Couple of Quick Casino Games Questions

Factual Questions
1

Hi. I have a couple of quick questions regarding some games played in casinos.

  1. Pai Gow Poker: A show on The Travel Channel the other day stated that Pai Gow Poker had the best odds among the table games; the house advantage is in the neighborhood of 1%, compared to slots, where the house advantage is 2-5% or more (sometimes a lot more). However, in my casino sim the Pai Gow payout if you beat the dealer is 1 to 1, minus a 5% take for the casino. If I understand this correctly, then that means that the house advantage on my casino sim is 5%. I don’t see how there’s a house advantage built into the rules of the game, like there is in Caribbean Stud Poker; you either beat the dealer or you don’t. Payout is 1 to 1 regardless of whether you beat the dealer with a pair or with a royal flush. So then one of three things is true: either my casino sim greatly exaggerates the house advantage; The Travel Channel greatly understated the house advantage; or there’s some mathematical principle that I don’t understand that makes the house advantage lower than the 5% toke.

  2. Caribbean Stud Poker: You have to beat the dealer and you get paid according to a scale (win with pair = low payout; win with 4 of a kind = high payout). However, if the dealer doesn’t have a minimum of AK then the hand is a push. However, at the beginning of each hand you can put a dollar (or whatever) into the pot so you qualify for the progressive jackpot that you win if you get a royal flush. What I don’t understand is, do you have to beat the dealer to win that jackpot? IOW, if the hand is a push and you’re dealt a royal flush, are you SOL on the progressive jackpot?

TIA

2

Never played Pai Gow, but in CS Poker you beat the dealer and win on a progressive scale depending on the strength of your hand. The side bet jackpot pays on other hands as well, but at a set rate.

It’s been a while, but I think a Flush is about where it starts. The figure on the Progressive scrolling sign is the amount if a Royal Flush is hit. You win this bet regardless of what the dealer has, in fact I was instructed to show any hand that qualified for the side bet jackpot right away…but you won’t win the regular pot if the dealer doesn’t qualify.

Different casinos pay different on the side bet…I hit 4 of a kind (and the dealer qualified) at the Stardust and the side bet only paid $250. The hand piad 20:1, so I won more from the hand than the jackpot. At the Nugget 4 of a kind pays $500 (or did a few years ago).

The $ side bet is a sucker bet (but you feel like a sucker if you don’t play it) you basically lose every dollar you put in.

CS is not a great game, it is a nice way to while away some time without getting rich or going broke.