button in SafariSeven-Figure Pai Gow Jackpot Hits at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh
Table Of Contents
Pai Gow, a table game synonymous with mammoth progressive jackpot payouts, has just struck again, as a guest of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh scored a lovely $1,155,260 Fortune Pai Gow Poker Progressive jackpot, as well as a cherry-on-top $5,000 Fortune Bonus payout.
This is the second-largest Pai Gow jackpot that Rivers Casino Pittsburgh - a land-based representative of the online casino BetRivers Casino - has paid out, behind a $1.39 million jackpot that hit in January 2024.
What is Pai Gow?
Pai Gow, also known as Pai Gow Poker, is a casino table game that has one of the lowest house edge percentages, and has become an extremely popular variant in casinos across the US. It is played with a 53-card deck, which is a standard 52-card deck alongside a joker. The joker acts as an ace unless it can complete a straight or flush.
The game is played player vs. dealer, with each seat (including inactive seats) and the dealer receiving seven cards. The dealer will then make a five-card "high" hand, and a two-card "low" hand. Based on classic poker hand rankings*, the five-card hand must beat the two-card hand. The players, now armed with the knowledge of the dealer's hands, must know craft their own, following the same rules. Once all players have set their hands, they are tabled by the dealer.
*Note: The strongest hand in Pai Gow is Five Aces, made up of four Aces and a joker.
- Win: Both of the player's hands beat the dealer's
- Push Player and dealer win one hand each OR player wins one hand and chops the other OR both hands chop.
- Loss Both of the player's hands lose to the dealer's OR player loses one hand and chops the other.
How Did the Jackpot Hit?
Any player that places a simple $5 bet placed on the flashing Progressive button at a qualifying Pai Gow table "activates" their hand for the bonus, meaning that they are in with a shot of the jackpot. For it to hit, the player is tasked with being dealt a seven-card straight flush, which may include a joker, to score the full prize pool.
With the jackpot standing at $1,155,260, the lucky player in Pittsburgh peeled the king of clubs, alongside the queen, jack, ten, eight and seven of the same suit. The miraculous joker completed the hand, giving the player a king-high seven-card straight flush, and triggering the massive seven-figure pay day.
As if that wasn't sweet enough, the player also had a $5 Fortune Bonus with a joker, adding an extra $5,000 bonus payout to their winnings. Two other players at the table received a $500 "Envy" payout on the fortune bonus.
How Does a Progressive Pai Gow Jackpot Work?
Pai Gow Progressive jackpots are often network jackpots that accumulate until a certain set of conditions have been met. This means that any qualifying "progressive" bet made on table across the network adds to the jackpot.
As described by the progressive nature of it, this jackpot does not stop increasing until it has been won. This is why so many Pai Gow Progressives are well into the seven-figures, due to the improbability of pulling a seven-card straight flush.
Almost all Pai Gow Progressive jackpots require a seven-card straight flush to be hit in order to pay out, the probability of which is around 1 in 676,066. Once the jackpot has been hit, it resets and begins to grow again.
The Pai Gow Progressive jackpot at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh has now been reset to $261,426.
