Pai gow poker, also known as Asian poker, is a cross between Pai Gow, the game of Chinese dominoes, and the American game of seven-card poker. It is an easy game to play and it's unique since it allows the player the option to bank bets against all other players, including the dealer.

Pai gow poker is played using a standard 52card deck plus one joker on a table similar to a blackjack table. The layout allows up to six players and one casino dealer. After the players make their bets, the casino dealer will deal out seven cards to each player. Each player must arrange his seven cards into two hands. One hand, called the low hand, consists of two cards. The other hand, called the high hand, consists of the remaining five cards.

Card rankings are based on basic poker rankings. The joker is a special card - not a wildcard as it can be used only as an ace or as a card to complete a straight, a flush, a straight flush, or a royal flush. The objective of the game is to form a high hand and a low hand that are both higher in rank than the respective hands of the dealer.
All pai gow poker hands are ranked according to traditional poker rankings. For example, the highest two-card low hand is a pair of aces. The highest-ranking five card high hand is five aces (four aces plus the joker). A straight flush hand would beat a full house and a straight beats three-of-a-kind. A complete listing of the pai gow poker hand rankings can be found at the end of this chapter.

The following is a basic description of the pai gow poker rules.

The casino dealer shuffles the 53 cards, which are then cut by a player using a cut card. All players must place their gaming chips on the appropriate betting area of the layout and the dealer will then announce "no more bets."