Chinese poker is a fast-paced variant of the famous table game that’s gaining popularity for its simplicity and excitement. Unlike traditional poker games like Texas Hold’em, Chinese poker doesn’t involve betting rounds or bluffing—it’s all about how you arrange your cards.
Say goodbye to the learning curves of games like Texas Hold’em and studying how to play Omaha poker. Chinese poker is fast and fun, and as long as you have a basic understanding of hand rankings in poker, you should be able to learn how to play Chinese poker rather quickly.
The rules are easy to get to grips with, and Chinese poker incorporates a strong element of luck. You don’t even need to know how to hold a poker face!
What is Chinese Poker?
Chinese poker and traditional Texas Hold’em are two very different card games.
Chinese poker is a card game for 2 to 4 players, where each player is dealt 13 cards. The aim is to arrange these cards into three hands: a 5-card back hand (strongest), a 5-card middle hand (medium strength), and a 3-card front hand (weakest). Points are awarded based on how your hands stack up against your opponents’.
Players will arrange 13 dealt cards into three hands of descending strength, competing for points without betting. The absence of multiple betting rounds makes it fast-paced and chance-driven.
Usually, you can play Texas Hold’em at the best US online poker sites for hours. But Chinese poker is more similar to blackjack—you can get your fix in a relatively short time span. While you can definitely play the game for long stretches, it’s something often played on breaks or while waiting for a new table to open. Chinese poker online is even quicker.
How to Play Chinese Poker
Chinese poker is similar to other variants of the iconic table game, but there are key differences. Here, we’ve got all you need to know to learn how to play Chinese poker and master the popular game.
Setting Up the Game
Chinese poker is played with a minimum of two and a maximum of four players. This is because every player is dealt 13 cards. It’s mathematically impossible to play with more than four players using a standard 52-card deck.
The Chinese poker rules and structure are simple:
- All bets must be placed before the cards are dealt.
- There is only one round.
- Each player is dealt 13 cards and must arrange them in the order that they think will yield them the most points.
How to Arrange Hands
So you have been dealt your 13 cards, now what? At this point, you must arrange them into three distinct groups as follows:
- Back Hand (can also be known as the bottom or rear hand): The back hand must contain 5 cards and be stronger than either the middle hand or the top hand.
- Middle Hand: The middle hand must also contain 5 cards, but it must be weaker than the arranged backhand and stronger than the front hand. It is in the middle in terms of the hand ranking strength of the three and hence is known as the middle hand.
- Front Hand (can also be known as the top hand): The front hand will contain the final 3 cards and it must be the player’s weakest hand of the 3 arrangements.
You must follow these Chinese poker rules for setting your hands.
To recap:
- Back hand: The most powerful five-card hand.
- Middle hand: Stronger than the back hand but weaker than the front hand. The five-card hand in the middle.
- Front hand: The weakest hand and made of the remaining three cards.
Failure to follow this hierarchy results in a penalty, known as a “miss-set,” and forfeits all potential points for the round.
Chinese Poker Scoring
Scoring is straightforward. Unlike other poker games where chips are assigned value, the Chinese poker scoring system is all about points.
The players decide between themselves what value is attributed to each point. For example, one dollar for one point. An alternative Chinese poker game scoring is to award a fixed amount per game. If the agreed-upon wager is a flat $20, then the player who accumulated the most points would win the 20 bucks.
To earn points, you must win a comparative showdown against your opponent with each of the three hand arrangements.
Each of your hands is compared against your opponents’ corresponding hands. Winning a comparison earns you 1 point, while losing gives your opponent 1 point. So, if I won the back and middle hands but you won the front hand, our score would be 2 points vs. 1 point.
Bonus points, called royalties, are awarded for special hands, such as:
- Back Hand: Royal Flush (25 points), Four of a Kind (10 points).
- Middle Hand: Straight Flush (30 points), Full House (12 points).
- Front Hand: Three of a Kind (9 points), High Pair (2 points).
Chinese Poker Scoring — Surrendering a Hand
Knowing when to surrender is key when learning how to play Chinese poker.
