Pai Gow Poker Lake Tahoe
Introduction
World-class gaming featuring all the latest slots, video poker, Keno, Sports Book and table games, including single-deck blackjack, roulette, Pai Gow Poker and Tiles, and live poker in a smoke-free poker room Free entertainment nightly in our Casino Cabaret Full-service salon for.
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe is located in Stateline, NV. It is so close to California that its west property line is the state line. Harrah’s Lake Tahoe is owned by Caesars Entertainment. Harvey’s Lake Tahoe, located across the street, is also owned by Caesars Entertainment. There is a tunnel underneath US 50 that connects the two properties. This prevents having to walk across the busy road.
The Total Rewards card is used at the property for gaming evaluation and comps. Harrah’s spreads one of the largest casinos in northern Nevada. It has 65,000 square feet of gaming space. There are 525 hotel rooms. Harrah’s Lake Tahoe opened in 1955.
Casino at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
The games at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe are average for the market. Players will find full pay Jacks or Better in the high limit area in the $1 denomination and higher, as well as $.25 50-play. Full pay Bonus Poker is plentiful in the casino. Otherwise, there is little in the way of good video poker. There are dozens of multi play video poker machines that include 3, 5, 10, 50, and 100 hands. Ultimate X, Dream Card and other exotic video poker titles are also spread.
Blackjack at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe is hit and miss. There are 24 single deck blackjack tables that pay 6-5 on a natural. Some only allow double down on 10 and 11. A few of these tables are in a party pit. The bright side is that these games often have a $5 minimum bet.
There are 10 8-deck blackjack games on the main floor that pay 3-2 and allow double down on any two cards, double down after splitting and surrender. These games start at $5. There are another five in high limit with the same rules that only use six decks. All blackjack games at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe hit soft 17.
Players will find Pai Gow Poker with limits of $10 to $2,000. Pai Gow Tiles is spread in high limit upon request. It has $50 to $2,000 limits. There is also $50 baccarat in high limit, as well as a special pit on the main floor that is only open during peak times. Mini baccarat is spread as low as $10 on the main floor during off peak hours.
There are plenty of carnival games with $5 minimum bets. These include Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Let it Ride, Three Card Poker and Four Card Poker. There are five double zero roulette tables with a minimum bet of $10.
There are five $5 craps tables. These offer 3-4-5 times odds. The Field pays double on 12.
Total Rewards is used at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. This is the same players club that all Caesars Entertainment properties use. It returns .1% in comps and .05% in cash back to video poker players. The comp rate doubles for slots.
Total Rewards is among the most generous casino rewards programs in terms of free hotel stays. Players not only get invites to frequented properties, Caesars will also give free rooms at regional resorts. Make sure to check Totalrewards.com for available offers if action has been given recently.
Hotel at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
There are 525 hotel rooms at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. Each room was built with two bathrooms, a unique feature for any hotel, much less a standard one. Rooms start at $159 during the week and $269 on weekends. These rates can skyrocket during tourist season, especially on weekends. There are four floors of suites that have a premium rate. There is a $20 per night plus tax resort fee.
Restaurants at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
Harrah’s offers the largest selection of dining options in South Lake Tahoe. It offers a buffet that is open for dinner seven days a week. Each night has a different theme. There is brunch of Saturday and Sunday at the buffet.
Friday’s Station Steak and Seafood is the high end dining option at Harrah’s. It offers a 1,000-bottle wine cellar and is open for dinner seven nights a week. Like the buffet, it is located on the 18th floor of the hotel tower.
Sushi Kai is a Japanese restaurant. There is also an Asian fast food option in the food court. The food court also hosts a generic pizza place and Fatburger, which is the 24-hour option on the property. The American River Café offers breakfast and lunch, except on weekends when it also serves dinner.
Entertainment
Lake Tahoe provides more outdoor activities than most casino towns. In addition to these activities, guests will find multiple nightclubs and lounges. Harvey’s, sister property to Harrah’s, has a comedy club that is open five nights a week.
Parking
All public parking at Harrah’s is on a surface lot behind the casino with a few spaces along the entrance. There is a parking deck that is only used for valet. All parking is free of charge.
My Conclusion
Harrah’s is the best option at South Lake Tahoe. It has the most dining options and decent, low limit gambling for players that sift through the terrible games before sitting down at a table. Its rooms are very nice and the two bathrooms are a plus for those sharing a room. The comps are easily the most generous in Lake Tahoe.
Resort and Parking Fees
| Resort fee | $13.50 |
| Parking fee | Free |
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| Origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Players | 2–7 |
| Deck | French |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest first) | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
| Random chance | High |
| Related games | |
| Chinese poker | |
Pai gow poker (also called double-hand poker) is a version of pai gow that is played with playing cards, instead of traditional pai gow's Chinese dominoes. The game of pai gow poker was created in 1985 in the United States by Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club.[1]
The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, plus a single joker. It is played on a table set for six players, plus the dealer. Each player attempts to defeat the banker (who may be the casino dealer, one of the other players at the table, or a player acting in tandem with the dealer as co-bankers).[2]
Winning condition[edit]
The object of pai gow poker is to create a five card poker hand and a two card poker hand from seven cards that beat both of the bank's hands. The five-card hand's rank must exceed that of the two-card hand, and it is for this reason that the two-card hand is often called the hand 'in front', 'on top', 'hair', or the 'small', 'minor', or 'low' hand. The five-card hand is called the hand 'behind', or the 'bottom', 'high', or 'big', as they are placed that way in front of the player, when the player is done setting them.
