name: pai gow poker
aliases: [pai_gow, paigow, pai gow, ez pai gow poker, no push pai gow poker, face up pai gow, fortune, envy]
category: Interaction
related: [casino, video poker]
description: |
  Pai Gow Poker — seven cards, two hands

  Find Pai Gow east of the Video Poker Parlor. Classic is in the main salon,
  EZ north, No Push south, Face Up beyond EZ. play pai joins; rules teaches,
  table rules displays the exact rules and Fortune payout felt.

  Place any side bets FIRST (bet 5 fortune). bet 20 is the main wager and
  commits the round: a lone bettor is dealt at once, and with several
  players the cards come out as soon as every active seat has bet (or the
  betting window ends). unbet main|fortune|pushace|all takes an undealt
  wager back. Each player and the dealer receive seven cards from a fresh
  deck with one Joker. Your cards are numbered 1 through 7.

  Type 24 to put cards 2 and 4 in your small (two-card) hand, or 13456 to
  put those five cards in your big (five-card) hand. Spaces and order do
  not matter, set 24 also works, and repeated numbers are rejected. Your
  five-card hand must outrank your two-card hand: a foul produces a warning
  and leaves your hand unarranged. A legal arrangement reprints the five
  high cards, a gap, then the two low cards with HIGH/LOW labels; type set
  to lock it and reveal the dealer. house arranges the house way and still
  needs set. autoset on locks any legal arrangement at once; autoset off
  restores the confirmation, and autoset alone toggles. Timeout or
  disconnect uses the house way.

  At the showdown the high hands are compared first (your high, then the
  dealer's), then the low hands. Each hand strength (for example PAIR OF
  ACES) is bold, yellow when that hand wins and white when it loses.

  House way preserves the best high-hand category, maximizing low within
  that category. Two pair/full houses may be split to put pairs in both.
  The dealer uses this same deterministic house way. It is not a claim
  of optimal strategy. Full details appear in table rules.

  The Joker acts as an ace, or completes a straight, flush or straight flush.
  A2345 is the second-highest straight. Low hands have only pairs/high cards.
  Exact copies lose to the dealer. Win both hands to win the main bet;
  lose both to lose; otherwise push. Classic charges 5% on winning profit
  (whole credits rounded down, minimum one credit of profit).

  EZ: no commission; dealer's best five cards exactly queen-high pushes
  every main bet. This is the partially-wild Joker version.
  No Push: no commission; split results compare shared player/dealer extra
  cards. Higher player card wins; ties lose. Joker counts as an ace.
  Face Up: no commission; the dealer sets and reveals BOTH hands before
  you set yours. Dealer's best five cards exactly ace-high (a pair of
  aces does not count) automatically pushes every main bet; the optional
  Push Ace High side bet pays that push: without Joker 5:1, with Joker
  15:1, or 40:1 when BOTH sides are ace-high. bet <amount> pushace,
  placed before your main wager and capped at half of it.

  Fortune uses ALL seven cards, independent of your split and main result.
  Only the highest listed prize pays, plus your Fortune stake back.
  Three pair pays 1:1; trips pay 3:1, even with a straight available (2:1).
  Royal match is a royal flush with a suited king/queen in the other two cards.
  Exact prizes are printed on the felt. This is published Fortune table 8.

  With Envy enabled, a Fortune bet of at least five also earns fixed awards
  when OTHER active players have quads or better. Never your own hand, the
  dealer, or unused seats. Multiple bonuses add. The other player need not
  bet Fortune. A losing Fortune stake stays lost even when Envy pays.
  Without Envy, quads improve from 25:1 to 30:1 to compensate modestly.

  stop before the deal returns your wagers and leaves; once the cards are
  out you must finish the round.
  A failed bank payment stays pending: settle retries the SAME result,
  without dealing again. No new round starts until payments finish.