How To Play Chinese Poker Game?

By Author: punitshirke
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Chinese poker is a unique type of poker. Players are given hole and community cards in the majority of poker games. The hole cards are given first and then the community cards reveal in every progressive round. That is the basic rule of how to play a poker game.
However, Chinese poker is a game that is played differently. All the players are given thirteen cards at the start of the Chinese poke game.
How to play Chinese Poker?
Two to four players can play Chinese Poker. If you do not know how to play a poker game, then Chinese Poker is the easiest variant to learn. The rules of the game are pretty simple. Players get thirteen cards each.
Rules of forming poker hands
They have to make a top, middle, bottom hand of three, five, five cards respectively. The top hand should be the weakest, the middle hand should be of medium strength, and the bottom hand must be the strongest. If this rule regarding the strength of the poker hands is not followed, then the players ...
... are penalized. Their hand will be considered invalid.
Have a look below for easy understanding:

Top Hand - 3 Cards: Weakest
Middle Hand- 5 Cards: Moderate
Bottom Hand - 5 Cards: Strongest

Scoring in Chinese Poker
Players do not have to bet in Chinese Poker. They get scores for winning a hand against other players. They also lose a point for losing a hand against other players.
Let us understand the scoring in Chinese Poker with the help of the example given below.
Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, and Player 4 are playing Chinese Poker.

Player 1 wins a hand against the remaining three players. The score will be +3 points.
Player 2 loses against player 1 but wins against player 3 and player 4. The score will be -1+2=1 point.
Player 3 lose against player 1 and 2 but wins against player 4. The score will be -2+1= -1 point.
Player 4 loses against all the remaining players. The score will be -3.

This is the scoring pattern for Chinese Poker. You can set the scoring as per your choice. The scores are generally written on a piece of paper. Thereafter, the final score is calculated. The player who has the greatest score is declared the winner.
Poker Hand Rankings
Knowing the poker hand rankings is the most important element in Chinese Poker. There are ten poker hands. The highest to lowest ranks of poker hands are listed below.

Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three of a Kind
Two Pairs
One Pair
High Card

Find the details of the ten rankings below.

Royal Flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten of same suits.
Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suits, except the sequence of cards in a royal flush. An example of a straight flush is 5-6-7-8-9 of the same suits.
Four of a Kind: Four same ranking cards. An example is 9-9-9-9-K.
Full House: Three same ranking cards and two same ranking cards. An example is 5-5-5-9-9.
Flush: Five cards of different ranks but same suits. An example is hearts of 2-5-7-9-A.
Straight: Five consecutive cards. The suits can be different. 6-7-8-9-10 in different suits.
Three of a Kind: Three same ranking cards and two random cards. An example is 4-4-4-9-J.
Two Pairs: Two different pairs are there. Each pair has the same ranking cards. The fifth card can be any. An example is 4-4-9-9-k.
One Pair: A single pair is there in the poker hand. Three cards are random. An example is 5-5-J-K-A.
High Card: No rules are followed.

Hope you understood the basics of Chinese Poker. It is the most straightforward game to play and win. Learning how to play poker games is easy. You just need to stay interested in the sport. Winnings follow automatically.