Deals[edit]
The cards are shuffled, and then dealt to the table in seven face-down piles of seven cards per pile. Four cards are unused regardless of the number of people playing.
Betting positions are assigned a number from 1 to 7, starting with whichever player is acting as banker that hand, and counting counter-clockwise around the table. A number from 1 to 7 is randomly chosen (either electronically or manually with dice), then the deal begins with the corresponding position and proceeds counter-clockwise. One common way of using dice to determine the dealer starting number is to roll three six-sided dice, and then count betting spots clockwise from the first position until the number on the dice is reached.
If a player is not sitting on a particular spot, the hand is still assigned, but then placed on the discard pile with the four unused cards. In some casinos, such as the Golden Nugget and Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, an extra 'dragon hand' is dealt if a seat is vacant. After all players have set their original hand they are asked in turn if they would like to place another bet to play the dragon hand. Generally the bet on the dragon hand can be the table minimum up to the amount the player bet on their original hand. The first player to accept the dragon hand receives it; this player is effectively playing two separate hands. Rules vary from casino to casino, but generally the dealer turns over the dragon hand and sets it using the house way. This is because the player has already seen 7 cards (their original hand) which could affect the way they would set the dragon hand.
Hand rankings[edit]
The only two-card hands are one pair and high cards.
Five-card hands use standard poker hand rankings with one exception: in most casinos, the 'wheel' (the hand A-2-3-4-5) is the second-highest straight. At most casinos in California and Michigan this rule doesn't apply, and A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible straight.
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The joker plays as a bug, that is, in the five-card hand it can be used to complete a straight or flush if possible; otherwise it is an ace. In the two-card hand it always plays as an ace, except in several southern Californian casinos where the joker is wild.
Win reckoning[edit]
If each of the player's hands beats each of the banker's corresponding hands, then he wins the bet. If only one of his hands beats the banker then he pushes (ties) in which case neither he nor the banker wins the bet. If both of his hands lose to the banker then he loses.
On each hand, ties go to the banker (for example, if a player's five-card hand loses to the banker and his two-card hand ties the banker then the player loses); this gives the banker a small advantage. If the player fouls his hand, meaning that his two-card hand outranks his five-card hand, or that there are an incorrect number of cards in each hand, there will usually be a penalty: either re-arrangement of the hand according to house rules or forfeiture of the hand.
In casino-banked games, the banker is generally required to set his hand in a pre-specified manner, called the 'house way', so that the dealer does not have to implement any strategy in order to beat the players. When a player is banking, he is free to set the hand however he chooses; however, players have the option of 'co-banking' with the house, and if this option is chosen then the player's hand must also be set in the house way.
California casinos typically charge a flat fee per hand (such as 5 cents or one dollar) to play, win or lose. Other casinos take a 5% commission out of the winnings, which is usually known as the rake.[3]
Pai Gow Poker Games
Variants[edit]
There are a number of variations of Pai Gow poker that are popular in casinos today. These variations were mainly formulated in 2004 — 2009. Pai Gow Mania was the first variation to be created which allows for two side bets instead of the traditional one side bet per hand. Fortune Pai Gow is another variation which allows players to make a side bet on a poker hand ranking of trips or better. This is one of the most popular variations. Similar to Fortune Pai Gow is Emperors Challenge, which also allows a side bet on a 7 card pai gow (no hand). Shuffle Master introduced a variation of the game in 2006, adding a progressive jackpot side bet, named Progressive Fortune Pai Gow. Part or all of the jackpot may be won by placing a side bet and landing one of the hands specified on the payout table. The hand that wins 100% of the jackpot is a combined seven card straight flush.[4]
Advantage play[edit]
Advantage play refers to legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling. In pai gow poker, a player may be able to gain an advantage in certain circumstances by banking as often as possible, taking advantage of unskilled players while banking, and dealer errors when not banking.[3]
History[edit]
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Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club in Los Angeles, invented the game of Pai Gow Poker in 1985. The idea for the game came to Torosian after being told about the game Pusoy by an elderly Filipino customer. He figured that the 13 card game with players arranging 3 hands would be too slow, but a simplified 2 hand version with only 7 cards would be faster and easier for players to learn. The game quickly became popular and by the late 1980s was being played on the Las Vegas strip, and eventually worldwide. Torosian famously failed to patent the game he invented after being given bad advice by an attorney he consulted, and noted poker author Mike Caro, both of whom told him that the game was not patentable.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abRichard Marosi (3 November 2002). 'Casino Boss Can't Cash In on Game He Developed'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^Michael Shackleford. 'Pai Gow Poker'. The Wizard of Odds. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ abWong, Stanford (1993). Optimal strategy for Pai Gow Poker. La Jolla, CA.: Pie Yee Press. ISBN978-0935926170.
- ^'Pai Gow Poker Variants'. Play Pai Gow Now. Retrieved 21 December 2016.