What a weird scoring setup my front 3 cards were kh-ks-3c was beaten by kd-kc-2c HOW???? There is no card game ever invented this should happen with the exception of wild 2s and this game does not have wild cards so the site primedope is WELL NAMED. Open Face Chinese poker is a highly addicting game, and I fell in love with it the first time I tried it out with my friends. It has many exciting variants such as regular Chinese, Pineapple and probably the most popular is OFC poker, which is quite different from standard Texas Holdem poker rules.Therefore, we will talk more about it a bit more. Open Face Chinese Poker (OFCP) is a new and exciting variation on the popular Chinese Poker betting card game. Played for real-money in home games and casinos for years, the game is now reaching sites offering online poker. This is a discussion on Poker in China within the online poker forums, in the General Poker section; I am moving to China for a couple of months. Is it ok to play poker there? I play at many. Chinese Poker Conquers the World. It turns out that Asia does not need European or America rules for the game of poker. China has its own variant of this popular card game, called “Chinese poker” – and you can play it too, thanks to the GameDesire service. Professional Poker Players Participate in. Chinese Poker has been part of the Asian community for many years and is a highly popular card game, especially today. The popularity of the game has been picked up among players in the wider poker community, due in part to the fact that Chinese Poker is easy to learn and acts as the perfect springboard to more complex variants of poker where skill is more important than elements of luck. Replay Poker is one of the top rated free online poker sites. Whether you are new to poker or a pro our community provides a wide selection of low, medium, and high stakes tables to play Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, and more.Sign up now for free chips, frequent promotions, free poker games, and constant tournaments.Start playing free online poker today!
This page is based partly on information from Ka Lun, Anthony Horsley Sr, Don Smolen, Richard Dewhirst, Alan Ho, Brandon Bahti and several anonymous correspondents.
Introduction
This Chinese gambling game is popular in Hong Kong and parts of Southeast Asia and is also played to some extent in the USA. It is known by several different names.
- In Cantonese it is called Sap Sam Cheung (十三張), which means 13 cards, and in Vietnamese it is known by the similar name Xập Xám Chướng.
- In Chinese, it is also sometimes called Luosong Pai Jiu (羅宋牌九), which I think means Russian Pai Gow. The game is indeed related to Pai Gow.
- In the USA it is often known as Chinese Poker or sometimes Russian Poker, but note that some people also use the name Chinese Poker to refer to the climbing game Big Two. In Hawaii it is called Pepito.
- In the Phillipines it is known as Pusoy, again not to be confused with Pusoy Dos, which is Big Two. Another name sometimes used is Good, Better, Best, referring to the three hands of a player.
The aim is to arrange your 13 cards into three poker hands - two of five cards and one of three cards - which will beat the corresponding poker hands made by the other players.
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A recent development is Open Face Chinese Poker, in which after the first five cards, hands are built face up one card at a time.
Players, Cards, Stakes and Deal
There are four players, each playing for themselves. A standard 52 card pack is used.
Before playing it is necessary to agree on a stake. Below I will describe the payments in terms of units; one unit can be worth whatever the players agree in advance - $1, $10, $100, etc.
The cards are shuffled, cut and dealt out singly: 13 cards to each player.
Arrangement of cards
Each player must divide their 13 cards into a 'back' hand of 5 cards, a 'middle' hand of 5 cards and a 'front' hand of 3 cards. Considered as poker hands, the back hand must be better than the middle hand, and the middle hand must be better than the front hand. The standard poker ranking is used - so the hand types from high to low are: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, high card (see the page on ranking of poker hands). There are no wild cards.
Since the front hand has only 3 cards, only three hand types are possible: three of a kind; one pair; high card. There is no value in having a front hand with three consecutive cards or three cards of the same suit: 'straights' or 'flushes' in the front hand do not count.
Players place their three hands face down in front of them, the front hand nearest the centre of the table and the back hand nearest themselves.
Showdown and Scoring
When everyone is ready, all the players expose their three hands and each pair of players compares the corresponding hands. In the simplest system of payments, you win one unit for each corresponding hand of another player that you beat and lose one for unit each hand that beats you. When the hands are equal you neither win nor lose. Here is an example:
The result would be as follows:
Players | front winner | middle winner | back winner | North | East | South | West |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North v East | North | North | North | +3 | -3 | ||
North v South | South | South | North | -1 | +1 | ||
North v West | North | North | West | +1 | -1 | ||
East v South | South | South | East | -1 | +1 | ||
East v West | East | West | West | -1 | +1 | ||
South v West | South | South | West | +1 | -1 | ||
Total | +3 | -5 | +3 | -1 |
Notice that although West's back hand is the overall best hand (aces full), West loses on balance because of the weaker middle and front hands. East could have done slightly less badly by putting the sevens in the middle hand, which would then have beaten West. Notice also that it is not legal for East to put the jacks in the front hand, because it would then not be possible to make a middle hand that was better and a back hand that was better still from the remaining ten cards.
