The game known as Pai Gow Poker and played in casinos today, derives from a game that originated in Ancient China and that was played with a set of tiles not unlike Western dominoes. Confirming, once more, the old adage that "necessity is the mother of invention", a Los Angeles casino manager, desperate to survive against his larger and more powerful competitors, devised Pai Gow and a second game, both of which proved to be an immediate success.

The main modifications introduced by Fred Wolf in the early eighties were the replacement of the Chinese tiles by a standard deck of 52 playing cards and the incorporation of the poker oriented game play.

Pai Gow Poker utilizes a single 52-card deck together with a single Joker that introduces an important though limited wildcard function. At the Pai Gow table, up to six players may pit their skills against the banker who, in a casino, would normally be the house dealer although, strictly speaking, anyone at the table may undertake the banker's role.

In common with hi-lo poker games, the Pai Gow player is required to assemble two hands. In this case, however, it is not a high and a low hand that are required but one consisting of five cards and a second made up of just two cards. The second requirement is that the five-card hand should rank higher than the two-card hand.

Pai Gow Poker has its own terminology and refers to the two hands by a variety of names. The two-card hand is identified variously as the hand "in front" or "on top" or the "small" or "minor" hand. In a similar manner, the five card-hand may be referred to as the hand "behind", the "bottom", or the "big" or "major" hand. These names are not as illogical as they may first appear, since the terms "in front" and "behind" are used to describe the relative positions that the hands must occupy when placed before the player.

The allocation of seating and the dealing convention are both inextricably related and unique. Before players take their seats, seven betting positions are numbered counter-clockwise. A random number is now drawn in order to identify the position from which the deal will start.

The cards are now dealt in a manner unique to Pai Gow and unlike any other poker variant. Each betting position receives seven cards facedown and regardless of whether it happens to be occupied or not. Thus, in dealing seven stacks of seven cards, four cards will always remain unused. Once the players have taken their seats, any cards at unoccupied betting positions are discarded along with the four unused cards.

Without further ado, players must now proceed to build their two best possible hands, and according to their own assessment of their value, place appropriate bets.

Both five-card and two-card hands must now be compared with those of the nominated banker and, in the case of the five-card hand; the comparison must be based upon standard poker rankings. The two-card hands, of course, may only consist of pairs or high cards.

At this point if one of the competitor's hands contains a Joker, the holder may employ it in the role of a "bug". Simply explained, this means that it may double as an ace or be used to complete a flush or a straight in five-card hands while, when used in two-card hands, its wildcard role is restricted to that of an ace.

Winning requires a player to beat both of the Banker's hands. Beating one hand only permits the player to retain his or her stake whilst, when losing both, the player forfeits all to the banker. In Pai Gow Poker, the banker enjoys a small edge on that all ties count as a win for the banker.