Step up to the table... Miss Moneypenny

Online slots not really your thing?  Love the feel of blue felt below your fingers?  Do you crave the satisfaction of outsmarting a game that demands more than the pull of a slot machine lever?

You need some table games action!

Table games are all of the casino games that you sit at a table to play.  Some of the most popular online casino games fall into this category… games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Pai Gow all fall under this category of games fit for casino royalty.

But now you don’t have to have the bankroll of a Texas oil tycoon to win big bucks playing these elite casino games…

For the whole month of October, simply enter the exclusive table games bonus code SILVEROCT5 and you will receive an automatic 200% extra cash in your casino account!

For those of you who have never played the table games before, have no fear.  You can become an instant table games expert by simply reading our articles on how to play Baccarat, how to play Pai Gow Poker, or our full blackjack strategy series.

Once you’re an official table games expert, download all of the casino games for free by clicking on the Play Now button below.

Welcome to the casino elite!

Red Dog is a simple but action-packed three card game that got its start in the saloons of the old west. Nowadays it’s played at casinos all around the world and here at Silver Oak online casino, of course.

While it’s always enjoyed some popularity, it’s definitely not nearly as well known as some table games. That’s a pity, because there’s lots about it to love. The rules are simple. You place your bet then get dealt two cards. The object of the game is to guess whether the third card dealt will fall between the first two cards in numerical order. For example, if you get dealt a 3 and a King, then your chances would be pretty good that the next card would fall somewhere between the two. On the other hand, if you get dealt a Jack and a King, it’s very unlikely the next card will be in between, since only a Queen would qualify.

Simple enough, right? But what adds to the fun is that you get paid out on your bet at different odds, depending on how wide or narrow the spread of cards is. So if it’s a narrow spread and you do happen to get lucky, you get paid out at 4:1 or even 5:1. There’s a couple other rules, and one bit of strategy, you should know and you can find them on our Red Dog game page.

There’s not a whole lot of skill to Red Dog and the strategy of the game can be learned in about three seconds. But the action is fast and furious, you can hit those longer odds for big payouts now and then, and there’s even a jackpot of sorts…when you get dealt a three of a kind you win 11:1 on your initial bet.

Well, first of all, the odds in Baccarat are extraordinarily good, no matter how you play.  Second, it’s one of those games that is fairly complicated to understand, but extremely easy to play once you get it.  The purpose of this article is to make sure you get it.

How To Play Baccarat

Without going into extreme detail in this first article, I will give you enough information to give you an idea of what is going on, and how to successfully play your first Baccarat hands.

To start, let’s take a look at what the Baccarat table looks like:

In the top half of the table you will notice two areas for cards- the Player and the Banker.  Much like in Blackjack, both the player and the banker will receive cards, and either the player or the banker will win based on the cards they receive.

However, in Baccarat, you always have the option to bet on either the banker’s or the player’s hand winning; you are not restricted to only betting on the player’s hand.  In addition, you can bet on the banker and the player ending in a tie.

Baccarat Bets

As you can see from the image above, there are three large areas that read “Tie”, “Banker”, and “Player”.  Use these areas to bet on the player winning, the banker winning, or the two hands resulting in a tie.

For this example, let’s make a bet on the player winning.  To place a bet on the player, I simply click on the area that reads “Player”, and then click on the chips in the lower right hand portion of the Baccarat table to add chips to my total wager on the player.

After I make a bet on the player, the Baccarat table looks like this:

As you can see, I placed a $5 bet on the Player winning this hand.  Now that my Baccarat bet is in place, I want to deal the cards and see if I win.

To deal the cards, simply click on the “Deal” button in the bottom center portion of the Baccarat game screen.  After dealing the cards, the table looks like this:

After the cards are dealt, the Player hand wins!  As you can see, I won $5 on my $5 bet, or 1:1 odds.  If you don’t understand why the player won on the hand, don’t worry.  I will explain this later in the article.

Let’s see what happens when I bet $5 on the Banker winning.  I bet on the banker by clicking on the “Banker” area of the Baccarat table and then clicking on the $5 chip.  After I bet on the Banker, the Baccarat table looks like this:

To deal the cards an see if I won, I just click on the “Deal” button at the bottom of the Baccarat game screen, just like I did above.  After clicking on the “Deal” button, the Baccarat screen looks like this:

As you can see above, I won again!  Drinks are on me ladies!

However, if you look carefully, you’ll notice that I only won $4.75 on my $5 bet.  What gives?  When you bet on the banker in Baccarat, a 5% commission is taken out of all of your winnings.

So if betting on the Banker means you have to give back 5% of all of your winnings to the casino, why would anyone want to bet on the Banker?  Well, the answer lies in how the scored are tabulated and the rules the banker and the player are required to follow.

Baccarat Scores

In the next addition of the Baccarat series, we will cover how the scores are tabulated and why it might be a better idea to bet on the banker, even though you have to pay a 5% commission on all of your winnings.