Special Hands
It is possible to play using just the payments described above. However, many players add two further features to the stakes: increased payments for certain hands, and some special 13-card hands that win automatically. If you are playing with these it is important to agree in advance exactly which ones are allowed and how much each is worth.
A typical scale of increased payments is as follows:
- If you win the front hand with three of a kind, you receive 3 units instead of 1 for that hand.
- If you win the middle hand with a full house, you receive 2 units instead of 1 for that hand.
- If you win the back (or middle) hand with 4 of a kind, you receive 4 units instead of 1.
- If you win the back (or middle) hand with a royal flush or straight flush you win 5 units instead of 1.
These bonuses only count for you for hands that you win. For example if A and B each have a 3 of a kind in front, but B's is higher, A will pay B 3 units for it. A's 3 of a kind will still count against the other players if it wins.
Example:A has 6-6-6, 4-4-4-9-9, K-K-K-8-8 and B has Q-Q-7, J-J-J-2-2, 5-5-5-5-A. A wins 3 for the front hand, but B wins 2 for the middle and 4 for the back, so altogether A pays 3 units to B.
When special hands are allowed, the following 13-card hands win automatically against any ordinary hand, if declared before the hands are exposed. When two special hands come up against each other, the higher wins the full specified amount and the lower loses its value (though it can still win against the other players). After the special hands have been dealt with, the remaining players expose their cards and settle up among themselves in the normal way. A typical schedule of special hands, in ascending order, is:
- Six pairs: a hand with six pairs and one odd card. When two players have six pair hands, compare the highest pair; if the highest pairs are equal compare the second highest pair, and so on. Win 3 units.
- Three straights: the back and middle hands are five card straights and the front hand is a three card straight (i.e. three cards of consecutive rank). If two players have three straights, compare the highest (back) straights first, then if these are equal the middle straights, and finally, if all else is equal, the front straight. Win 3 units.
- Three flushes: the back and middle hands are flushes, and the front hand is a three-card flush (three cards of one suit). If two players have this, the player with the better back hand wins; if tied the better middle hand; if those are also tied, the better front hand. Win 3 units.
- Complete straight: the hand has one card of each rank: A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K. Suits can be mixed. If two players have this, they are tied. Win 13 units.
A player who has a special hand can choose not to declare it, but instead to set three hands of 5, 5 and 3 cards in the normal way. This loses the right to an automatic win, but it may occasionally be possible to win more units in the normal settlement, when extra payments can be won.
Chinese Poker Download
Variations
There seem to be numerous variations in the way the payments are organised. Here are the ones I have so far discovered.
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- Three of a kind in the front hand: 2 extra units
- Full house in the middle hand: 1 extra unit
- Four of a kind in the back or middle hand: 3 extra units
- Straight or royal flush in the back or middle hand: 4 extra units
This variation is often combined with the overall point variation above.
- Three of a kind in the front hand: 2 extra units
- Full house in the middle hand: 2 extra units
- Four of a kind in the back hand: 4 extra units
- Four of a kind in the middle hand: 6 extra units
- Straight or royal flush in the back hand: 6 extra units
- Straight or royal flush in the middle hand: 8 extra units
The special hands, in ascending order, are:
- Three flushes: 3 units
- Three straights: 4 units
- Six and a half pairs: 4 units
- Five pairs and one three of a kind: 5 units
- Four threes of a kind and an odd card: 6 units
- All cards are the same colour: 10 points
- Small: all cards are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: 10 points
- Big: all cards are 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A: 10 points
- Three fours of a kind and one odd card: 16 units
- Three straight flushes: 18 units
- All 12 picture cards plus any 13th card: 18 units
- All thirteen cards of one suit: 26 units
A special hand, if declared before the cards are exposed, beats any normal hand and wins the number of units specified in the table (a player wins from the bank, or the bank wins from all players). If the bank and a player both have special hands, the holder of the higher scoring hand wins the difference between their values.
