Explained: What is Chinese Poker?
By
Kevin Lentz
Writer at Casinos.US Updated: 10/16/2024
Kevin has been involved in the gambling industry since the ‘80s. From winning tournaments to casino management, he’s ultimately done it all. Throughout the years, he’s written for various iGaming publications on topics such as the legal landscape of online casinos and strategies behind winning. His favorite game is blackjack.
What Is Chinese Poker
Traditional Chinese poker is almost certainly not that traditional, nor is it likely Chinese, though it is probably a modern retelling of the ancient Chinese tile game Pai Gow. It is most likely Chinese Poker was invented in California card clubs in the late 1980s, around the same time as the other popular Pai Gow variant, Pai Gow Poker.
While not yet as popular as traditional Asian games, you may find players betting on Chinese poker as they also play online baccarat on another screen at many online casinos across southeast Asia. The game also has proven popular in Eastern Europe and parts of the old Soviet Union.
Each player receives 13 cards; they will then make three hands with these. The top contains only three cards, and then the middle and back. Each of these contains five cards. As you can see, no more than four players can play the game at any given time, as 13 x 4 uses the entire deck.
- 🃏 What Is the Most Important Chinese Poker Rule?
- 🃏The Rise of Chinese Poker Online
- 🃏The Open Face Chinese Poker Card Game Variants
- 🃏Alternative Chinese Poker Scoring
What Is the Most Important Chinese Poker Rule?
The main Chinese Poker rule to remember is that the back hand must be the highest hand, followed by the middle, and then the top. If you break this rule, your hand is a foul, and depending on the scoring system being used, it may cost you six units or maybe more.
If you have a flush and a straight, the back hand must be the flush. You can play the straight in the middle hand. If you have three pairs, you could play two pairs in the back hand and a pair in the middle hand, or you could elect to have a pair in each of your hands as long as the bottom hand has the highest pair, the middle hand has the middle pair, and the top hand has the lowest pair.
The only other Chinese poker rule is that there are no straights or flushes in the three-card hand, only three kind pairs or a high card. But like any good rule, there is an exception. A player with three straights or flushes, including the top hand, is an automatic winner. But that is the only time straights or flushes are considered in the top hand.
All players get their cards at once in the regular game and then proceed to set their hands. There is no bluffing or raising; you just get paid depending on the point system set up when you begin play. Each hand you win gets paid one unit by the other players. If you win all three hands, you have a Scoop, and it generally receives an additional three units from each player.
Certain hands, usually full houses, straight flushes, and four-of-a-kind, get a bonus or royalty. This might even include a three-of-a-kind in the top hand since this is difficult to achieve. You would announce these royalty hands before play begins and usually be paid for them before play resumes.
Typical bonuses might be three units for a straight flush, and then two for a four of a kind in the back hand, then the middle hand might get four for a straight flush, three for a four of a kind, and one for a full house. Then three units if you manage to legally put a three of a kind on top.
This game was actually played at the World Series of Poker in 1995 and 1996 and was wildly popular among poker cognoscenti like Phil Ivey and Phil Helmuth and others before fading a bit into obscurity in the US poker market.
The Rise Of Chinese Poker Online
While it faded in American Poker rooms, it remained a massive hit in European and Asian poker rooms and soon became the most popular form of Poker in Russia and Finland. There, they immediately went to work on innovating new variants. It moved effortlessly onto European and Asian online poker sites in the late 90s and remains very popular in those markets to this day.
Should you wish to practice your play before starting to play Chinese online poker for real money, you can check out sites like PrimeDope.com which will let you play for free against AI opponents as well as help you analyze how to set your hands. Make sure and check the box for which Chinese poker rule set you wish to play.
Once you have gotten to the point where you can beat the AIs, you can move to real-money Chinese poker online. There are many internet poker sites which offer different types of Chinese poker. Many are in Asian languages, so you may need some translation software as well should you wish to play.
The Open Face Chinese Poker Card Game Variants
The most popular variant of the Chinese poker card game is called Open Face Chinese Poker or just OFCP for short. This version ups the regular Chinese poker game’s strategy and suspense by tenfold.
The simple rule change here is that after you get your first five cards, you must place them into your hand. Then the remaining eight cards are dealt one at a time, and you must place them in a given hand, and you can’t move them after they are placed. It becomes very easy to foul your hand if you don’t know what cards you will receive.
The bonuses are much higher in OFCP as well because, of course, it is much harder to make a great hand if you don’t know ahead of time how the cards will come out. Perhaps 15x for a straight flush in the back hand, 10x for a four-of-a-kind, and 5x for a full house. On the middle hand, as much as 30x for a straight flush, 20x for four-of-a-kind, and 12x for a full house. Then 15x for a three-of-a-kind on the top hand.
Another variation of open-faced Chinese poker is the Pineapple version. This one adds a whole other level of strategy in that after you get your first five cards and place them, you get three cards for each of the remaining four rounds. You must play two of those cards into your faceup hands, and you must discard one card each round face down.
This means you now have the ability to throw away a card your opponent is desperately looking for. Another odd rule usually in effect in both of these variants is called Fantasy Land. If, after everything, you can still get a pair of queens or higher on your top hand, your next round lets you and only you get all your 13 cards at once and set your hands. Then once every other player has finally completed their hands, you can turn yours over.
That should provide you with a major chance at scoring several great hands, plus give you every opportunity to hit those juiced-up bonuses or royalties.
Alternative Chinese Poker Scoring
The most important thing to know about scoring in Chinese poker is that it depends. So, make sure you and your opponents decide on a Chinese poker scoring system before you begin to play. Many online casinos have very different payables, but at least when you play online, all the rules and scoring systems are clearly displayed.
When playing on mainly Asian sites, you may see what is referred to as Natural Royalties. While these can pay large sums, don’t forget you may be the one paying them. Some of them, like Clean Dragon, which is a 13-card straight flush, are unlikely to happen, but at over a 100 to 1 bonus, it could be either a boon or a bust, depending on whether you are the one holding it or not.
Other esoteric hands include Three Straight Flushes, which is just as it sounds; Three Irons, which is 3 four of kinds; Half Flush, which is 13 cards of the same color but not the same suit; 6 ½ pairs, which again is as it sounds; and All Alphabets, which is thirteen cards comprised only of Aces, Kings, Queens, or Jacks.
While all of these have high royalties associated with them, you are more likely to be paying them than winning them in a four-handed game, so keep that in mind when you try to figure out an appropriate bankroll for this game.
