Chinese Poker another short handed alternative

[Jonah 99]

I kept hearing about Chinese poker so when my Saturday night game fell through (only one person showed) we gave it a try.

Pretty fun, was wondering what other folks' experiences have been.

I thought there might be some skill involved until I found out Steve Zolotow one a WSOP bracelet in Chinese Poker, now I know it's all about the luck.

[the3rd]

Played it for the first time on Saturday as well in between heads-up matches. No money was involved, but it was a lot of fun.

[punk1o1]

Have read on how to play and sounds like alot of fun... Any sites that offer chinese poker? Id love to give it a try.

[Quads]

We play it all the time. 13 card poker / (depending on which variation you are playing) Often with two players, once in a while with 3 or 4. We play for points, and depending on the players, anywhere from $1 to $20 / point. There can be a lot of strategy in the game as to how you set your hands and which hands to make top, middle or bottom with which cards, versus making other hands. There can be a lot of the game in the other players in learning how they arrange and set their hands as to how you play and set your hands.

Great game, tons of fun. Always good times.

[AceOnRiver]

could someone explain te rules so that i can learn them.i have also heard about chinese poker a lot but have never got the chance to play.i want to give it a try.if someone could give the rules and maybe an example hand that would be great.thanks guys.

[TheMightyJim2k]

I read somewhere that Chinese Poker is a purely math game and that there is a definite optimal strategy that can be followed. Assuming that everyone knew and played optimally the game would become complete luck, but I've never played and only read the rules once so I could be mistaken.

Quads or Jonah can you fill us in on the details of how to play, score, and some basic strategy? I've been looking for a new game to play 4-handed with friends besides my favorite hi-lo game Montana.

[Ranman]

Originally Posted by the3rd

Played it for the first time on Saturday as well in between heads-up matches. No money was involved, but it was a lot of fun.

You beat me to it!!. the3rd was at my house for a heads-up series I am running and we were playing it for the first time while waiting to start, and between rounds.
I like it and think it has potential for a fun side game on Hold'em night especially when we are short handed between HE games.

Can someone help clear up some confusion for me though. Using the 2-4 point system where does the 4 point come in. A player gets + or - 2 points for each of the three hands created depending if he/she wins/loses a hand (potential of 6 pts per hand). If they win all three hands are 4 points awarded as a "bonus"?
If I'm totally out in left field maybe someone can just explain the points and how they are awarded.

[Quads]

The short version, 2 to 4 players, 13 cards each. Each player makes a "good", "better" and "best" poker hand(s) of 3/5/5 cards.

Scoring is based on how many hands you make which beat your opponent.

The long version is here:
http://www.pagat.com/partition/pusoy.html

[Quads]

Originally Posted by Ranman

You beat me to it!!. the3rd was at my house for a heads-up series I am running and we were playing it for the first time while waiting to start, and between rounds.
I like it and think it has potential for a fun side game on Hold'em night especially when we are short handed between HE games.

Can someone help clear up some confusion for me though. Using the 2-4 point system where does the 4 point come in. A player gets + or - 2 points for each of the three hands created depending if he/she wins/loses a hand (potential of 6 pts per hand). If they win all three hands are 4 points awarded as a "bonus"?
If I'm totally out in left field maybe someone can just explain the points and how they are awarded.

Depending on how you play. (yes to answer your question) but there can be diff. people playing by diff. point systems.

How we score is if you take all three hands, you get a bonus point.

You can also pick up points with other hands. (such as) Quads or better in your middle hand = bonus point. Any S/F or better in your best hand = bonus point.

[Ranman]

Originally Posted by Quads

Depending on how you play. (yes to answer your question) but there can be diff. people playing by diff. point systems.

How we score is if you take all three hands, you get a bonus point.

You can also pick up points with other hands. (such as) Quads or better in your middle hand = bonus point. Any S/F or better in your best hand = bonus point.

I checked your link (thanks) and I see now there could be and are many variations of the game. When I decided to try it and did search on the game a couple weeks ago the 2 sites I looked at both happened to have a 2-4 point system described and I assumed that was how it is played. Makes more sense now. I like the way your link plays it.

Ranman