How to Play Face Up Pai Gow

What Is Face Up Pai Gow?

Face Up Pai Gow is a variation of Pai Gow Poker in which the dealer's seven cards are dealt fully exposed before you set your own hand. The core game is identical to standard pai gow poker (you split seven cards into a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand, and you must beat both of the dealer's hands to win) but two rules change the economics. There is no 5% commission on winning hands, and in return, all main wagers push whenever the dealer holds an Ace-high "pai gow" hand (a hand with no pair, no straight, and no flush, the weakest possible holding).

Seeing the dealer's cards before you act removes the guesswork that defines the standard game. You know precisely how strong your back and front hands need to be, which makes Face Up Pai Gow especially welcoming to newer guests and a genuine differentiator on the Palms floor. The name says it plainly: the dealer plays face up, and you respond.

How Does Face Up Pai Gow Differ From Standard Pai Gow Poker?

The two games share the same goal, the same 53-card deck with one joker, and the same "win both hands to win the bet" rule. What separates Face Up Pai Gow from standard pai gow poker comes down to three things: the dealer's cards are visible, there is no commission, and an Ace-high dealer hand pushes instead of being played out.

On a standard table, the dealer's cards stay hidden until after you set, and the house collects roughly 5% on every winning bet, so a winning $20 wager returns $20 minus a $1 commission. Face Up Pai Gow erases that commission entirely. The casino recovers the difference through the push rule: any hand on which the dealer makes only an Ace-high pai gow becomes a wash, with bets returned rather than paid. In short, you stop paying a per-hand tax and instead surrender a handful of would-be wins to pushes. The comparison snapshot below lays the two side by side.

One other difference is worth flagging: in Face Up Pai Gow there is no player banking. The dealer always banks, so you won't be offered the turn to bank the table that some standard pai gow games allow. This streamlined, commission-free format has proven so popular that face-up versions have become the dominant form of pai gow on many Las Vegas floors, displacing the traditional hidden-dealer game at table after table.

How Do You Play Face Up Pai Gow, Step by Step?

Learning how to play Face Up Pai Gow takes one extra beat compared with the standard game, because you act on full information. Here is the order of play, hand by hand:

1. Place your bet. Set your chips in the betting area before the deal. This is also when you'd add the optional bonus side bet.
2. The dealer's hand is dealt face up. All seven of the dealer's cards land exposed, set by the casino's fixed "house way," so you can read exactly what you must beat.
3. Check for the Ace-high push. If the dealer's hand is an Ace-high "pai gow" (no pair, no straight, no flush) all main wagers push and your bet is returned. (Your bonus side bet, if placed, is still resolved.)
4. Set your seven cards. Split your hand into a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand, with the five-card hand outranking the two-card hand. Place the low hand in front, toward the dealer.
5. Compare both hands. Your five-card hand is measured against the dealer's five-card hand and your two-card hand against the dealer's two-card hand.
6. Settle the bet. Win both hands and you win, with no commission deducted. Win one and lose one, and it's a push. Lose both, and you lose your wager.

Because the dealer is face up, there is no moment of uncertainty about how to set: you're always responding to a known hand rather than guessing at a hidden one.

What Is the Face Up Pai Gow House Edge?

The Face Up Pai Gow house edge is competitive, and it stays that way through structure rather than generosity. Removing the 5% commission would, on its own, tilt the game heavily toward the player, so the rules add the Ace-high pai gow push to restore the casino's small, built-in advantage. The two mechanics are designed to offset each other: you keep more of each win because nothing is skimmed off the top, but you forfeit the wins you'd otherwise collect on hands where the dealer shows only an Ace-high pai gow.

The practical result is a competitive house edge (a standard Face Up Pai Gow game runs about 1.81% on the main wager) with the appeal landing in how it's collected. (That figure describes the standard Face Up game and is approximate, not a Palms-specific guarantee.) There's no per-hand commission nibbling at your stack and no mental math on every payout. What you win, you keep in full. That said, the house retains its edge, as it does on every game on the floor. Face Up Pai Gow is built for value and a smoother feel at the table, not as a way to beat the house, and no strategy changes that math.

How Do You Set Your Hand When the Dealer Is Face Up?

Setting your hand in Face Up Pai Gow follows the same ironclad rule as the standard game: your five-card hand must outrank your two-card hand, or the hand "fouls" and loses automatically. What changes is your information. With the dealer's cards already on the felt, you can set with a target in mind instead of setting for the average case.

The practical edge is in the close calls. When you hold a borderline split (two pair, a strong five-card hand alongside a high-card front hand) you can see whether you can outrank the dealer's two-card hand and arrange your cards to win both rather than settling for a push. If the dealer is clearly strong in one hand, you can prioritize protecting the other. As always, if a split isn't obvious, you can ask the dealer to set your cards "the house way," the same fixed method the dealer uses, which keeps you from fouling and produces a sensible split every time.

How Does the Face Up Pai Gow Bonus Side Bet Work?

Face Up Pai Gow offers an optional Ace-High bonus side bet you place alongside your main wager before the deal. It pays out when both the dealer's hand and the player's hand are Ace-high "pai gow" hands, and pays an outsized amount for that specific matchup, according to the pay table posted at the table. It's a small wager built around the same weak hand that triggers the main-bet push, the one situation Face Up Pai Gow turns into a payday rather than a wash.

The exact odds vary by table and are posted at the game. Because the bonus is resolved on the strength of the matchup and not on whether you beat the dealer, it can hit even on a hand that pushes your main bet. Like every side bet, it carries its own house edge and is best treated as entertainment, a fun long-shot to layer on, not a core part of your strategy or a path to coming out ahead.

Who Is Face Up Pai Gow Best For?

Face Up Pai Gow suits guests who dislike paying commission. If the running 5% cut on every standard pai gow win bothers you, the constant trim, the odd-dollar payouts, the sense of giving a little back on each hand, the no-commission structure is the whole point of this game. You keep your wins intact, and the cost shows up only as the occasional pushed hand.

It's also a natural fit for newer players. With the dealer's cards exposed, there's no guessing how to set, which lowers the learning curve and takes pressure off your first live session. And it rewards players who like acting on information: seeing the dealer's hand before you set turns each round into a small, solvable puzzle rather than a blind commitment. If that's your style of play, Face Up Pai Gow belongs on your list at Palms.