Chinese Poker| Mastering How to Play and Rules

The Essential Aspects of Chinese Poker

In Chinese Poker, the player splits the whole deck of 52 cards into four hands of 13 cards each. If there are four people playing, each person will have one hand. If there are only three people playing, the fourth hand is thrown away and not used.

In a game with two players, each player gets one hand and saves the other for the next hand. This keeps the dealer from having to deal again. A person can only look at their own hand, and if there are two players, they can only look at the hand they are playing.Teen Patti is an exciting card game that is popular in India. It is a mix of skill, strategy, and luck.

Basic rules in playing Chinese Poker

The rules for Chinese poker are based on the usual order of poker hands, where a royal flush is the best hand. So, the basics are easy, but it might take a few minutes to learn how to score points and figure out how many you have.

Here is a quick guide to the rules of Chinese poker:

Two to four people can play it.
Before the game starts, the players agree on how many points each one is worth.
At the start of the game, each person is given 13 cards.
Sort the cards into three hands: two hands of five cards and one hand of three cards.
The “top hand” of three cards goes on the top row and must be the worst hand.
Your middle hand must be better than your top hand to go to the middle row.
Bottom hand goes to the bottom row and must be better than middle hand.
When you’re done setting your hands, put them on the table with the palms down.
Meet in a showdown, look at your hands, and figure out how many points you won or lost.
Here are the rules broken down. Read on to learn more about this great card game and what it has to offer.

How Does Scoring Works in Chinese Poker

Watch the video below to quickly and easily learn how to deal, set your hand, and keep score in a game of Chinese Poker. No one bets or raises. Instead, everyone agrees on a point value.

Everyone gets 13 cards, which they must then use to make three poker hands. Two of the poker hands have five cards, and one has only three cards.

The only rule is that the hand with three cards must be the worst, the hand with five cards in the middle must be better than the hand with three cards, and the hand with five cards at the end must be better than both of the other hands.

When everyone has set their hands, turn yours over and look at how it compares to everyone else’s. Each hand is worth one point against the other players, and a “scoop,” which is when you beat someone in all three hands, is worth three points. Chinese poker scores are easy to figure out as long as you compare hands in the right order.

Basic steps to earn more scores

When you play with four people, it can be hard to keep track of the score. The easiest way to do this is for each person to keep track of how many points they have against each other player in Chinese poker.
Start with the dealer and compare his cards to those of the person to his left. You get one point for each hand you win, and a “scoop,” which is when you beat a player in all three hands, gives you an extra three points.
Then, compare the dealer’s hand with those of Players 3 and 4. Then compare Player 2’s hand to those of Players 3 and 4, and then compare Player 3’s hand to that of Player 4. At the end of the game, each player must settle up with each other on their own.
As you may have guessed, it can be hard to score when there are four people. So, it’s best for each player to keep track of how he or she is doing compared to everyone else.

Bonuses for Chinese Poker (scores)

In Chinese poker, you can get bonus points in addition to points for having a better hand than your opponent based on your position. These bonuses, called “royalties,” are usually given to people who have built up a very strong position.

Royalty payments can be different in different games. Some royalties give you points if you put a good hand in a certain spot, while others give you points if your 13-card hand meets certain conditions.

Based on the most popular type of bonus in Chinese poker, the following could be some of the royalties:

Bonuses for a single hand

Back Hand: In the back hand position, you get three extra points for a straight flush and two points for a four of a kind.
Middle Hand: In the middle hand slot, you get four extra points for a straight flush, three points for a four of a kind, and two points for a full house.
Front Hand: If you get a three of a kind in the front hand spot, you get three more points.

Bonuses for a 13-card hand

Some rights give you points when certain conditions are met with your 13-card hand. These bonuses on the first hand are called “naturals.”

Naturals could be any of the following (with the most likely bonus score in brackets):

Dragon (36 points): Getting a straight draw of 13 cards from the high card ace to the low card 2.
12 Royalties, also called “all broadway” (32 points): Getting jacks or higher on all your cards.
Three Straight Flushes (24 points): Getting two different straight flushes of five cards each and a straight flush of three cards. Royal flushes are just as good as straight flushes.
Three Quads: Getting three different four-of-a-kind hands with one extra card. This is worth 20 points.
Every Low 2/High 1 (score of 12) Drawing a hand in which all 13 cards are either 8 or less, or 8 or more.
Full-Colored (10 points): Getting a hand where all 13 cards are the same color, like all hearts or all diamonds, or all spades or all clubs.
Four Triples (8 points): Getting four hands with three of a kind and one extra card.
There are six and a half pairs. Drawing six sets of two cards and one more card (a four-of-a-kind counts as two sets).
Three Straights (4 points): Getting two straights of five cards and a straight of three cards.
Three Flushes (3 points): Getting two flushes of five cards and one of three cards. An eight-card flush counts as two flushes.

