If you’re a fan of gambling on poker at an online casino, perhaps you might enjoy the online casino game of Pai Gow poker. Pai Gow is now available on many of the good online casino sites and provides an interesting alternative to the standard format of poker gambling online. We have detailed all the rules of Pai Gow on our casino games pages at gambling.ie, but here is a brief summary. Pai Gow poker is played with a standard 52 card deck, plus one joker, and is played against the house. Seven cards are dealt to the player and to the dealer, from which you need to make two hands one of which is a standard 5 card poker hand, with the remaining two cards forming the second hand. The 5 card hand must outrank the 2 card hand and the player needs to win both hands to win the game and the pot. If neither the player nor the dealer wins both hands, and the game is not tied, the stake is returned to the player. The definition of a tie in Pai Gow poker is when the dealer wins the 5 card hand, but the 2 card hand is tied, and in these circumstances the dealer wins. For those gamblers new to Pai Gow gambling, the role of the joker can be confusing because it is not a true wild card and can only be used in specified circumstances. The joker can be used as an ace in either the 5 card hand or the 2 card hand, and can also be used to complete a straight, a Flush or a straight flush in the 5 card hand only. The role of the joker and some differing rankings of a straight on certain online casino sites can cause problems, so we recommend that if you are new to Pai Gow, or playing on a new site, always check the house rules and play a few games in the free play mode before gambling for real. Pai Gow poker is a great casino game and can be played for relatively low stakes, plus the requirement to win both hands often means that you can play for longer without exceeding your budget. If you enjoy poker gambling, give Pai Gow a try.