§ 621a.9. Player bank; co-banking; selection of bank; procedures for dealing.
(a) A certificate holder may, if specified in its Rules Submission under § 601a.2 (relating to table games Rules Submissions), offer to all players at a Pai Gow table the opportunity to bank the game. If the certificate holder elects this option, the provisions of this section control for any round of play in which a player is the bank. The other provisions of this chapter apply to the extent that they do not conflict with the provisions of this section.
(b) A player may not be the bank at the start of the game. For the purposes of this section, the start of the game means the first round of play after the dealer is required to restack and mix the tiles in accordance with § 621a.4 (relating to opening of the table for gaming; mixing procedures).
(c) After the first round of play, each player at the table shall have the option to either be the bank or pass the bank to the next player. The dealer shall offer the bank to each player, starting with the player farthest to the dealer’s right and continuing around the table in a counterclockwise manner, until a player accepts the bank. The dealer shall place a marker designating the bank in front of the player who accepts the bank. If the first player offered the bank accepts, the player seated to the right of the bank shall be offered the bank first on the next round of play. A player may not bank two consecutive rounds of play. If no player accepts the bank, the round of play shall proceed in accordance with the rules of play provided in this chapter.
(d) Before a player may bank a round of play, the dealer shall confirm that:
(1) The player placed a wager against the dealer during the last round of play in which there was no player banking the game.
(2) The player has sufficient value chips or plaques on the table to cover all of the Pai Gow Wagers placed by other players at the table for that round of play.
(e) A certificate holder may, if specified in its Rules Submission under § 601a.2, offer the bank the option of co-banking the round of play. If the certificate holder offers this option, it shall be made available to all players at the table. If the bank wishes to use this option and co-bank 50% of the winning Pai Gow wagers, the bank must specifically request to co-bank with the dealer. The dealer shall place a marker designating the player co-banking that round of play. When the dealer is co-banking, the dealer shall be responsible for setting the hand of the bank in the manner as specified in the certificate holder’s Rules Submission under § 601a.2. When co-banking is in effect, the dealer may not place a wager against the bank.
(f) If a player is the bank, the player may wager on only one betting area.
(g) Once the tiles have been mixed and formed into stacks as required under § 621a.4, the bank shall have the option to cut the tiles one time. If the bank does not wish to cut the tiles, there may not be a cut. Upon direction from the bank, the dealer may move the tiles in one of the following ways:
(1) One or more adjacent stacks of four tiles to the right or left end of the original eight stacks of tiles.
(2) Two or more adjacent stacks of four tiles, of which at least one stack is moved to one end and the other stacks are moved to the opposite end of the original eight stacks of tiles.
(h) Once the dealer has determined that a player may be the bank, as required under subsection (d), and the tiles have been mixed, stacked and, if applicable, cut, the dealer shall, unless co-banking is in effect, remove value chips from the table inventory container in an amount equal to the banker’s last wager made against the dealer or in an amount as specified in the certificate holder’s Rules Submission. This amount shall be the amount the dealer wagers against the bank. The bank may direct that the sum wagered by the dealer be a lesser amount or that the dealer place no wager during that round of play. Any amount wagered by the dealer shall be placed in front of the table inventory container. Immediately upon receipt of the four tiles dealt to the dealer under subsection (k), the dealer shall place his wager on top of these tiles, instead of the marker otherwise required under § 621a.6 (relating to procedures for dealing the tiles; settling of wagers based on value of dice), before dealing the remaining tiles. If co-banking is in effect, the dealer may not remove any value chips from the table inventory container under this subsection.
(i) Once the dealer has announced ‘‘no more bets,’’ the bank may, by issuing a verbal instruction to the dealer, choose to have the dealer deliver the stacks using any one of the styles of delivery described in § 621a.7 (relating to alternative dealing procedures). If the bank does not choose a style of delivery, the dealer shall use the procedure in § 621a.6(d) to deliver the stacks. The bank shall then shake the Pai Gow shaker at least three times to cause a random mixture of the dice. Once the bank has completed shaking the Pai Gow shaker, the dealer shall remove the lid covering the Pai Gow shaker and place the uncovered Pai Gow shaker on the designated area of the table layout. The dealer shall then total the dice and announce the total. If the bank inadvertently removes the lid, the Pai Gow shaker shall be covered and reshaken by the bank.
(j) To determine the starting position for dealing the tiles, the dealer shall count each betting position, the dealer and the Dead Hand, in order, regardless of whether there is a wager at the betting position, beginning with the bank as number one and continuing around the table in a counterclockwise manner until the count matches the total of the three dice.
(k) The dealer shall deal the first stack of four tiles, in accordance with the selected style of delivery, to the starting position as determined in subsection (j) and, moving counterclockwise around the table, deal all other positions including the Dead Hand and the dealer a stack of tiles, regardless of whether there is a wager at the position. The dealer shall place his wager or marker, as applicable, on top of his stack of tiles immediately after the tiles are dealt.
