While researching an article about Asian gamblers and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, I found myself hanging out at the baccarat and Pai Gow poker tables.

And learning about two games I hadn’t played before.

If you haven’t been to Las Vegas, you likely haven’t been exposed much to baccarat and Pai Gow poker. (Quick conversations with bystanders provided enough anectdotal evidence that many of us are unfamiliar with them.)

I’ve been practicing both games at the free site, www.wizardofodds.com. If you haven’t heard of it, you gotta go there. The site not only lets you play the games, but tells you afterward if you made the correct play or not.

So here’s the short version on how the games work:

Baccarat

Gamblers bet either on the banker or the player, both of whom receive two cards. The person closest to nine is the winner.

A third card is dealt if neither the player nor the banker has an 8 or a 9 (called a “natural”). Face cards and 10s count as zero.

There is no decision-making involved after the cards are dealt. You’re basically betting on a coin flip.

Casinos make their money by taking a commission on winning bets. The house edge is about 1.2 percent, compared to about 5 percent in roulette and about 8 percent in slots (depending on the house).

Pai Gow poker

Players receive seven cards and disperse them into a five-card poker hand and a two-card hand. The dealer does the same thing.

The five-card hand always has to be better than the two-card hand. That’s to prevent you, say, from putting a pair of aces into your two-card hand, and locking in that win over the dealer.

Like baccarat, the house commission comes by taking a small piece of your wins.