If you want to get a head start, you can check out the full guide to online Baccarat at Silver Oak Casino.  If you are ready to dive into a game of Baccarat right now, just click on the Play Now button below to download over 130 of your favorite casino games in one convenient, 100% free package!

Do you know how to rank poker hands?  Do you want a casino game that will let you play slowly and make your bankroll last longer?  Do you like dragons and other assorted Asian designs on your casino game tables?

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pai Gow Poker!

While Pai Gow Poker isn’t the easiest game to learn, once you catch on, you’ll see it’s a breeze!  In this article I will take you step-by-step through a complete hand of Pai Gow Poker.  If you would like to follow along with the guide, simply download the FREE casino games software from Silver Oak Casino, which includes a Pai Gow Poker game.

How To Play Pai Gow Poker

In Pai Gow poker, the player (you) is always playing against the bank, as it is done in blackjack, for example.  A typical Pai Gow Poker game goes like this:

1. Both the player and the dealer (the bank) receive 7 cards.
2. With these cards, both the bank and the player make the best 5 card hand and the best 2 card hand possible.
3. Both the player and the banker show their cards and to the winner goes the spoils!

How To Win Pai Gow Poker

As was said above, both the player and the dealer need to make 2 hands- one of 5 cards, and one of 2 cards.

If both the dealer’s 5 card hand beats the player’s 5 card hand AND the dealer’s 2 card hand beats the player’s 2 card hand, the dealer wins.  If the both the player’s 5 card hand AND 2 card hand beat the dealer’s, then the player wins (the player technically wins 1:1 odds, minus a 5% commission).

If the player has only one winning hand (ie the player has a better 5 card hand, but a worse 2 card hand), then the game is considered a tie, and the player receives his original bet back.

Pai Gow Poker Hands

Pai Gow Poker uses the same ranking system as regular poker.  For 5 card hands, the ranking system is exactly the same as regular poker, EXCEPT many casinos have one exception: the “wheel straight” ( Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 ) is considered the 2nd highest ranking straight after Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten.

The two card hands are ranked exactly as you would expect- the highest hand you can have is a pair of Aces, and the lowest you can have is a 2, 3.

To make things a little more interesting, Pai Gow Poker always features a Joker, which can be used as a substitute for any other card.

One final rule: The 2 card hand cannot be a better poker hand than the 5 card hand.  For example, if you are dealt a 7 card hand of King, King, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10  you may be tempted to make the pair of Kings the 2 card hand.  However, this would make the 2 card hand larger than the 5 card hand, which is against the rules.  In this situation, you would have to make the 2 card hand 10, 8 and leave the Kings in the 5 card hand.

The Pai Gow Poker Table

Below is an example of a typical Pai Gow Poker table.

As you can see above, there is an area on both the dealer’s side and the player’s side that is marked “Highest”.  This is where the 5 card hands will be placed.  The area marked “2nd Highest” is where the 2 card hands will be placed.

To get the game started, simply make a bet by clicking on the desired chip denomination in the lower right hand corner of the Pai Gow Poker game screen.  The minimum bet in this game is $5, so I will bet $5.

Once you make your bet, the Pai Gow Poker screen will look like this:

Now that we have made our first bet, to get our cards and get the game started, we just need to click on the “Deal” button in the bottom-center of the Pai Gow Poker Screen.

After clicking on “Deal” the Pai Gow Poker screen will look like this (you may have different cards!):

Now that we have been dealt our 7 cards, we want to make the 2 best hands we can- one of 5 cards, and one of 2 cards.  To review the rules of what hands you can make, see the “Pai Gow Poker Hands” section above.  If you are ready, let’s make our 5 card and 2 card hand.

Since the pair of Aces is the highest 5 card hand I can make, they will be my 5 card hand.  Now, what to do with those 8′s?

Some people like to keep both of the pairs in the same hand, so that there is a better chance that the 5 card hand will at least be better than the dealer’s.  Others like to split up the pairs so that both the 5 card hand and the 2 card hand are at least somewhat strong.

I personally like to make both hands strong in this situation ( I will explain WHY in my future Pai Gow Poker Strategy article, stay tuned!).  To execute this strategy, I need to make the pair of 8′s the 2 card hand, and leave the rest of the cards for the 5 card hand.

To do this, I simply click on each 8.  When I click on each 8, they will pop up from the rest of the hand slightly.  It looks like this:

Once I have selected the two 8′s, I can send them over to the 2 card hand by clicking on the “Split” button in the bottom-center of the Pai Gow Poker game screen.  After I click on the “Split” button, the computer will separate the cards into the hands I chose, and the dealer will reveal his cards.  The computer then shows who won each hand, and settles the bet on the table.

After I click on “Split” the screen looks like this:

As you can see from the Pai Gow Poker game screen above, I won both the 5 card hand AND the 2 card hand!

Can you see why?

