Poker Playing Methods
Chinese Poker is an interesting version of poker that's very different then most other poker games. The only bad thing is most casinos don't offer it for some strange reason. There are some major differences between Chinese Poker and other poker games. Unlike regular poker you can only have up to 4 players per table and Chinese Poker plays great with 2 people. In Chinese Poker you play with points and each point is worth a pre determined set amount. Your dealt 13 cards face down and you must separate them into 3 hands different hands.
Here's how the game is played:
Each player is dealt 13 cards face down.
Players then must make 3 poker hands from those 13 cards, two hands of 5 cards and one hand of three. The first hand of five must better then your second five card hand and your second better then your three card hand.
The hands are compared against the corresponding hands of the other players. First vs. first, second vs. second, third vs. third.
You have one minute to arrange your hand then hands are scored.
The objective in Chinese Poker is the same as normal poker but you playing with 3 separate hands. As you can imagine there are allot of different combinations in Chinese poker, which is what makes it so interesting.
Hand values are the exact same as normal poker. The only difference being a flush and straight are worthless in your three-card hand.
After arranging the hands all players compare their hands to each other and the winner in each individual game receives a number of points, determined by how many hands they have won.
This is how you score points after each round:
- Player 1 vs. Player 2
- Player 1 vs. Player 3
- Player 1 vs. Player 4
- Player 2 vs. Player 3
- Player 2 vs. Player 4
- Player 3 vs. Player 4
2-4 Scoring Simplified:
The most popular scoring for Chinese Poker online is called '2-4 scoring'. You might get confused with the scoring but basically it comes down to the fact that your hand must beat 2 out of the 3 hands of your opponent.
- If you win two out of three hands you get two points.
- If you win all three hands you get four points.
Simplified Scoring is based on Full Scoring Rules:
- The player who has the better first hand gets a point.
- The player who has the better second hand gets a point.
- The player who has the better third hand gets a point.
- Bonus points, if any, are added to each player's total.
- The player who has the better total gets an additional point called the overall point.
- The player who has the better total collects the difference between the two scores.
- Without bonuses a player can potentially win 12 points, 4 points from each of the other players.
1-4 scoring
The same as 2-4 the scoring system only there will be no overall point for winning two out of three hands.
(Bonuses always count and surrender always applies, 2 points)
1-6 Scoring
In the 1-6 system, winning two out of three is worth one point and winning all three is worth six points.
(Bonuses always count and surrender always applies, 3 points)
Bonuses
Some tables have bonuses for high hands.
Here is a break down of the bonus scoring.
- Straight Flush in first/second hand 4 points
- Four of a kind in first/second hand 3 points
- Three of a kind in third hand 2 points
- Full house in second hand 1 point
Surrender
Surrender is when a player just folds and pays 2 points for a 2-4 game, 3 points in a 1-6 game.
