Pai Gow Poker Software Creators
There are not too many different main providers of casino software to the online casinos. Many of these casinos have the exact same looking pai gow poker software. The only difference that you will notice between them is the casinos logo on the cards or table.
The one thing that is very useful for beginner players is that all of the software here does is not allow the player to make the lower hand better than the higher hand. If you do this in a live casino, your hand will be called "foul" and you will automatically lose your bet.
Here are some of the companies that create the casino's pai gow poker software:
Cryptologic Pai Gow Poker
Cryptologic's pai-gow poker software has a couple of unique features. Instead of having six players at a table, they show five places that you can bet. The one thing I like about Cryptologic is that the dealer's hands have been added and you can watch him deal out the cards. The others on this list have the cards turn themselves over. It's not a really big deal breaker, but it's a nice feature.
Online Casinos that use Cryptologic
software include InterCasino and
VIP Casino
** Casinos that use Cryptologic software do not allow players from
the United States **
Playtech Pai Gow Poker
Playtech software is very straight forward. You click on one of the chip sizes to bet that amount. The cards are dealt from the card shoe on the right side of the screen. One thing to note with this software is that they give you the option to play the House Way, but once you click this button, you no longer have the ability to change cards and they are played as is.
The way the dealer displays his cards is a little different as well. The cards aren't all flipped over at the same time. They are done so one at a time, from the left side of the screen to the right. I guess this is to build up a little suspense. They don't even have the pairs in order when the cards are flipped, so your high hand can get beat with that 5th card getting flipped over.
Online Casinos that use Playtech
software include Bet365 and
Golden Palace
** Casinos using Playtech software don't accept bets from players in
the United States **
Real Time Gaming (RTG) Pai Gow Poker
Real Time Gaming's software is pretty good. This screenshot is the version you will see if you download the casino software and install it on your computer. The table limits are neatly displayed and selecting a splitting the cards is easy. There is no option to play the House Way, so you will have to figure that out on your own. I do kind of like the dragon they use though.
This screenshot shows the flash version of the game. This is about as basic a pai gow poker game as you can get. There is also no attempt to portrait the game as a multi-person game. The only thing they show is your cards being dealt to you, then the dealer getting his cards. There are no esthetics to speak of, so this piece of software gets my poorest marks.
To bet, press one of the chip sizes. Press deal when your ready. Select two cards from your hand and press the Split button. It doesn't get much easier than that.
Online Casinos that use RTG
software include Bodog,
Cherry Red and
Rushmore
** Casinos using RTG software will accept bets from players in
the United States **
Rival Gaming Pai Gow Poker
I've always like Rival Gaming's software. It runs more smoothly than some of the others listed here. Like Playtech's software, Rival's pai gow poker game will be dealt only to you and the dealer and the dealer reveals his cards one at a time. Unlike Playtech, the House Way button will only show you what the dealer would do with your hand. If you don't like it, you can change the cards played.
The one thing I like about Rival's software shows you how much I'm on the computer. That's because they took care of one of my biggest pet peeves that I have when it comes to betting. You would think that you should be able to select a chip size, then place and remove the bets from the table using the left and right mouse buttons respectively. Rival is the only one who programmed it this way. I know this isn't a big deal, but when your used to taking shortcuts to do everything on a computer, this helps save time and aggravation, so kudos to you Rival.
Casinos that use Rival
software include
BetUS,
DaVinci's Gold and
This is Vegas
** Casinos using Rival software will accept bets from players in
the United States **
Vegas Technology Pai Gow Poker
I highlighted Vegas Technology's pai gow poker software on the home page. This is because I like this version of pai gow poker the best. Everything is done to make it seem like it would if you were actually at a casino playing pai gow poker.
For one thing, you are able to bet at any one of the six spots (no you can't bet on more than one spot at a time). After you pick a spot and place a bet, a random number generator in the middle of the screen flashes until it stops at a number between 1 and 7. The numbers 1 through 6 correspond to the numbers where you can place your bet and the number 7 refers to the dealer. The number tells you which person is going to be dealt first.
Most of the other software out there doesn't bother showing the other cards getting dealt and how this can change the course of the cards that you and the dealer will receive. It might not make a difference, but if you actually want to go to a casino to play sometime and you have only played one person against the dealer, then you might have to watch for a little bit in order to get the hang of how pai gow poker is actually played.
The following online casinos use Vegas
Technology pai gow poker
software:
Online Vegas,
English Harbour and
Millionaire Casino
** Casinos using Vegas Tech will accept bets from players in
the United States **
