Pai Gow poker is a little different to the other popular poker games out there. In Pai Gow each player is dealt seven cards from a deck of 53 (one joker) from which he must make two hands comprising of 5 cards and two cards. The dealer also deals himself 7 cards and makes 2 hands from it in a similar fashion. Now, using normal poker rules, the player hand must beat the dealer's hands to win. If both hands beat the dealer hand then the player wins. If both lose then he loses. If one wins and one loses then it's a push. Simple.

In this brief guide we'll run through the rules of the game, some basic strategy and offer up some suggestions for good online poker rooms with Pai Gow poker tables.

The basic gameplay and rules of Pai Gow are as follows:

Pai Gow is a very easy game to play when compared to other poker games as there are far fewer strategic decisions to make and it is basically just you against the dealer. At the start of play both the player and the dealer are dealt seven cards. The player must make two poker hands from those cards, one comprising of five cards (the high hand) and one comprising of just 2 cards (the low hand) - the dealer does the same.

The only basic strategy of Pai Gow you have to worry about is what to bet and how to comprise your hand. The bottom line in the case of the latter concern is to make the highest 2 card hand you can which is lower than you 5 card hand.

There are some restrictions on how the player hand may be comprised.

1) The high hand must be worth more than the low hand. For example, whilst you may want to put your two aces in your low hand and thus guarantee at least a push, you can only do so if the remaining cards in your high hand are worth more - i.e. something like three kings. If you are only left with say, two kings, in your high hand then you are breaking the rules and will lose the hand.

2) The joker is a wild card BUT may be only substituted for an ace OR used to complete a straight.

That's about it! The good thing about Pai Gow is that with a little basic strategy it is a game you can play for quite some time with even a little cash.