(l) After all the stacks of tiles have been dealt, the dealer shall, without exposing the tiles, collect any stacks dealt to a position where there is no wager and place the stacks with the Dead Hand on the layout to the left of the dealer in front of the table inventory container.
(m) Once all tiles have been dealt and any tiles dealt to positions with no wagers have been collected, the dealer shall place the cover on the Pai Gow shaker and shake the shaker once. The Pai Gow shaker shall then be placed to the right of the dealer.
(n) If the tiles dealt to the dealer have not been previously collected, after each player has set his two hands and placed them on the table layout, the two hands of the dealer shall then be set. Once the dealer has formed a high and low hand and placed the hands face up on the appropriate area of the table layout, the dealer shall expose the hands of the bank and determine if the hands of the dealer are higher in rank than the hands of the bank. If the dealer wins, the tiles of the dealer shall be stacked face up to the right of the table inventory container with the amount wagered by the dealer against the bank placed on top. If the dealer’s hand is a tie with the banker’s hand, the dealer shall return the amount wagered by the dealer against the bank to the table inventory container. If the dealer loses, the amount wagered by the dealer against the bank shall be moved to the center of the layout.
(o) If a player is banking the round of play, once the dealer has determined the outcome of the Pai Gow Wager of the dealer against the bank, if any, the dealer shall, starting with the player farthest to the dealer’s right and continuing around the table in a counterclockwise manner, expose the hands of each player. The dealer shall compare the high and low hand of each player to the high and low hand of the bank and announce if the Pai Gow Wager shall win, lose or tie. Losing Pai Gow Wagers shall be immediately collected and placed in the center of the table. All winning Pai Gow Wagers, including the dealer’s wager, shall be paid by the dealer with the value chips located in the center of the table. If this amount becomes exhausted before all winning Pai Gow Wagers have been paid, the dealer shall collect from the bank an amount equal to the remaining winning Pai Gow Wagers and place that amount in the center of the layout. The remaining winning Pai Gow Wagers shall be paid from the amount in the center of the layout. If, after collecting all losing Pai Gow Wagers and paying all winning Pai Gow Wagers, there is a surplus in the center of the table, this amount shall be charged a 5% vigorish in accordance with § 621a.11(a) (relating to payout odds; vigorish). Once the vigorish has been paid, the remaining amount shall be given to the bank.
(p) Immediately after a winning Pai Gow Wager of the dealer is paid, this amount and the dealer’s original Pai Gow Wager shall be returned to the table inventory container.
(q) Each player who has a winning Pai Gow Wager against the bank shall pay a 5% vigorish on the amount won, in accordance with § 621a.11(a).
(r) If a player and the dealer are co-banking the round of play, once the dealer has set the co-bank hand under subsection (e), the dealer shall, starting with the player farthest to the dealer’s right and continuing around the table in a counterclockwise manner, expose the hands of each player. The dealer shall compare the high and low hand of each player to the high and low hand of the bank and announce if the Pai Gow Wager shall win, lose or tie. Losing Pai Gow Wagers shall be immediately collected and placed in the center of the table. All winning Pai Gow Wagers shall be paid by the dealer with the value chips located in the center of the table. If this amount becomes exhausted before all winning Pai Gow Wagers have been paid, the dealer shall collect from the co-bank an amount equal to 1/2 of the remaining winning Pai Gow Wagers and place that amount in the center of the layout. The dealer shall remove an amount equal to 1/2 of the remaining winning Pai Gow Wagers from the table inventory container and place that amount in the center of the layout. The remaining winning Pai Gow Wagers shall be paid from the total amount in the center of the layout. If, after collecting all losing Pai Gow Wagers and paying all winning Pai Gow Wagers, there is a surplus in the center of the table, this amount will be counted and the dealer shall place 1/2 of this amount into the table inventory container. The dealer shall collect a 5% vigorish, in accordance with § 621a.11(a) on the remaining amount. Once the vigorish has been paid, the remaining amount shall then be given to the co-bank.
(s) After the Pai Gow Wager has been settled, the dealer shall settle the player’s Pair Fortunes Wager in accordance with § 621a.8(j) (relating to procedures for completion of each round of play; setting of hands; payment and collection of wagers; payout odds; vigorish).
Authority The provisions of this § 621a.9 amended under 4 Pa.C.S. § § 1202(b)(30), 1322, 13A02(1) and (2), 13A27, 1602, 1604 and 1608.
Source The provisions of this § 621a.9 amended November 1, 2019, effective November 2, 2019, 49 Pa.B. 6676. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (362394) to (362397).
Cross References This section cited in 58 Pa. Code § 621a.5 (relating to wagers).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