Well, in the 5 card hand, I have a pair of Aces, while the dealer only had a pair of Kings, meaning I win.  Also, in the 2 card hand, I had a pair of 8′s, while the dealer only had an Ace high.

Since I won both hands, I win $5 minus the 5% commission to the house.  After the commission is taken out, I am left with a win of $4.75, not bad!

Pai Gow Poker Final Thoughts

Pai Gow Poker is a great game to play if you want some casino games action while still conserving your bankroll.  Since there are a lot of ties, and the game usually takes slightly longer to play than other popular table games and slot machines, your bankroll will survive longer than if you played many other games.

Now that you know how to play, do you want to know how to win as much money as possible playing Pai Gow Poker?  Later this week I will publish a full Pai Gow Poker Guide that will explain perfect Pai Pow Poker strategy.

If you want to get started playing right now, click on the Play Now button below to download over 130 FREE casino games (including Pai Gow Poker) that you can start playing now!

]]> http://www.silveroakcasino.com/blog/casino-games/how-to-play-pai-gow-poker.html/feed/ 0 http://www.silveroakcasino.com/blog/online-casino/game-review-let-em-ride.html http://www.silveroakcasino.com/blog/online-casino/game-review-let-em-ride.html#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:58:41 +0000 Peter Alexander http://news.silveroakcasino.com/?p=1564 I used to find this game more intimidating than Madonna’s arms. But the last time I was in Vegas playing Blackjack, I was right next to a Let ‘Em Ride table. I was sitting there battling tooth and nail to get up by twenty or thirty bucks, while this one guy over there was hitting tons of big hands and stacking up chips at a shocking rate. So I decided to try it out online (online = zero intimidation factor), and now it’s one of my favorite games.

The best thing about it is the pure excitement factor that comes from big payouts. It’s a pretty unique game in that you don’t have to wager a lot if you have a bad hand, but you can triple your bet when you have a winning hand. That alone leads to some nice wins. But it also has bigger prizes for bigger hands. So when you do hit a monster, you get paid off handsomely for it. And on top of all that, it also has a progressive feature that pays even more if you hit a flush or higher…if you play the progressive, which I do.

Because of those big wins, you do need to get used to the fact that your bankroll will fluctuate more in this game than in some others. In Blackjack you typically go a little bit down, then a little bit up. In this game, you might lose a bunch of hands in a row, then hit a full-house that pays 15 to 1 on your three bets, plus an extra $100 because you paid progressive, and you’ll suddenly be way up. Of course, that type of action is what it makes it so exciting.  Our online version shows all the pay tables and stuff right in the game and is super easy and fun to play. Play Let ‘Em Ride now.

If only there wasn't that one stupid green number...

So here its. Now, I’m paraphrasing him here, so I’ll remove all the slurring and swearing. To play this strategy, choose either black or red, then place a bet on that color (that’s an “outside” bet, as opposed to just playing your chips on a particular number). Let’s say you put $5 on red. Now the wheel spins and if you win, great. You owe me a beer. But if lands on black, you lose. So what do you do? You double your bet on red. So you put down $10. Now it spins again…if you win, awesome. If you lose, double your bet again to $20. Just keep doing this until you win, which is bound to happen sooner or later. Probably sooner. The trick is you either win a bunch of little bets, or you lose a bunch of little bets but wind up winning one that’s big enough to cover all your little losses.

Now it all sounded quite foolproof when he explained it to me. The only potential flaw in the plan is that you might be phenomenally unlucky. If, in the example above, you hit some huge bad streak of enough blacks in a row that you’ve lost your whole bankroll then…well, what can I tell you? That’s why they call it gambling. Note: I in now way am guaranteeing victory using this technique. But it did work for me when I tried it. Care to give it a shot? Play Roulette now.

As far as I’m concerned it is the perfect game. Now I know that you all have your own favorite games. And I respect that, but hear me out. Like many other games, Pai Gow Poker blends luck with just a smidgen of skill. Not that it’s difficult to learn, but it’s just tricky enough to make you feel cool when you figure out all the ins and outs. But there are two things that really set it apart. One, it’s based on poker. And I love poker, but I suck. I can’t even beat those mouth-breathing, potty-mouthed youngins’ that play online. So Pai Gow lets me get my poker fix, pain-freee. The other great thing? There are lots of times when a hand ends in a push. And that means more time for drinking. If you’re at a real casino, you’ll be scoring lots of free drinks while not betting very often. If you’re playing online you’ll have lots of chances to ask your significant other to get you a cold one out of the fridge.  And maybe whip up some nachos while they’re at it.

Great before, during and after a game

So it’s a great game. And the online version here at Silver Oak works like a charm. The betting controls are totally intuitive, the graphics are cool and the mechanics of playing the game itself take about one second to learn. So if you’ve never given this game a shot, or even just want to remind yourself how awesome it is, play Pai Gow Poker right now.