Surrendering

In some forms, a player can choose to “surrender” their hand instead of trying to make separate hands out of their 13 cards. This move is the same as folding in a normal game of poker, but it comes with a cost.

When your opponent surrenders, they get more points than if they won two out of three hands, but less than if they scoop.

But in some Chinese poker games, you can’t give up.

Setting up a Chinese Poker Hand

You have 13 cards in your hand. Your job is to divide these 13 cards into three Chinese poker hands: top, middle, and bottom.

The hand at the bottom must have five cards and be the best of the three hands you choose. The middle hand must have five cards and be worse than the bottom hand but better than the top hand.

The best hand must be made up of three cards and be the worst of the three.

Five-Card Hands: Five-card hands are ranked according to the standard poker hand ranks, which you can read about here. (The story will also have a link at the end).

Three-Card Hands: In Chinese poker, you can only have a high card, a pair, or triples with three cards. For a three-card hand, you can’t have a flush or straight.

Different kinds of Chinese poker

In traditional Chinese poker, each player gets all 13 cards at once, face down. Once they’ve made their three-card hand, they turn the cards over and look at them.

Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC)

This is a type of poker where each player gets the first five of 13 cards. Each person takes those five cards and starts putting together their three hands, with all the cards facing up.

A person can’t move a card once they’ve put it in one of their three hands. After the first round is over, each player takes a turn picking a card and putting it in one of their hands.

In Open Face, the goal is the same as in traditional Chinese poker: to have a better back, middle, and front hand than your opponent.

Royalties generally pay more in Open Face because it’s harder to make strong hands when you don’t know which cards are coming. Mis-sets also happen a lot more often.

Bonus for Fantasy Land in OFC

If a person’s front hand contains two queens or better, that player enters Fantasy Land in the next round.

In Fantasy Land, you get all 13 cards at once, but you can’t put them together until all the other players have done so. If you meet the following requirements, you can stay in Fantasy Land for the next round:

Use the front hand to make trips.
Make a full house or better with your middle hand.
Make quads or better in your back hand.

Pineapple

Pineapple is a card game that is a lot like Open Face Chinese Poker, but the way the cards are given is different. Each player starts with five cards and puts them in their hands like they would in OFC.

After the first round, each person draws three cards, keeps two of them, and throws away one. The only person who can see the cards you throw away is the person who drew them. This can be used to your benefit to keep your opponent from getting high-scoring cards they want.

FAQs

Chinese Poker can be played by 2 to 4 players.

Players arrange their cards into three hands: the “back” hand, containing three cards; the “middle” hand, containing five cards; and the “front” hand, also containing five cards. The back hand must be weaker than the middle hand, and the middle hand must be weaker than the front hand.

Players compare their corresponding hands against opponents’ hands. Points are awarded based on predetermined scoring rules, with stronger hands earning more points. The player with the highest-scoring front hand wins the pot.

Royalties are bonus points awarded for achieving specific high-ranking combinations, such as certain straights, flushes, and four-of-a-kind. They can significantly impact the overall score of a hand.

Fantasyland is a special feature in Open-Face Chinese Poker, where a player earns the privilege to set their cards face down for the next hand if they have a qualifying hand in the front. This gives them an advantage by allowing them to see all of their cards before arranging the hands.

While Chinese Poker can involve betting, it can also be played without wagering money for pure enjoyment. Players can assign point values to hands and play for fun.

Yes, there are variations of Chinese Poker, such as the aforementioned Open-Face Chinese Poker. These variations introduce unique rules and gameplay mechanics that add depth to the game.

No, once you’ve arranged your cards into the three hands, you cannot change their order. This adds a layer of strategy to the game, as you need to carefully plan how to distribute your cards.

Chinese Poker involves a combination of skill and luck. While luck determines the cards you’re dealt, skill comes into play when arranging hands strategically to maximize points and minimize risks.

Yes, many online gaming platforms offer Chinese Poker variations such as JiliAsia. You can play against computer opponents or compete with players from around the world.

Conclusion

Chinese Poker is a fun take on traditional card games. It combines poker strategy with a unique way to set up your hands. No matter how long you’ve been playing poker or how new you are to card games, Chinese Poker at JiliAsia is a fun task and a chance to learn a new way to play strategically.

As you start to play Chinese Poker, keep in mind that you can win if you practice and put your hands together carefully.

The Essential Aspects of Chinese Poker

Basic rules in playing Chinese Poker