Here you can learn the rules to chinese poker, a simple gambling card game, that doesn’t take long to learn, but can make for loads of fun. There are a few variations dough, so let’s take a look at a couple of them, that I think are the most fun…
Basic chinese poker
RANKING:
Poker hands in chinese poker are ranked the same as in regular poker, high
THE DEAL:
The game is played with a standard 52 card deck and 2-4 players. Each player gets 13 cards and that’s pretty much it, the only thing left to do is…
GAME PLAY:
Well… there actually isn’t too much game play in chinese poker, the only thing the players do is arrange their cards in three combinations. The first and second combinations are made from 5 cards and the third one from 3 cards, the only rule is that the first combination has to be the strongest, second the second strongest and third has to be the weakest.

Players show their hands one by one, starting with the player left of the dealer, so other players can still change their hands before it’s their turn.
SCORING:
Scoring is done with points and since chinese poker is usually played for money, points are assigned a certain monetary value.
Basically all hands are compared between players, combo by combo, between two players at a time. For each winning combo the player is awarded 1 point.
EXAMPLE:
Three players are playing. Player number1 has 2 better combinations and 1 worse combination than player2, so player1 gets 1 point versus player2 (Player1 actually got 2 points minus 1 point for their combos). Now the process between player1 and player3, and them between player2 and player3, and you’re done.
BONUSES:
There are also some special bonuses for forming certain strong combinations (straight and better) and also for making 13 card hands and stuff, but to keep things simple, here’s a set of bonuses that you can use (or you can always make up your own):
- Straight = 2 points
- Flush = 4 points
- Full House = 6 points
- 4-of-a-kind = 8 points
- Straight Flush = 12 points
- Royal Flush = 25 points
Open chinese poker
RANKING:
Poker hands in chinese poker are ranked the same as in regular poker, high poker hand ranking.
THE DEAL:
The game is played with a standard 52 card deck and 2-4 players. Each player gets 5 cards and then the game begins…
GAME PLAY:
Each player, starting with the player left of the dealer, has to put his 5 cards on the table in three rows(representing the three future hand combinations). Players can do this in any combination they want, they can put all five cards in the top row, 2 cards in the middle, three at the bottom… it doesn’t matter, as long as they don’t break the rule, that the top 2 combinations have to be made out of 5 cards and the bottom combo from 3 cards(so they can’t put more than 3 cards in the bottom row).
After all the players are done, the first player to act(the one left of the dealer) draws a card and adds it to any of his rows, and then the next player does the same and so on until all the players completely fill their 3 combos (2×5 card combo and 1×3 card combo). When all the hands are completely filled up the game ends and players compare their hands.
There is also the rule that, the first combination has to be the strongest, second the second strongest and third has to be the weakest(but only at the end of the game). If any player breaks this rule, he automatically loses everything(all combos versus all players and any bonuses he might have had).
SCORING:
Scoring is done with points and since chinese poker is usually played for money, points are assigned a certain monetary value.
Basically all hands are compared between players, combo by combo, between two players at a time. For each winning combo the player is awarded 1 point.
EXAMPLE: Three players are playing. Player number1 has 2 better combinations and 1 worse combination than player2, so player1 gets 1 point versus player2 (Player1 actually got 2 points minus 1 point for their combos). Now the process between player1 and player3, and them between player2 and player3, and you’re done.
BONUSES:
There are also some special bonuses for forming certain strong combinations (straight and better) and also for making 13 card hands and stuff, but to keep things simple, here’s a set of bonuses that you can use (or you can always make up your own):
- Straight = 3 points
- Flush = 4 points
- Full House = 6 points
- 4-of-a-kind = 8 points
- Straight Flush = 10 points
- Royal Flush = 25 points
Enjoy playing!