If a player decides their 13 cards can only produce weak back, middle, and front hands that are very likely to be second best vs. their opponents, then the player can decide to “surrender” rather than play their hand.
Surrendering comes with a price. This will result in a penalty fee somewhere between 2-3 points.
The benefit to surrendering a weak hand in a Chinese poker scoring system is damage control. It is better to lose 2.5 points than to likely lose 3 points plus the potential 3-point sweep penalty and all the royalties that may apply also.
Chinese Poker Hand Rankings
Chinese poker hands uses the same poker hand rankings as traditional ‘high’ variants. Here’s a quick table of hand rankings, starting with the strongest:
| Rank | Poker Hand | Description | Example |
| 1 | Royal Flush | A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit | A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠ |
| 2 | Straight Flush | Five cards in sequence, all of the same suit | 9♥8♥7♥6♥5♥ |
| 3 | Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same rank | K♣K♦K♥K♠3♣ |
| 4 | Full House | Three of a kind and a pair | Q♠Q♣Q♥8♠8♦ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of the same suit (not in sequence) | 2♣6♣8♣10♣K♣ |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in sequence, different suits | 10♦9♣8♠7♥6♣ |
| 7 | Three-of-a-Kind | Three cards of the same rank | 7♠7♦7♣Q♦2♥ |
| 8 | Two Pair | Two different pairs | A♠A♦9♣9♠5♣ |
| 9 | One Pair | Two cards of the same rank | 4♠4♣K♥9♦2♠ |
| 10 | High Card | If no player has a pair or better, the highest-ranking card wins | A♣10♠8♦6♥4♠ |
Chinese poker hands are ranked the same as most popular variants of the game, including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud and Five Card Draw.
Chinese Poker Strategy
Winning Chinese poker hands isn’t just good luck — there still is an element of skill. Here are a few key tips to give you an edge over your opponents:
- Maximize Bonuses: Arrange your cards to aim for royalties without jeopardizing the hierarchy of your hands.
- Double-Check: Avoid miss-sets by carefully checking the strength order of your hands. One mistake is fatal.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Surrender: While surrendering should be done sparingly, the option is there for a reason. Sometimes your draw is so weak there is simply no way to win. Keep this in mind for Mayday scenarios.
What is Open-Face Chinese Poker (OFC)?
Open-Face Chinese poker (OFC) is the most popular variation of Chinese poker. The objective remains the same: arrange cards into back, middle, and front hands. The difference is that players receive cards gradually, acting in turn, and arrange them face-up for everyone to see.
Seeing your opponents’ hands — and not knowing all the cards you will be dealt — creates more unpredictability.
How to Play Open-Face Chinese Poker
In Open-Face Chinese poker, players receive five cards initially, placing them into their hands face-up. Subsequent cards are dealt one at a time, and players must decide where to place each new card. Once set, hands cannot be rearranged.
Just to be clear: once you’ve created your hand arrangement, the player to your left will make their hand arrangement next. The turn finishes once the player declares their hand complete. It’s one at a time, as opposed to the typical Chinese poker rules where everyone acts at the same time.
How to Play OFC Poker — Fantasyland
“Fantasyland” provides an added twist on Open-Face Chinese poker scoring.
To enter Fantasyland, a player must set a pair of Queens or better (e.g., QQ, KK, AA, or any three of a kind) in the top 3-card hand arrangement. All other rows must still be set in proper order (the middle row still must beat the top row).
After qualifying for Fantasyland, in the next hand they will receive all 13 cards at once. This allows them to make their back, middle and front arrangements with full information and a significant strategic advantage.
A player can also stay in Fantasyland for subsequent rounds by setting either: four of a kind or better in any row, or three of a kind in the top row.
Fantasyland significantly enhances your chances of making strong hands and potentially sweeping all opponents.
How to Play Chinese Poker: Key Points
Overall, learning how to play Chinese poker is less complicated than other poker games. It’s luck-heavy, but still offers opportunities for strategy, especially in variations like Open-Face Chinese poker.
Remember to follow the hand hierarchy, aim for bonuses, and double-check for placement errors. Chinese poker rules are not forgiving, fortunately, you can always play another round.
Chinese poker hands take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it the game can be a lot of fast fun.