Chinese card games are sometimes referred to as Chinese Poker, and this card game is based on poker hand rankings. This is a novice-friendly game, a person with basic knowledge of poker hand rankings can initiate playing. In this game, a beginner also has a good chance of winning against experienced players.
Each punter receives a 13-card from a standard 52-card deck in this poker. The player has to divide the cards into three poker hands: two sets will contain five cards known as ‘the middle’ and ‘the back’, and one set will have three cards, which is termed as ‘the front’. The back must be the highest-ranking hand, and the front should be the lowest. It should be noted that straights and flushes do not count in the three-card hand.
The back hand should be placed face down in front of the punter, the middle hand should be faced down in front of the backhand, and finally, the front hand should be faced down in front of the middle hand. After players set their hands, every player will announce in turn if they are playing their hand and it should be in a clockwise direction, starting from the dealer’s left hand. Before revealing their hands, all players will declare their royalties.
If the player makes three flushes or three straights they naturally win the hand, despite the other player’s hands.
Chinese poker rules
At the start of every round of gameplay, each player will receive 13 cards so that the maximum number of players is 4. This is one of the most popular number formats. Nevertheless, playing with two or three individuals is also permitted. After arranging their cards into different hand groupings, punters can ‘surrender’ or ‘play’. The remaining players release their holdings after this in a clockwise direction and scoring begins.
Rules in Chinese poker are mentioned below:-
- Winning outright:- If any player makes three flushes or straights in three hands, they naturally win the entire hand, despite other players’ holdings.
- Surrendering:- This is a common regulation that should be determined by the players before the game commences. Here the player prefers to pay a fixed amount than play against the other players.
- Mis-Set Hand/Foul:- If the player fails to arrange the cards correctly they need to pay every player the same amount as if they lost all three hands to all other players. It should be noted that if someone holds their hand incorrectly, players don’t have to pay those who have already resigned.
What is scoring?
The stakes played for in Chinese poker are termed as units, it is an amount of money agreed on before the game starts. Basic scoring is that if a player collects one unit from each opposer whose all three hands are beaten by their corresponding hand. Disparate most poker games, being second at the table is good to win money. In some of the variants players will receive an additional unit if they win in two or three of the hands, and in other variants, players will receive an additional unit if they win in all three hands and it is known as a scoop.
In Chinese poker, commonly two scoring systems are practiced, one is a 2-4 scoring method and the second one is a 1-6 scoring method. Let’s get into detail about these scoring systems.
2-4 method:- In this method, the player receives 1 unit for every three hands they win, that 1 unit is called the overall unit and it is awarded to the players who win at least two out of three hands or all the three hands. If a tie happens in one of the hands, no money will be exchanged for this particular hand. If a player wins both of the other two hands, they will get 3 units, 1 for each hand and 1 overall. If both players win one hand, no units are interchanged, each wins 1 unit and there will be no overall.
1-6 method:- In this method, players will get 1 unit for each of the three hands they win, and 3 bonus units if they win all three hands.
Sample
| Tom | John | Winner | |
| Front | 5♦ 5♥ 7♠ | 8♠ 3♠ 2♦ | Tom |
| Middle | K♣ K♦ 4♣ J♣ 3♦ | 6♦ 6♥ 3♦ 5♥ 5♠ | John |
| Back | 4♠ 4♥ 4♦ 8♦ 8♠ | Q♠ 7♦ 8♥ 6♥ 4♣ | Tom |
In the 2-4 method, John would pay Tom two units; Tom earns two points for winning front and back, loses one for losing middle, and earns one as the overall unit for winning two out of three hands. In the 1-6 method, John would pay Tom one unit; one more time Tom earns two points for winning front and back and loses one for losing middle, however, they will not be given any bonus units.
Conclusion
If you are a poker enthusiast and willing to play Chinese poker, this blog might have helped you. You might have come to know about Chinese poker, its rules, and scoring. This is a unique card game that gives you multiple opportunities to win against each other’s opponent who is playing on the table. If you have played any other poker game, you will feel this game is straightforward. While compared with other popular versions, this game is slowly catching up. The main attraction of this game is it gives a winning chance even to beginners.
Start playing Chinese poker now!!
