Chinese poker is an Asian card game that currently gaining popularity elsewhere. The rules needed to play Chinese poker are quite simple and easily understood. A basic understanding of poker rankings is important though. There is a lot of luck involved in playing the game, thus allowing a beginning player some success at the beginning. Unskilled players are not easily discouraged by losses since many will probably attribute loses to luck.
Veteran players who play Chinese poker can find enough tactics in the game to provide themselves with ample advantage against poor players. The game format usually allows unexpected wins. Only a few players are needed to play Chinese poker.
To start the play in Chinese Poker, each player receives a thirteen card hand from a regular fifty-two card deck (no joker in play). The player splits his cards into three hands also known as setting. The first hand called front hand is a three hand card, where straights and flushes do not count. The second hand called the middle hand is a five-card hand. The third hand is also a five card hand called the back hand.
The back hand is then laid face down in front of the player. The middle hand is then laid face down in front of the back hand. Lastly, the front hand is laid face down in front of the middle hand. One of the requirements when you play Chinese poker is that the three hands should be arranged from lowest rank to highest rank. The front hand should have the lowest ranking hand and the back hand should have the highest ranking hand. The middle hand should be ranked between the front and back hand.
After setting all their hands, the players will state in turn from the dealer’s left clockwise, whether or not the hand is in play. All players then announce royalties, prior to the hands being shown. A player automatically wins, if he makes three flushes or three straights regardless of the other player’s hand.
The stakes when you play Chinese poker are known as units. The unit is an amount of money agreed prior to the start of the game. The fundamental scoring rule states that player collects one unit from other players whose set is beaten by his own set. When you play Chinese poker unlike other poker games, the second-best hand will still win you some money. On some variants, players are paid units if they win two out of the three hands. While on other variants only a scoop, winning all three hands, gets you a unit.
In some cases, the players may play different stakes since the game features head-to-head matchup. For example, player A and player B can play for $10/unit, while player C can wager player a for $5/unit and player B for $1/unit.
One of the most popular scoring systems used currently in Casinos to play Chinese poker is the two-four scoring scheme. In the two-four schemes the player receives one unit for each of the three hands the player wins. One unit is given to the player who wins two out of the three hands, or all of the three hands. When tie occurs in one of the hands, no unit is exchanged for the particular hand.
This article was written by Alexis.
Tags: chinese poker