N.J. Admin. Code § 13:69F-34.12 - Procedures for completion of each round of play; setting of hands; payment and collection of wagers

(a) After the dealing of the cards has been completed, each player shall set his or her hands by arranging the cards into a high hand and low hand. When setting the two hands, the two-card high hand must be equal to or higher in rank than the two-card low hand. For example, if the low hand contains a pair of sevens, the high hand must contain at least a pair of sevens.

(b) Each player at the table shall be responsible for setting his or her own hands and no other person except the dealer may touch the cards of that player. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a player requests assistance in the setting of his or her hands, the dealer may inform the requesting player of the manner in which the casino licensee requires the hands of the dealer to be set in its Rules of the Games Submission. Each player shall be required to keep the four cards in full view of the dealer at all times. Once each player has set a high and low hand and placed the two hands face down on the appropriate area of the layout, the player shall not touch the cards again.

(c) After all players have set their hands and placed the cards on the table, the four cards of the dealer shall be turned over and the dealer shall set his or her hands by arranging the cards into a high and low hand. The dealer shall then place the two hands face up on the appropriate area of the layout.

(d) Each casino licensee shall include in its Rules of the Games Submission the manner in which it will require the hands of the dealer to be set.

(e) A player may announce that he or she wishes to surrender his or her supreme pai gow wager prior to the dealer exposing either of the two hands of that player pursuant to (f) below. Once the player has announced his or her intention to surrender, the dealer shall:

1. Immediately collect the supreme pai gow wager from that player;

2. If the player has also placed a bonus wager, the player's four cards shall be collected and placed face down on the table underneath the bonus wager pending resolution of the bonus wager at the conclusion of the round of play; and

3. If no bonus wager has been made by the player, immediately collect the four cards dealt to that player without exposing the cards to anyone at the table and verify that four cards were collected by counting them face down on the layout prior to placing them in the discard rack.

(f) Once the dealer has set a high hand and a low hand, the dealer shall expose both hands of each player, starting from the right and proceeding counterclockwise around the table. The dealer shall compare the high and low hand of each player to the corresponding hands of the dealer and shall announce if the supreme pai gow wager of that player shall win, lose or be considered a tie ("push").

(g) A supreme pai gow wager made by a player shall lose if:

1. Both player's hands (high and low) are lower in rank than the corresponding hands of the dealer;

2. The high hand of the player was not set so as to rank higher than his or her low hand; or

3. The two hands of the player were not otherwise set correctly in accordance with the rules of the game (for example, a player forms a three-card high hand and a one-card low hand).

(h) All hands that result in a winning supreme pai gow wager or a winning bonus wager shall be immediately paid by the dealer from the table inventory container. A supreme pai gow wager shall win if both player's hands (high and low) are higher in rank than both corresponding hands of the dealer. If the player and the dealer each win one hand, the player's supreme pai gow wager shall be deemed a push and it shall not be paid or collected. A bonus wager shall win if the four cards dealt to a player qualify for a posted payout in accordance with N.J.A.C. 13:69F-34.14. All losing supreme pai gow wagers and bonus wagers shall be immediately collected by the dealer and put in the table inventory container. The dealer shall pay all winning wagers and collect all losing wagers, in order, beginning with the player farthest to the right of the dealer and continuing counterclockwise around the table. Once the wager(s) of a player are settled, the dealer shall collect the player's cards and place them in the discard rack.

(i) A winning supreme pai gow wager shall be paid by a casino licensee at odds of 1 to 1, except that the casino licensee shall extract a commission known as "vigorish" from the winning player in an amount equal to five percent of the amount won; provided, however, that when collecting the vigorish, the casino licensee may round off the vigorish to 25 cents or the next highest multiple of 25 cents. A casino licensee shall collect the vigorish from a player at the time the winning payout is made. After a winning supreme pai gow wager has been paid and the vigorish collected, the dealer shall then, if applicable, settle the player's bonus wager. Before paying a winning bonus wager, the dealer shall, if necessary, reset the player's high hand and low hand to form the four-card hand type yielding the highest qualifying payout to which the player is entitled.

(j) All cards collected by the dealer shall be picked up in order and placed in the discard rack in such a way that they can be readily arranged to reconstruct each hand in case of a question or dispute.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 13:69F-34.12