- Three of a kind in front: 3 units instead of 1
- Full house in the middle: 2 units instead of 1
- Four of a kind at the back: 4 units; in the middle: 8 units
- Straight flush at the back: 5 units; in the middle: 10 units
- Three straights: 3 units
- Three flushes: 3 units
- Six pairs: 3 units
- Five pairs and one triplet: 6 units
- Complete straight A to K with mixed suits: 13 units; if all 13 cards are of one suit: 26 units.
- Three of a kind in front: 3 units instead of 1
- Full house in the middle: 2 units instead of 1
- Four of a kind at the back: 4 units; in the middle: 8 units
- Straight flush at the back 7 units; in the middle: 14 units
- Three straights: 4 units
- Three flushes: 4 units
- 12 red cards and 1 black or 12 black and 1 red: 4 units
- All black or all red: 6 units
- Six pairs: 4 units
- Complete straight A to K with mixed suits: 13 units
- All 13 cards of one suit: 39 units
A player wins two out of three hands against an opponent receives 1 unit from that opponent. For winning all three hands the payment is 6 units. A player who wins all three hands against every other player is paid 9 units (instead of 6) by each. For winning with particular hands in particular positions there are additional payments as follows:
- Straight flush: 5 units at the back; 10 units in the middle
- Four of a kind: 4 units at the back; 8 units in the middle
- Full house: 2 units in the middle
- Three of a kind: 3 units at the front
A player who surrenders pays 3 units to each opponent.
Some play with an extra side bet on the number of aces held. One aces is worth 1, two aces 2, three aces 6, four aces 8. Between two players, the player with fewer aces pays the difference in units, in addition to the payments for the Chinese Poker game.
Payments are made in chips and it is not possible to win or lose more chips than you had in front of you at the start of the deal. Settlement is in clockwise order staring with the dealer. Any 13-card special hands are settled first, followed by all other payments. Specifically, if the players in clockwise order are A (dealer), B, C, D then settlements are made in the order A vs B, A vs C, A vs D, B vs C, B vs D, C vs D. Example: A starts with only 8 chips. A wins all three hands against B and loses all three against C. B pays A 6 chips, but A pays only 2 chips to C, because each chip is either doubled or lost, and A's first 6 chips have already been 'used' to justify the win from B. Therefore A ends up with 8+6-2=12 chips. A neither pays to nor receives from D since the transactions with B and C have already accounted for all A's chips. Players can buy additional chips from the house after the settlement and before the next deal.
The casino takes a fixed rake per hand, and part of this is used to build jackpots that are offered for certain unusual events - for example when a player has a straight flush, three of a kind, and a pair and loses all three hands to another player.
Other Chinese Poker web pages
Further information can be found on Don Smolen's Chinese Poker page. From there you can also order his excellent book on the tactics of this game, and obtain his CPOKER computer program.
Rules for a version of Chinese Poker can also be found under the name Pusoy on this archive copy the Bicycle Cards web site.
Rules for Chinese Poker can also be found at the Asian Games Site vinagames.com, where it is possible to play Chinese Poker on line.
Playing Chinese Poker Online
With Phong Le's Chinese Poker Analyser you can compare the power of alternative divisions of 13 cards into three hands, and play Chinese Poker (Xap Xam) against one, two or three computer players.
This page is based on information from Dave Holdsworth.
- Variations
- Pineapple OFCP
Introduction
Despite its name, this variant of Chinese Poker, sometimes known as Open Hand Chinese Poker or just as OFCP, originated in Russia and Finland in the early 21st century. It was introduced to the poker tournament circuit by Russian players in the Aviation Club, Paris in early 2012 and has since become generally popular, and the side-game of choice for professional poker players in the US and Europe.
Players and Cards
The game can be played by 2, 3 or 4 players, each playing for themselves. A standard 52-card deck is used. Deal and play are clockwise. Before playing it is necessary to agree on a stake per point.
Arrangement of Cards
The objective of the game is for each player to develop over the course of a deal their best 'back' hand of 5 cards, 'middle' hand of 5 cards and 'front' hand of 3 cards from a total of 13 cards. Initially the player has 5 cards to distribute among the hands. Then further cards are drawn one at a time, and the player has to decide where to place each card before seeing what will come next. 'Open face' in the name of the game refers to the fact that during the game all hands are visible to all players.
For a player's hands to be valid, the back hand must be better than or equal to the middle hand, and the middle hand must be better than the front hand. If these conditions are not met the player's hand is considered 'foul' and does not score. Note that in Open Face Chinese Poker (unlike standard Chinese Poker), a player may easily get into a situation where a foul is unavoidable, if the last few cards are not what the player hoped for.
