Q:
Concerning the answer to the straight being the second highest in Pai Gow Poker, all house rules have two aces and any other pair being split. If one of the aces is the joker, only two straights can be made (Broadway and the A to 5). Since the house always wants the edge, the A to 5 is then the second highest and that is the reason, not because they just wanted the game to be different.
A:
This is a contention based on the answer to QoD 5/7/17, wondering why in Pai Gow Poker, the A-5 straight is the second highest straight, as opposed to the lowest as in regular poker. The writer of that answer, Dan Lubin, responded to this question, which we scheduled a couple of weeks ago to run today. Dan was author of our recent book The Essentials of Casino Game Design and the inventor of commission-free Pai Gow Poker. Dan passed away suddenly last week at the age of 57. He was one of the most intelligent, genuine, enthusiastic, and generous people we ever knew; his tipping largesse was legendary. He’s survived by his wife Prapaisri. We remain shocked, to say the least, and deeply saddened by his loss.]
It's true that house-way settings always split two pair, including aces. The way it's handled when the joker represents the second ace is to put the joker into the 5-card side. This helps insure that the better straight is formed and not missed, which assists new and marginal dealers, via the house way. While this reminder helps avoid a little bad play by the house, it actually provides no extra advantage for the house.
Indeed, this "straight-formation assist" in the house way cannot provide any additional house edge. And why is that? Because any player is equally as likely as the dealer to get that hand (in a fairly dealt game); thus, the arbitrary ranking of such a hand favors neither side. The rules of the game could, in fact, make, any straight the second highest, which also wouldn't favor the house for the same reason: all players, including the dealer, equally get such hands in a fair game.
So the ranking of the straights is 100% arbitrary, provides no additional house edge, and is added as a special or distinguishing feature.
Many players (including this questioner) often assume these kinds of things are there as minor house-edge ploys, and sometimes they are. But in this case, it was just "adding stuff" as part of the game creation.
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