Page "Pai gow poker" Paragraph 15

Generally speaking, a player should try to set the highest two-card hand that he can legally set: the best two-card hand that still leaves a higher five-card hand behind.

More specifically, a player should expect an average hand to be something like a medium-to-high pair behind in the five-card hand and an ace-high in front.

Detailed computer analysis has been done to determine the ideal strategy, but this requires memorizing large tables ; a close approximation can be done with only a few rules of thumb: when playing in a casino and in doubt, a player can always ask that his hand be set house way.

Most house strategies are quite reasonable and can be quite close to optimal strategy.