The standard poker ranking is used - so the hand types from high to low are: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, high card (see the page on ranking of poker hands). There are no wild cards.
Since the front hand has only 3 cards, only three hand types are possible: three of a kind; one pair; high card. There is no value in having a front hand with three consecutive cards or three cards of the same suit: 'straights' or 'flushes' in the front hand do not count.
Deal and Play
One player is designated dealer and deals 5 cards to each player, one at a time face down. The player to dealer's left now sets his or her 5 cards, placing them face up on the table, assigning each card to the front, middle or back hand. The other players do the same, in turn, ending with the dealer.
Once all players have set their first 5 cards, play continues clockwise, starting with the player on the dealer's left. Each player in turn draws the top card of the stock, exposes it, and adds it to one of his or her three hands. Once played, cards cannot be moved from one hand to another, and when a hand has its full complement of cards (5 in the back or middle, 3 in the front), no more can be added. When everyone has 13 cards, the hands are compared and scored.
The deal moves to the left after each hand.
Scoring
Each pair of players compares corresponding hands. So with three players there are three pairs of hands to be compared and scored: A against B, A against C and B against C. With four players there are six pairs: A against B, A against C, A against D, B against C, C against D, C against D.
For each pair of players, scores are calculated as follows.
- For each of the three hands, back, middle and front, the player with the better hand scores one point.
- If the same player wins all three hands, that player scores an extra bonus of 3 points.
- Points are also awarded for royalties: making certain hand values in the different hand positions, which are then added to the score. Unlike standard Chinese Poker, royalties are usually counted for both players being compared.
- The player who has fewer points pays the difference between the scores to the player who has more.
- A player who has a foul hand scores nothing for any hand, but instead pays 6 points for the foul plus points for any royalties the opponent may have. If both players being compared have foul hands then neither scores.
The standard scoring system is as follows:
Points for Winning hands, foul and sweep
- Each hand won: 1 point
- Bonus for winning all three hands (sweep): 3 points
- Opponent's Foul: 6 points
(Note: There are two common methods for scoring normal Chinese Poker
- 1 point per hand plus 3 points for a sweep, called 1-6 scoring because a player wins 1 point (2-1) for winning two out of three hands and 6 points (3+3) for winning all three
- 1 point per hand plus 1 point for winning the majority of hands, called 2-4 scoring. because a player wins 2 points (2-1+1) for winning two out of three hands and 4 points (3+1) for winning all three.
OFCP is normally played with 1-6 scoring as shown above.)
Points for Royalties
- Back Hand:
- Straight = 2 points
- Flush = 4 points
- Full House = 6 points
- Four of A Kind = 10 points
- Straight Flush = 15 points
- Royal Flush = 25 points
- Middle Hand (double the bonus for back hand):
- Straight = 4 points
- Flush = 8 points
- Full House = 12 points
- Four of a Kind = 20 points
- Straight Flush = 30 points
- Royal Flush = 50 points
- Front Hand
- Pair of Sixes (6, 6) = 1 point
- Pair of Sevens (7, 7) = 2 points
- Pair of Eights (8, 8) = 3 points
- Pair of Nines (9, 9) = 4 points
- Pair of Tens (10, 10) = 5 points
- Pair of Jacks (J, J) = 6 points
- Pair of Queens (Q, Q) = 7 points
- Pair of Kings (K, K) = 8 points
- Pair of Aces (A, A) = 9 points
- 3 of a Kind = 20 points
Variations
OFCP is evolving and many minor variations in scoring can be seen, even in the casino game.
Scoring Variations
Some play with different scoring for 3 of a kind in the Front hand:
- 3 of a Kind Twos (2, 2, 2) = 10 points
- 3 of a Kind Threes (3, 3, 3) = 11 points
- 3 of a Kind Fours (4, 4, 4) = 12 points
- 3 of a Kind Fives (5, 5, 5) = 13 points
- 3 of a Kind Sixes (6, 6, 6) = 14 points
- 3 of a Kind Sevens (7, 7, 7) = 15 points
- 3 of a Kind Eights (8, 8, 8) = 16 points
- 3 of a Kind Nines (9, 9, 9) = 17 points
- 3 of a Kind Tens (10, 10, 10) = 18 points
- 3 of a Kind Jacks (J, J, J) = 19 points
- 3 of a Kind Queens (Q, Q, Q) = 20 points
- 3 of a Kind Kings (K, K, K) = 21 points
- 3 of a Kind Aces (A, A, A) = 22 points
Some play that Trips in the Middle = 2 points
Some play that Trips in the Middle = 2 points and Trips in the Back = 1 point
Some play:
- Back Hand:
- Four of A Kind = 8 points
- Straight Flush = 10 points
- Royal Flush = 20 points
- Middle Hand: double the bonus for back hand.
