Play Chinese Poker Game Online for Free

Chinese poker is one of the variants of poker games that has always been popular in Asia and becomes popular in many countries around the world, as traditional variations like Texas Hold’em and Omaha become a bit boring.

Chinese poker may seem a bit complex and confusing at first sight, but it requires an equal portion of luck and skill to win. Thus, it is quite thrilling and fun.

How to Play Chinese Poker?

From two to four players can participate in this game. Each of them is dealt 13 cards. The aim of each player is to create three poker hands with as high value as possible. A person with the highest value wins.

The process of hand creation has its rules:

• The front hand consists of three cards.
• The middle hand has five cards, and its value should be better than the value of the front hand.
• The back hand consists of five cards, and it should be better than the middle hand.

The combinations that can be created in the front hand are quite limited (a high card, a pair, or a three of a kind). At the same time, all poker combinations are possible in the middle and the back hands.

Once all players have created their hands, it is time to open cards and count the points. The front hand is compared with the front hands, the middle hand with the middle hands, and the back hand with the back hands. A player with the highest hand gets one point. Thus, the maximum number of points a player can scoop in one round is three.

Chinese Poker Scoring System

However, scoring and its rules are not that simple. Different game variants have different scoring rules with special bonuses for having all three highest winning combinations or for having a combination in the front hand that is difficult to create.

Some of the most common Chinese Poker scoring rules are listed below:

• 1-6 rule: it says that a player whose hands beat all hands of the opponent gets 6 points. If the round ends with a 2-1 score, the winner gets only 1 point.
• 2-4 rule: a player who wins with the 3-0 score gets 4 points. If the score is 2-1, the winner receives 2 points.
• Surrender rule: this is not a common rule, but there are variants of Chinese poker that allow players to fold their cards. A surrender usually costs 3 points against each opponent.
• Royalties: those are bonus points for particularly strong hands created.