards do not make a straight.

When your seven cards contain two pairs, splitting them between the hands may strengthen the low hand. However, if this leaves only a lower pair in the high hand and a higher pair in the low hand, you have an improper split.

The joker and the A-2-3-4-5 straight

The joker may act as an ace or complete a straight or flush. It is not unrestricted: you cannot assign it any rank merely because that would create a useful pair.

For each candidate hand, identify the joker’s role. If it is not completing a straight or flush, treat it as an ace under the Washington rules used here.

The joker-as-ace variant of the check—200,000 random deals, 53 cards—reported two pair or better at 38.9%, with an average of 17.9 legal splits. The difference from the main run (39.0% against 38.9%) is within sampling noise for two samples of 200,000 deals, about ±0.3 points. This limited variant does not evaluate the joker’s full ability to complete straights and flushes.

Washington’s rules, rev. 10/2013, allow an exception in some games: the A-2-3-4-5 straight (wheel) beats a king-high straight but loses to A-K-Q-J-10. You cannot assume that treating the ace as low determines where this straight ranks.

CardPlayer’s guide, updated 26 August 2025, at cardplayer.com instead calls it the second-lowest straight. The disagreement depends on the house and rule version; this article follows the dated Washington version. Check the applicable table rules rather than importing a straight ranking from another poker game.

Payouts: push, ties to the dealer, and commission up to 5%

You win even money only when both of your hands beat the corresponding dealer hands. One win and one loss produces a push, while a tie in either individual comparison counts for the dealer under Washington’s rules, rev. 10/2013.

Resolve each hand separately before deciding the result of the bet:

A push returns your stake without a win or loss. It is not the same thing as tying an individual hand.

The same Washington rules allow commission up to 5% on winning hands. This is an upper limit in the cited rules, not a claim that every table charges the same rate.

For a round-number example, a $10 win pays $0.50 commission (5% of $10), leaving a net win of $9.50. This assumes exactly 5% commission; no additional rounding is needed. The returned original stake is separate from the net win because it was already your money.

Worked example: 18 legal splits out of 21

For the player’s K♠ K♥ 9♣ 7♦ 4♠ 3♥ 2♣, enumeration finds 18 legal splits out of 21. The sample banker has high Q♠ J♥ 8♣ 6♦ 4♥ and low 8♦ 5♣. Three splits are improper because the high hand is weaker than the low hand; of the 18 legal splits, 12 win both hands, 6 push, and none lose. This is an educational comparison with the banker from the example, not a casino house way; the results change with another banker.

Schematic of the example: of 21 splits of seven cards, 18 are legal, 12 win both hands, 6 push and 3 are improper splitsEducational calculation for one example: a sample banker, not a casino house way.

Read these counts as different ways to arrange one holding, not as a sequence of played deals. They are counts for this one holding, not a forecast.

The example separates two checks. First, remove improper splits. Then compare each remaining high hand and low hand with the matching banker hand. Reversing that order can make an attractive comparison look usable before you notice that its split violates the rules.

The dealer’s house way and its limits

The house way is each casino’s predetermined policy for setting the dealer’s cards, and it must be posted under Washington’s rules, section 8. It is not an optimal strategy for the player.

The policy gives the dealer a consistent way to divide a holding. It does not establish that you should always divide the same cards in the same way.

Before playing, check:

• Where the house way is posted.
• How it divides pairs and stronger combinations.
• Where the A-2-3-4-5 straight ranks.
• How the joker may be used.
• What commission applies to a win.

Do not treat a split as correct merely because it resembles something a dealer would do. Assess legality, both hands’ strength, and the comparison rules separately: no split guarantees a profit.