Chinese Poker

Chinese Poker is but one of the many variants of Poker. And like all variants of poker, it follows the rules of which type of hand beats another, and these are (ranked from best hand to worst):

•Royal Flush - A hand with an ace, king, queen, jack and 10 of a single suit.

•Straight Flush - A hand with a sequential set of five cards in a single suit other than an ace, king, queen, jack and 10 combination.

•Four of a Kind - This is a hand with four matching cards

•Full House - A hand with a set of 3 matching cards and another 2 matching pair.

•Flush - Having a non-consecutive set of five cards of a single suit.

•Straight - A consecutive set of five cards in different suits

•Three of a Kind - same as a full house except without the matching pair.

•Two Pairs - a set with two matching pairs

•One Pair - a set with just one matching pair

•Any other combination of cards

This type of poker is also most unique, in that more cards are dealt to each player. Ideally, this is played between 4 people with every player having 13 cards each. The player then arranges the cards in three groups: the "front" which has 3 cards, and the "middle" and "back", each having 5 cards. This game has the additional rule that the "back" should be the strongest hand among the three while the "front" should be the weakest. Note that in evaluating strength, the front does not "recognize" a straight or flush. After arranging them, the cards are set face down on the table in front of the player with the back at the bottom, the middle next and finally the front. Each player in turn then announces whether or not he would be playing his hand.

Scoring in Chinese Poker:

Players win "units" in Chinese Poker. These points are dependent on how many among the 3 groups of cards win against another player. A player's front goes up against another's front and so on with the other groups. The points are also dependent on scoring method that everyone has agreed to use. The most commonly accepted scoring versions of the game are the 2-4 and 1-6.

In 2-4, a player wins 1 unit for every group (front, middle and/or back) that wins. If a player wins in 2 or more groups, the player receives an additional point. Therefore, if a player wins all 3 groups, the player would receive 4 units total: 1 for each group and 1 for winning 2 or more groups. If a player wins in only 2 groups, the player gets 2 units from both groups that win, 1 unit for winning 2 or more groups less 1 unit for losing in one group. This totals 2 units, hence the name 2-4, since the winner gets either 2 or 4 units per winning hand.

In the 1-6 style of scoring, the player also gets 1 unit for every group won. The player gets an additional 3 units for winning all 3 groups; so if a player wins in all 3 groups, the player receives 1 unit for each group and 3 more units for winning all three for a total of 6 units. If a player wins in only 2 groups, the player receives 2 units from the winning groups less 1 unit from the losing group for a total of 1 unit. Hence its name, 1-6.