Commission Free Pai Gow Poker is Pai Gow Poker where there is no player banking. Player wins pay 1 to 1, with no commission. If the dealer plays a 9-high in the low hand, then the bet is an automatic push. There is a Tiger 9 side bet that pays 30 to 1 if the dealer plays a 9-high in the low. The player may also make the Fortune side bet, and Fortune progressive bet, which pay based on the poker-value of the player’s seven cards.
Fortune Commission Free Pai Gow Poker is pai gow poker available at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. It plays like conventional pai gow poker except there is no 5% commission on player wins. To pay for this, there is no player banking, and if the dealer plays a 9-high in the low hand, the bet is automatically a push.
Odds
The following tables assume the Trump Plaza house way and the Nevada version of the rules where jokers can be used as an ace or to complete a straight, flush or straight flush.
The follow table is for the primary wager. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.51%.
Main Wager — Based on Trump Plaza House Way
| EVENT | PAYS | PROBABILITY | RETURN |
| Win | 1 | 0.273726 | 0.273726 |
| Push | 0 | 0.427453 | 0.000000 |
| Loss | -1 | 0.298822 | -0.298822 |
| Total | 1.000000 | -0.025096 |
The follow table is for the Tiger 9 side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 22.48%.
Tiger 9 — Based on Trump Plaza House Way
| EVENT | PAYS | PROBABILITY | RETURN |
| Win | 30 | 0.025007 | 0.750212 |
| Loss | -1 | 0.974993 | -0.974993 |
| Tota | 1.000000 | -0.224780 |
The Shufflemaster math report says the house edge on the main wager is 2.4% and 17.5% on the Tiger 9. Their report is based on the Four Queens house way.
The math on the Fortune side bet is the same as in conventional pai gow poker. At the Golden Nugget, they follow pay table 7. They also follow version 2 of the progressive bet.
There is a similar game titled EZ Pai Gow Poker. They both feature no commission and certain weak dealer hands result in a push. Besides differences in the side bets, the key rule difference is:
- Commission Free Pai Gow Poker: Low hand of 9-high is an automatic push.
- EZ Pai Gow Poker: High hand of a queen-high is an automatic push.
The house edge on the primary wager is nearly the same in both games. Commission Free Pai Gow Poker is 2.51% and EZ Pai Gow Poker is 2.47%.
The return tables are based on a simulation of 420 million hands, assuming the Trump Plaza house way and the Nevada-style partially wild joker.
EZ Pai Gow Poker – The Wild Joker
EZ Pai Gow Poker is a commission-free pai gow poker variant. Instead of the usual 5% commission, if the dealer has exactly a queen high “pai gow” hand, then the hand will automatically resolve in a push. In addition, there are four side bets the player may wager on.
Rules of the game
- The rules are the same as conventional pai gow poker, except that there is no commission.
- If the dealer has a queen-high hand, meaning the poker-value of the best five-card hand is exactly a queen high, the hand will automatically result in a push.
- Some casinos allow player banking. If the player invokes this option, then the rules will revert to those for normal pai gow poker.
- EZ Pai Gow Poker, played in California, the joker is fully wild.
The Four Bets
Dynasty Bonus
Similar to the Fortune Bonus in conventional pai gow, the Dynasty Bonus pays if the player’s best five-card hand is at least a three of a kind. It does not matter how the player sets his hand. If another player gets a straight flush or higher, the player will win an “envy bonus.” If the player only wins an Envy Bonus, he will still win the bonus but lose his Dynasty Bonus wager. Following is the complete pay table.
Dynasty Bonus Pay Table — Fully Wild Joker
| EVENT | PAYS | ENVY BONUS |
| Five of a Kind | 100 | $125 |
| Royal Flush | 25 | $50 |
| Straight Flush | 15 | $10 |
| Four of a Kind | 10 | $0 |
| Full House | 5 | $0 |
| Flush | 4 | $0 |
| Straight | 2 | $0 |
| Three of a Kind | 1 | $0 |
| All other | -1 | $0 |
Protection
Similar to Pai Gow Insurance, the Protection bet pays if the player’s best five-card hand is an ace high or less. Following is the complete pay table.
