The original pai gow was actually a domino-based pastime, making this game’s evolution one of the more unusual stories in casino lore. However, it’s possible to learn the basics of pai gow in a matter of minutes, even if you’ve never encountered the rules of poker before. dealer aspect of Casino Hold’em, the hands of Texas Hold’em, and the overall simplicity of 3 Card Poker. Played with a standard deck of playing cards, pai gow poker is a little intimidating at first glance, as it seems to share commonalities with all sorts of casino games, both ancient and modern.

While pai gow in its original form did appear in Song Dynasty China, dated somewhere around the turn of the first millennium, pai gow poker is an American invention. Given that most poker-style games seem to have originated somewhere in the United States, the idea of a variation coming from ancient China might seem a little strange – and, well, you’d be right.