- Open Face Chinese Poker Rules
- Open Face Chinese Poker Scoring Tips
- Open Face Chinese Poker Scoring Sheet
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
Let's look at a few Open Face Chinese Poker scoring examples, with and without royalties. Try to add the hands up yourself and press Show Results to see if you were right! Example 1: Two Players. Show Example 1 Results.
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 distantly 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.
OPEN FACE CHINESE POKER RULES AND SCORING Open Face Chinese Poker is a variant of 'regular' Chinese Poker. In regular Chinese Poker, each player is dealt 13 cards 'in the hole'. They then set the cards in three rows of poker hands. The only place to play Chinese Poker online is » TonyBet, a small, but decent poker room which offers OFC: Open Face Chinese Poker. Chinese Poker Strategy, Tips and Tricks. For all the following tips I assume the following scoring rules.
Open Face Chinese Poker Rules And Scoring, how to pick a slot machine at gold strike tunica, slot milling cycle, ring slot. Showdown and Scoring; Special Hands; Variations; Open Face Chinese Poker; Other Chinese Poker web pages; Chinese Poker Software and Online Games; 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.
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.
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.
Variations
There seem to be numerous variations in the way the payments are organised. Here are the ones I have so far discovered.
- 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.
When Sergey 'gipsy' Rybachenko saw a hand of Open-Face Chinese, his first thought was 'I am going to make millions of dollars in this game, just like I did in regular Chinese.' Open-Face Chinese hooks quickly and inspires strong initial reactions. Jason Mercier live-tweeted a 34-hour session at the European Poker Tour stop in San Remo, while Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth are also major advocates. Daniel tweeted soon after the WSOP that 'It's been a while since I've been addicted to a card game but I am completely addicted to Open Faced Chinese Poker.'
Despite shared nomenclature, skills in regular Chinese don't transfer directly to Open-Face. 'It's like checkers and chess', said poker pro and WPT final tablist Daniel Buzgon. Michael Casella, a chess master and high stakes mixed-game pro who has found regular Chinese to be one of his most profitable games, made the same checkers and chess analogy. Although it's a fallacy that regular Chinese is too easy and intuitive to profit from consistently, the game still pales in complexity when compared to Open-Face.
Like regular Chinese (high), Open-Face Chinese is structured into three hands of descending value, 1. A five-card hand in the back (the strongest) 2. A five-card hand in the middle and 3. A three-card hand 'up top.' If your middle is stronger than your back hand or your top is stronger than your middle, you 'foul.' Open-Face Chinese can be played with two to four players and begins with five cards dealt to each player. The player left of the button places the five cards anywhere in the back, middle and top (not to be moved at any other point in the hand). Afterwards, each player is dealt one card at a time, starting from the left of the button, until 13 cards are dealt to each player. The goal is to make the strongest possible hand, accumulate as many royalties as possible without fouling.
The widespread royalty system gives 20 points in the back for a royal flush, 10 points for a straight flush, eight for quads, six for a full boat, four for a flush, and two for a straight. If any of those hands are achieved in the middle, the royalties are doubled. On top, you get one point in royalty for every pair over sixes up to nine points for aces. Without steep royalties, Open-Face Chinese would quickly become a game of not fouling. The incentives to earn royalties seduce many players away from a simple strategy of trying not to foul, and add mathematical complexity and tension to the game, so that it's often not obvious whether for instance, you should go for a flush or play it safe and make pairs. Chinese expert Robert Mizrachi said, 'If you're nitty in poker, you're going to try not to foul, if you have more gamble, you're going to go for royalties.'
If you foul or get swept against an opponent, you lose six points plus any royalties. You win one point for beating an opponent (winning two of the three hands). Casino new south wales weather. Your own royalties only count if you have a legal hand, in which case they count even if your opponent has a higher royalty.
Variations of Open-Face have been played for years in Baltic countries, but it's only recently become widely popular and the rules are not yet codified. Many players have suggested tweaks. After playing a number of long high-stakes sessions in San Remo with Shaun Deeb, Scott Seiver and Daniel Negreanu , Jason Mercier tweeted:
'New official royalty scoring for Open-Face Chinese. Str8- 2, flush 4, boat 6, quads 10, str8 flush 15, royal 25 #hadtobedone please retweet.' Chinese expert Mizrachi, on the other hand, said that he wasn't sure about the current royalties, because they add so much variance to the game.
Bryan Devonshire, who got hooked on Open-Face at the Los Angeles Poker Classic thinks the game is addictive because even though there is a huge skill gap, 'it's easy for anyone to pick up and it flows well.
Devonshire thinks the game will remain popular for a while. 'The higher stakes are trend-setters. Chinese poker has been the cocaine of after hours poker parties for a while, and Open-Face is even awesomer.' Devonshire has even put money on it — he scooped up a number of URLs related to Open-Face Chinese, though he is not sure yet how he will use them.
