Pai gow poker a player acting in tandem with the dealer as co-bankers). The object of pai gow poker is for a player to create two poker hands out of the seven-card hand he/she is dealt (a five-card hand and a two-card poker hand) that beats both the dealer's corresponding 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",
Starting hand Starting hand In poker, a starting hand is the initial set of cards dealt to a player before any voluntary betting takes place. For example, in seven-card stud this is two downcards and one upcard, in Texas hold 'em it is two downcards, and in five-card draw it is five cards. The one decision made by every poker player on every deal of every game is whether to continue playing that hand after seeing that first set of cards. Since making this decision correctly will lead to the most long-run profit for a skilled player, players often put considerable study