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Being left at the altar on her wedding day, Pamela became furious.

The sentence above starts with a participial phrase; in that case, it's correct to use the comma (which is the only way to separate phrases, in cases such as these).

A comma splice would occur in a sentence like the following.

The Taylors won a new swimming pool, however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

The correct punctuation has a semicolon.

The Taylors won a new swimming pool; however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

Being left at the altar on her wedding day, Pamela became furious.

The sentence above starts with a participial phrase; in that case, it's correct to use the comma (which is the only way to separate phrases, in cases such as these).

A comma splice would occur in a sentence like the following.

The Taylors won a new swimming pool, however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

Instead of the comma before however, there should be a semicolon or a period.

The Taylors won a new swimming pool; however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

Being left at the altar on her wedding day, Pamela became furious.

The sentence above starts with a participial phrase; in that case, it's correct to use the comma (which is the only way to separate phrases, in cases such as these).

A comma splice would occur in a sentence like

The Taylors won a new swimming pool, however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

The correct punctuation has a semicolon

The Taylors won a new swimming pool; however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

Being left at the altar on her wedding day, Pamela became furious.

The sentence above starts with a participial phrase; in that case, it's correct to use the comma (which is the only way to separate phrases, in cases such as these).

A comma splice would occur in a sentence like the following.

The Taylors won a new swimming pool, however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

The correct punctuation has a semicolon.

The Taylors won a new swimming pool; however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

Being left at the altar on her wedding day, Pamela became furious.

The sentence is an example of a sentence starting with a participial phrase; in that case, it's correct to use the comma (which is the only way to separate the phrases, in that case).

A comma splice would occur in a sentence like

***** The Taylors won a new swimming pool, however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

The correct sentence is

The Taylors won a new swimming pool; however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

Being left at the altar on her wedding day, Pamela became furious.

The sentence above starts with a participial phrase; in that case, it's correct to use the comma (which is the only way to separate phrases, in cases such as these).

A comma splice would occur in a sentence like

The Taylors won a new swimming pool, however, no one in the family knew how to swim.

The correct punctuation has a semicolon

The Taylors won a new swimming pool; however, no one in the family knew how to swim.