Paigow Poker

• All suits (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs) have equal rank.
• The game is played with a single deck of 53 cards consisting of a standard deck of cards plus one Joker.
• The cards are shuffled at the start of every game.
• The minimum bet is 0 and the maximum is 0.
• The game rules and payouts are identical in both the real money and play money versions.
• The Joker always counts as an Ace except to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush. In these cases, the Joker is wild and can substitute for any other card.

• Place your bet by clicking on the desired chip at the edge of the table; to increase your bet continue to click on the desired chip. To remove a bet, click on the chips within the betting area.
• To place a bonus bet, click on the 'BONUS BET' area of the table. To remove a bonus bet, right click on the chip within the 'BONUS BET' area.
• Once you have placed your bets, click 'DEAL' to begin the hand.
• Seven cards are then dealt to the player face-up and seven cards to the dealer face-down.
• You must then select two of your cards to form the second highest hand; this is done by clicking on the desired card.
• The second highest hand MUST be of a lower hand value than the highest hand.
• Once a card is selected, you may also deselect it by clicking on the card again.
• Once you have selected your second highest hand, click on the 'DONE' button.
• The dealer will then reveal their cards and form hands based on the 'HOUSE WAY' as shown below.
• The hands are compared. In order for the player to win, he must win both the highest and second highest hands.
• If the player loses both the highest and second highest hands, the dealer wins and the player's bet is lost.
• If the player wins one hand and loses the other, the hand is a tie and the player's bet is returned.
• If the player's 2nd highest hand is greater than the Highest hand, it is a termed as foul and the player loses his bet.
• To play again at the same bet level, click on 'REBET' to start a new hand.
• To alter your bet level or clear your bets, click on 'CLEAR' and begin placing your bets again.
• Your game balance shows the amount of funds you have left available for the game (see below for more details on 'RE-BUY').
• If your game balance falls below that of the last bet placed, the system will prompt you either to choose a lower bet level or to click on 'REBUY' to add more funds to the table.
• The game rules can be viewed by clicking on the 'RULES' button on the bottom left of the game screen. You can go back to the game at any time by clicking on the 'GAME' button.
• Click the 'GAMELOGS' button to view the logs of the games you played.
• Click 'VERSION' to view the current version number of the game.
• Click 'REBUY' to buy in more credits to the game from your Gamebookers Account.
• To exit the game, click on 'EXIT GAME'.

The dealer deals the player seven cards face-up and himself seven cards face-down.

After the player has his seven cards, he must form two hands. The second highest hand must contain two cards and the highest hand five cards.

Once the player has selected his highest hand and the second highest hand, the highest cards are placed at the bottom area and the second highest cards are moved up in the section named 'SECOND HIGHEST'. Also, the dealer's cards are revealed face-up and arranged as highest and second highest hand).

The formation of the dealer's highest and second highest hands is dictated by the house rules. These rules are described below. The dealer's cards are now compared with the player's cards.

The Joker can be used only as an Ace or as a card to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush for any of the hands.

The player's highest hand is compared to the dealer's highest hand.
The player's second highest hand is compared to the dealer's second highest hand.

The result is displayed at the bottom of the table, and:

• If the player's second highest hand and highest hand are lower than the dealer's then the player loses the bet.
• If the player wins any one of the hands (highest hand or second highest hand), but loses the other, the bet is a push and the bet is returned to the player. A message is displayed for the result.
• If both the player's and dealer's hands are identical (i.e. when there is an exact match between hands, which is called a copy), the player loses his bet. A message displaying the result will appear.
• If the player wins any one of the hands and the second hand results in a tie, the bet is a push and will be returned to the player.
• If the player loses any one of the hands and the second hand results in a tie, he loses his bet.
• If the highest hand set by the player is lower in strength than his second highest hand, the bet is termed 'Foul' and the player loses his bet.

Highest hand - For the highest hand, five Aces (4 Aces and a Joker) would be the highest. Among the straights, a straight with A, K, Q, J, 10 would be the highest, with A, 2, 3, 4, 5 being the second highest. If both the hands have the same ranking, the higher hand is that with the higher cards. For example, three Kings would rank higher than three Jacks. In case of the same ranking, then the highest card(s) not being held in common determines the winner. For example, two Jacks with an Ace high beats two Jacks with a King high. The suit order of the cards is not taken into account when deciding on the winning cards. If a Joker is used in a winning combination, then the Joker will act as the highest card (e.g. Joker, 6, 5, 4, 3, rather than 6,5,4,3, Joker, where Joker will substitute as a 7 and not as a 2).

Second highest hand - In case of the second highest hand, the highest would be a pair of Aces. If both the hands have the same ranking, the winner is the one holding the higher cards. For example, a pair of Kings is higher than a pair of Queens. In case of the same ranking, then the highest card(s) not being held in common determines the winner. The suit order of the cards is not taken into account while deciding on the winning cards.

The 'front' refers to the two-card hand (second highest hand) and the 'back' refers to the five-card hand.

• No pair: place the second and third highest cards in the front.
• One pair: place the pair in back and the two highest singletons in the front.
• Two pair: split the two pair except for the following three situations:
• • Both pairs are 6's or less.
  • Both pairs are 10's or less plus Ace singleton. The Ace singleton is to be used in the front hand with the next highest card.
  • One pair of face cards, one pair of 5's or less, and an Ace singleton. The Ace singleton is to be used in the front hand.
• Three pair: place highest pair in front.
• Three of a kind: place three of a kind in back except to break up three Aces. Out of the three aces, play two at the back and the remaining one in the front.
• Three of a kind twice: place a pair extracted from the highest Three of a Kind in front.

Always play straight or flush in the back hand or play as a two pair in one of the following circumstances:

• Pair of Aces and any other pair.
• Both pairs 10's or over.
• Both pairs 10's or under with an Ace singleton. Play according to the two pair rule (i.e. play both the pairs at the back and out of the remaining cards, play Ace singleton at the front with the next highest card. The Ace singleton will not be used in the back hand.)

If the hand includes a Joker, the system will first try to use the Joker to complete a straight flush, straight and flush and then check for other combinations.

A straight flush is given preference over a straight and a flush and is played at the back.

• Full house: split except with pair of 2's and an Ace/King can be played in front.
• Full house with three of a kind and two pairs: play the highest pair in front.
• Four of a kind: Play according to the rank of the four of a kind:

• 2 through 6: always keep together.
• 7 through 10: split unless an Ace and a face card or better can be played in front.
• Jack through King: split unless hand also contains a pair of 10's or higher.
• Aces: split unless a pair of 7's or higher can be played in front.

• Straight flush:
• Play the straight flush in back except play as a two pair with:

• Aces and any other pair.
• Both pairs tens or higher.
• Both pairs tens or less and an Ace singleton.

• Royal flush:
  Play the royal flush in back except play as a two pair with:

• Aces and any other pair.
• Both pairs tens or higher. If the above-mentioned criteria are not met, a royal flush will always be played at the back.

• Five Aces:
  Five Aces will always be split unless a pair of Kings can be played in front.