Hell's Kitchen
3 February 2003
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
Hell broke out at our kitchen table poker game
last Friday night. Quite an argument ignited
over the following hand in Pai Gow Poker. Does
the five card straight of 9, 10, J, Q, K beat a
Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 straight? Scooter T.
BASIC QUESTION: IS THIS THE HAND YOU'LL DIE FOR?
BASIC ANSWER: 'TAIN'T WORTH IT, FRIEND.
Pai Gow poker is a banking poker game played
today in most casinos and California card rooms.
The object of Pai Gow poker is to make two poker
hands that beat the banker's (in your case
"Kitchen opponents'") hands.
Each player is dealt seven cards that he makes
into a five-card hand (the "high hand") and a
two-card hand (the "low hand"). The hands are
played and ranked like traditional poker hands,
but with a couple of exceptions. Your question,
Scooter, highlights one of them. An Ace, 2, 3,
4, 5 is the second highest straight possible.
Only a 10, J, Q, K, Ace beats it, but not a 9,
10, J, Q, K straight.
Another deviation from traditional poker is that
the hand-four Aces and a Joker -- always beats a
royal flush. Now that we have settled last
Friday night's Brouhaha, the most High Queen
Goddess of Pai Gow, the honorable Hung Lo,
ordains that the losing Bob-a-looie will buy all
the beer and munchies at your next game, but is
forbidden to sing in Mandarin.
Dear Mark,
What are the differences between a "Don't Pass"
and a "Don't Come" bet in craps? Stan J.
The opposite side of a Pass or Come bet is the
Don't Pass or Don't Come wager. And though being
a "wrong" bettor might get you elected to public
office, if the 3 rolls, you and the casino get
paid, but not your fellow stake-holders, all
rooting for the Point on the game.
As to your question, on any differences between
a "Don't come" and a "Don't pass" bet in craps,
there is very little. A Don't Pass bet is placed
immediately before a "come out" roll, whereas a
Don't Come bet is made after the come out roll
and a point has been made. In all other respects
a Don't Come bet it is exactly like a Don't Pass
bet. Both wagers have a house edge of 1.40%,
compared to a 1.41% casino advantage for a Pass
line or Come bet.
Dear Mark,
Please explain a "lay" bet in craps. Clint S.
With a "lay" bet you are wagering that a
specific number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) will NOT
appear before a 7 rolls. In casino cant, making
a lay bet is also called "buying behind" the
number. The casino takes a 5% commission on the
winnings on these bets. This 5% is usually taken
on the front end (though some casinos take it
after the win) and figured on the amount that
you could win but not on the size of your bet.
The house edge ranges from 2.5% behind the 4 and
10 to 4.2% behind the 6 and 8.
Gambling quote of the week: "The only difference
between bucking a game with a house percentage
of one percent or less compared to bucking a
game which has a much higher percentage is that
the player bucking the higher percentage goes
broke much sooner." Elmer West
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