Some play:
- Back Hand:
- Straight = 4 points
- Straight Flush = 15 points
- Royal Flush = 25 points
- Middle Hand:
- treble the bonus for back hand, and
- Trips in the Middle = 2 points
Some play that only the winning hand of the pair being compared counts when adding up royalties.
Some play using 2-4 scoring instead of 1-6 scoring
Table Stakes
In tournament play and when played in a casino, it may be required to play table stakes, which means that the player is liable only for those chips which he has in front of him.
When playing table stakes the payoff must be conducted in strict sequence. First the hand of player to dealer's left is compared with those of the other players in clockwise order, ending with the dealer, then the next player 's hand is compared with those of the remaining players, and so on. So for example if there are four players West, North, East and South and South has dealt, then the hands are compared in the following order: W vs N, W vs E, W vs S, N vs E, N vs S, E vs S.
Since you cannot lose more than the amount you have on the table, it is reasonable to have a rule that you also cannot win more than this amount. Therefore, if at any point in the payoff a player has won as much as he or she had on the table at the start of that deal, the player's win is capped at this amount. The opponent pays enough so that the player has won in total an amount equal to their stake at the start of that deal, and from that point onward the player's hand is 'complete'. The player cannot win or lose any further chips (even if without the cap he or she would have subsequently lost chips to another player) and the comparison moves on to the other pairs of players.
Fantasyland
Fantasyland is a very popular variant which awards a special bonus for setting a Pair of Queens or higher in the Front hand. On the subsequent hand the player is said to be in Fantasyland, and is dealt all 13 cards at the beginning of the deal. The player sets his hand face down before play begins. The hands are scored as normal when the other players finish setting their hands.
The dealer button does not move for the Fantasyland hand. Normal play resumes after the hand.
Some play that if a player in Fantasyland sets at least four of a kind in the back, full house in the middle or trips in front he can stay in Fantasyland for another hand.
Some play that a player must announce if he is staying in Fantasyland when he sets his hand.
Some play that a player in Fantasyland sets his hand face down in the normal course of play rather than before any other players set their hands.
Final Cards Face Down
Some play the final 3 cards face down to speed up the four-handed game.
Pineapple OFCP
Pineapple is a relatively recent variant for two or three players, which is played in some Las Vegas casinos, and is also offered online at TonyBet Poker.
Players are dealt 5 cards to start and set them as usual. After that they take 3 cards on each turn, setting two of the cards and discarding one card face down.
In Pineapple OFCP, some play the Fantasyland variant with 14 cards dealt at the start of the hand and 1 discarded. In Progressive Pineapple a player with a hand better than QQ in front is dealt more cards: 15 cards for KK, 16 cards for AA and 17 cards for triplets. The player keeps 13 cards, discarding the remainder before setting the hands. A player in Fantasyland who sets a front hand of QQ or better will be dealt a 14-card Fantasyland hand next time, even if the front hand was better than QQ.
Pineapple 2-7 OFCP
In this variant, also available at TonyBet Poker, the aim is to set strong hands front and back and a low hand in the middle. For the middle hand, 2-7 ranking is used: straights and flushes count and ace is always high, so that the lowest hand is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits. In order not to foul the hand, your back hand must be higher than your front hand and your middle hand cannot be stringer than 10 high. Royalties for the middle hand are:
- 9 high – 1 point,
- 8 high – 2 points,
- 7 high – 4 points,
- 75432 – 8 points.
KK or better in the top row or 75432 in the middle row results in a 14-card Fantasyland. Both KK or better in the top row and 75432 in the middle row at the same time results in a 15-card Fantasyland (15 cards dealt at once and two discarded). A Fantasyland player who makes a set in front or quads or better in the back hand is rewarded with another 14-card Fanstasyland hand.
Websites and Online Games
The well-known player Tony G (Antanas Guoga) has established the TonyBet Poker site where you can play Open Face Chinese Poker online for real money.
Open Face Chinese Poker and Pineapple OFCP can be played online at flopturnriver, either between 2-4 live players or as a 2-player (heads up) game against a bot.
There are many information sites and blogs appearing. Strategy discussions can be found at www.openfaceodds.com and on www.twoplustwo.com.