This compares favourably with the edge of 2.51% when following perfect strategy as a player against the banker and compares very well with just about any game you’ll find in the casino. When acting as the banker and employing perfect strategy the edge against you is a tiny 0.04%. When offered the opportunity to take the deal and be the banker, you should always take it. This brings us to our first rule to follow. There is one strategy for when you are playing against the dealer and a separate and subtly different strategy for when you hold the deal yourself. Perfect strategy for pai gow is a fairly complicated business. The trick is to learn the best way in which to split the initial seven card holding in order to maximise your chances of success in the game. A grasp of poker hand rankings and an adherence to the rule of always making the five card hand stronger than the two card hand is all that is really required to take part. The game of pai gow poker is relatively simple in terms of learning how to play the game.