Rybachenko, backer of 2008 WSOP runner-up Ivan Demidov, said that he built much of his roll at a swank private club in Moscow, where rich businessmen played Chinese (high) for a US equivalent of almost $5,000 a point. Since then, he lost much of it in mixed games on Full Tilt and Bellagio to the likes of Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius. As he told me, almost proudly 'you can find my screen name, ‘mrcall912' as one of the top online losers of all time.' 'I think I'll be back though,' he said.
Rybachenko sees Open-Face Chinese as a serious contender for bankroll builder, so much that he has inquired into creating programs to solve the game. The first person to do it well, he thinks, will have an edge in high stakes games, which can play for hundreds of dollars a point. Multiple programmers he's approached, however, claim the task is too complicated. He'll keep trying though — he intends to come to the 2013 World Series of Poker prepared for action.
Several pros interviewed did offer light Open-Face Chinese poker strategy tips. If you don't have friends to practice with, play solitaire. Become comfortable with counting cards and outs. 'Stud skills and Open-Face tend to cross over quite well,' Devonshire stated. Remember that position is vital in Open-Face Chinese poker.
Open Face Chinese Poker Rules
Sergei gave one example of his strategy from a four-handed game 'Let's say you're dealt 8-8-J-3-5 with three clubs. If I'm in first position, I'll probably only go for the flush if the jack is a club and otherwise I'll play 8-8-J in the back. I've seen some players would make the mistake of placing the jack in the middle (if they don't get another jack they don't know where to put it). If I'm in second position, I would definitely go for the flush if no clubs are out, if I'm in third position I'd go for it with one dead club.' Buzgon said that too many players underestimate the importance of adjusting based on the number of players: 'If you were playing no limit hold'em, you wouldn't play the same way heads-up as you would four-handed.' Most players interviewed preferred the three-handed game, due to the balance of available information.
Devonshire said, 'The number one strategy rule of the game is ‘Don't Foul.' And that starts with the first five and how you lay the foundation for your hand. You always want to have equity for a big hand, but it's so important not to foul.' Robert Mizrachi related the story of a high-stakes San Diego cash game player, who entered a $200 a point game and started by putting aces up top. While this would be worth a royalty of 9 points if achieved, it requires too much luck to create a legal hand. In a four-handed game (in which all other three opponents create legal hands), this mistake will cost a minimum of $3,600 (200 a point times six), not counting any royalties.
Rob Mizrachi, cited by many players as one of the most skilled Open-Face players, was attracted initially 'because I thought it had more skill than regular Chinese.' However, he is concerned with the hourly, 'every hand takes so long, five to eight minutes as opposed to around two for regular Chinese.' He proposed using clocks set at around 30 minutes for each player. Whenever a player thinks, his clock runs down, and after placing his card, the clock would transfer to the next player — just like in chess. Whoever runs out of time first pays all the other players. There would be a penalty for quitting a session prior to the end of a cycle. 'It would be awesome, (in addition to making the game a lot faster), a lot of people might make mistakes hoping the clock doesn't go off.' Devonshire agrees that maintaining a reasonable pace is key: 'When you get down to card eleven or twelve, you're thinking you have 40 pieces of information to review. I think there should be some sort of shot clock because (over-thinking) blows the flow of the game.'
Because Chinese poker and Open-Face tend toward late hours, combined with drinking and tournament bust-out blues, careful account management often evaporates as rolls are decimated or bloated. One big error newbies make is assuming that they can play for similar stakes as they would play a regular Chinese game. Because of royalties, the game plays much bigger (the more players, the more variance). So if you normally play Chinese poker for $5 a point, you'll probably want to play Open-Face for about $2 a point.
Tournament poker helps many players with bankroll management, creating a stop loss and adding glamorous incentives. Though Chinese forms don't lend as well to tourney play, it is certainly possible (I played in a combination high-low Chinese tourney at the Palms this year) and could hasten the game's popularity. Daniel Negreanu tweeted, 'We need an Open Face Chinese Poker tourney at PCA.' In a tournament — every time a hand concludes, players could exchange chips, multiplying the royalties by the number of chips you get for each point, which escalate as the tournament progress. This would also create some interesting strategy differences — as players become short-stacked, they may not have enough chips to fully cash in if they hit a big royalty.
Open Face Chinese Poker Scoring Tips
As Open-Face Chinese replaces other Chinese forms as the after-hours game of choice, there is no telling how far it can go. 'That it's become so popular at the high end and at low stakes is a good sign for its staying power,' said Devonshire. One thing is for sure: bankrolls will be bolstered and demolished as thousands are seduced by the delicate balance between gambling and just creating a legal hand. ´
Jennifer Shahade is an author, two-time US Women's chess champ & editor at uschess.org. She is also a member of the Grindettes and a writer for PokerStars Women. Read her Poker Player's Guide To Chess Gambling.
Open Face Chinese Poker Scoring Sheet