Protection Pay Table — Fully Wild Joker
| EVENT | PAYS |
| 9 High Pai Gow | 100 |
| T High Pai Gow | 25 |
| J High Pai Gow | 10 |
| Q High Pai Gow | 6 |
| K High Pai Gow | 5 |
| A High Pai Gow | 4 |
| Non-Pai Gow | -1 |
Red/Black
The Red/Black wagers pay if the chosen color is in the majority of the player’s cards. In other words, the player needs at least four cards of the chosen side to win. The joker counts as neither color.
Red/Black Pay Table
| WINNING CARDS | PAYS |
| 7 | 5 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 |
| 0 to 3 | -1 |
Queen’s Dragon
The Queen’s Dragon pays if the dealer has exactly a queen-high pai gow hand. Winning bets pay 45 to 1.
The following table shows the probability and contribution to the return for the Dynasty Bonus Envy Bonus, for each additional player, based on a $5 wager. The bottom right cell shows that each additional player lowers the house edge by 0.65%.
Dynasty Bonus Envy Bonus Return Table — Fully Wild Joker
| EVENT | PAYS | COMBINATIONS | PROBABILITY | RETURN |
| Five of a Kind | 25 | 14664 | 0.000095 | 0.002378 |
| Royal Flush | 10 | 26132 | 0.00017 | 0.001695 |
| Straight Flush | 2 | 184832 | 0.001199 | 0.002398 |
| All other | 0 | 153917452 | 0.998536 | 0 |
| Total | 154143080 | 1 | 0.006472 | |
The following table shows the overall return on the Dynasty Bonus, according to the total number of players, including the player making the wager. It shows the house edge ranges from 3.70% to 6.94%.
Overall Dynasty Bonus Return — Fully Wild Joker
| TOTAL PLAYERS | RETURN |
| 6 | -0.037009 |
| 5 | -0.043481 |
| 4 | -0.049953 |
| 3 | -0.056424 |
| 2 | -0.062896 |
| 1 | -0.069368 |
Protection Analysis
The following table shows the probability and return for each event of the Protection bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.69%.
Protection Return Table
| EVENT | PAYS | COMBINATIONS | PROBABILITY | RETURN |
| 9 High Pai Gow | 100 | 31080 | 0.000202 | 0.020163 |
| T High Pai Gow | 25 | 248640 | 0.001613 | 0.040326 |
| J High Pai Gow | 10 | 963480 | 0.006251 | 0.062506 |
| Q High Pai Gow | 6 | 2719500 | 0.017643 | 0.105856 |
| K High Pai Gow | 5 | 6386940 | 0.041435 | 0.207176 |
| A High Pai Gow | 4 | 12944820 | 0.083979 | 0.335917 |
| Non-Pai Gow | -1 | 130848620 | 0.848878 | -0.848878 |
| Total | 154143080 | 1 | -0.076934 |
Red/Black Analysis
The following table shows the probability and return for each event of the Red and Black bets. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.68%.
Red/Black Return Table
| WINNING CARDS | PAYS | COMBINATIONS | PROBABILITY | RETURN |
| 7 | 5 | 657800 | 0.004267 | 0.021337 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 73033740 | 0.473805 | 0.473805 |
| 0 to 3 | -1 | 80451540 | 0.521928 | -0.521928 |
| Total | 154143080 | 1 | -0.026786 |
Queen’s Dragon Analysis
The following table shows the probability and return for each event of the Queen’s Dragon bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 18.84%.
Queen’s Dragon Return Table
| WINNING CARDS | PAYS | COMBINATIONS | PROBABILITY | RETURN |
| Win | 45 | 2719500 | 0.017643 | 0.793921 |
| Lose | -1 | 151423580 | 0.982357 | -0.982357 |
| Total | 154143080 | 1 | -0.188436 |