How to Play Chinese Poker and Open Face Chinese Poker
Chinese Poker provides diversity to players who are looking to try something out of the box. The game is also called Pusoy. It has been played across Asia for long but has recently widened its global reach. Chinese poker is easy to learn even when the player does not know about the regular poker. One variation from the conventional poker is that it tends to be a game of chance and provides more probabilities than the traditional poker. However, it still requires a considerable amount of concentration and strategic thinking.
On the other hand, Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) is derived from Chinese Poker and comes with significant variations. Despite its name, it does not originate from China, and its variations make it quite different from Chinese Poker.
Similarities and Differences between Chinese Poker and Open Face Chinese Poker
Just like in the Chinese Poker, OFC players take turns in drawing cards from a single deck with the aim of creating the best hand to outdo the competition. Moreover, they do not allow bets to be placed during play rounds. Instead, the game is scored using points.
In OFC and Chinese Poker, up to four players can take part in the game unlike the conventional two to three. When playing draw rounds, players must use 13 cards in order to build three hands. The top hand has three cards. The middle hand has five cards while the bottom hand has five cards. The playing goes clockwise from the left of the dealer. Note that the bottom hand is the strongest, followed by the middle hand and finally, the top hand.
In Turbo OFC Poker, the game starts with each player being dealt five hands. However, after that, each of the players gets four cards in two rounds, bringing the total to three rounds of 5+4+4. This is quite different from the standard Chines Poker.
There is also a double deck OFC Poker variation where players use two card decks having been shuffled together. This increases the variable hands and the number of people who can take part in the game. However, the game is played just like that of the single deck OFC poker.
Open Face Chinese Poker Strategy
During scoring, players at the back, middle and the front are compared. Each of the rows is worth a point. However if the player only wins two out of the three rows, the scores are calculated as 1+1-1 and, therefore, does not win.
If a player wins all the three rows, he is said to have scoped all the opponents and receives three bonus points and gets a total of six points.
When there is a tie, scores cancel each other, and no one is considered a winner. If any player commits a foul, the penalty is six points. If there are two players on the table, the opponent is said to have scooped all the points.
Tips on How to Play Chinese Poker
Chinese poker does not use chips. It is the use of poker hands that gives it its name. Here are a few poker tips to keep in mind when playing the game.
Avoid Invalid Hands
Sometimes, avoiding invalid hands may seem impossible. However, players should avoid it. If a player puts down an invalid hand, all of the other opponents scoop against the player, and he or she loses the game. This can be done by checking that the hands are arranged such that the backhand is the strongest and the top hand is the weakest.
Prevent Others from Scooping
Scooping is always the main poker strategy of Chines poker and OFC. (This is where the player win all the hands). However, if it is rather hard to scoop, the player should prevent the opponents from scooping. In order to achieve this, the player can make the bottom hand really strong rather than trying to balance the three hands.
When combining the cards, a pair of queens provides adequate protection against scooping. However, if the player lacks such as strong hand, he or she may put the second-best hand in the front.
Split Pairs
If a player has a straight and two pairs, the best strategy is to split the pairs. This is because a pair in the front may be quite strong compared with the middle. However, the remaining cards such as AQJ or AK9 are awesome, and the player may go with them in the front and use the two pairs for the middle.