Player Hits $2.8m Progressive Pai Gow Jackpot at Caesars Palace
Las Vegas has its newest overnight millionaire after a lucky gambler hit a staggering $2.87 million progressive jackpot playing Face Up Pai Gow at Caesars Palace on Monday night.
The win, first reported by popular Vegas-focused X (formerly Twitter) account @LasVegasLocally, happened on the evening of April 21st and came courtesy of a progressive jackpot tied to Caesars' version of the poker-inspired table game.
Face Up Pai Gow is a variation of traditional Pai Gow Poker where the dealer's cards are revealed from the start, offering players a small but meaningful strategic advantage.
The winning hand? A scarcely believable 7-Card Straight Flush made up of the 8♣, Jx (Joker), 10♣, J♣, Q♣, K♣, A♣. The game's single Joker, which can be used to complete a straight or flush, was enough to complete the straight flush and trigger the progressive payout.
To put it in perspective, the odds of hitting a 7-Card Straight Flush in Pai Gow Poker, even with a Joker in play, are estimated at around 1 in 6.7 million. Without the Joker, those odds skyrocket to about 1 in 41 million. In short, it's one of the rarest hands in the casino, let alone the game.
Fortunately for the player, Caesars’ posted rules on the Face Up Pai Gow progressive jackpot clearly state that “progressive hands can be used with or without Joker”, meaning there was no question about the win qualifying.
While Caesars Palace has yet to make an official statement, photos taken at the table show the jackpot meter displaying $2,873,092 at the moment of the hand, locking in what is undoubtedly one of the biggest Pai Gow payouts the Strip has seen in quite some time.
What is Pai Gow Poker?
Pai Gow Poker is a casino card game that has grown in popularity in recent years, combining elements of traditional poker with the ancient Chinese game of Pai Gow.
Played with a 53-card deck (a standard 52-card deck plus one Joker), the game involves each player receiving seven cards, which they must split into two hands: a five-card "High" hand and a two-card "Low" hand. The objective is to have both hands beat the dealer's corresponding hands.
The Joker serves as a kind of semi-wild card, acting as an Ace or to complete a straight or flush (or straight flush in yesterday's win). If both of a player's hands beat the dealer's, the player wins. If only one hand wins, it's a push. If neither hand wins, the player loses.
Known as one of the more relaxing games available at the casino, Pai Gow has a relatively slow pace and a high frequency of pushes. Additionally, many casinos offer side bets or progressive jackpots, as is the case at Caesars Palace, which pay out based on the strength of the player's seven-card hand.
