Chinese poker: rules, description and history of the game

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Chinese poker is one of the varieties of the card game, which has gained fame as one of its most interesting and unusual variations. The main distinguishing features are the absence of betting circles and a significantly larger number of cards in hand during the process.

Also, the OKP rules require three winning combinations (two five-card and one three-card) instead of one.

History of Chinese Poker

The homeland of this game, oddly enough, Scandinavia. Moreover, earlier Chinese poker was called Russian, until an entertainment with a similar name appeared in the casino.

This type of game gained wide popularity in the 90s, when it was included in the official program of the World Series of Poker. Today it is one of the favorites in Las Vegas casinos and is actively promoted in Russia and neighboring countries by Sergey Rybachenko.

Despite the simple rules, some professional players find this type of poker difficult due to the dominant role of luck in determining the winner. Thanks to this, beginners often hit the jackpot, bypassing the most experiencedrivals.

Pineapple

Chinese poker also has several variations, one of which bears the funny name "Pineapple". The game got it from a variation of hold'em with two pocket cards instead of three.

The main driving factors in "Pineapple" are luck and speed. At the same time, instead of the standard eight rounds, only four are played due to the peculiarities of Chinese poker. Initially, this game had only a closed variant that did not find popularity, which is why open Chinese poker arose, which had a positive effect on the duration of the process and stirred up a wave interest in certain circles.

Brief description of the game

Due to its dynamism and addictiveness, "Pineapple" is a very relevant card game that is rapidly gaining popularity among beginner poker players.

At the beginning of the round, the standard five cards are de alt openly, after which everyone receives three more closed cards. Of these, the participant must choose two in his hand. The third card is discarded face down, reducing the game time to four rounds as mentioned above.

Chinese poker rules

OKP is a card game with incomplete information in which up to four people can take part. The deck is standard (52 cards, no joker). Purpose of the game: to collect a hand with three maximum combinations of 13 cards received by the participant during the entire game.

They share like this:

• Olderconsists of five cards, must be the strongest among the collected combinations.
• Middle - the same number of cards, the name corresponds to the hierarchical level.
• Younger - 3 cards, the weakest compared to the previous ones.

The resulting combinations are laid out one under the other in ascending order (lowest, middle, highest).

There are no usual trading circles in this kind of poker, they are replaced by a system of points and bonuses (roy alties) calculated at the end. When playing for money, each of them is assigned its own value in dollar currency.

The seniority of combinations is standard. After they are completed, they are compared with each other, on the basis of which the winner is revealed.

Pineapple Rules

Chinese poker "Pineapple" has rules similar to playing in the OKP. The task is still to complete a hand of 13 cards - 3 combinations working on the same principle as described above.

If, when compiling the received rows (combinations), the seniority of one of them is violated, the player is considered the loser, and his hand is "dead".

At the beginning of each round, the participants (of which there can be no more than three) receive five cards face up, and three more closed cards each subsequent hand. Of these, two are selected, going to the hand, the last one is discarded without opening.

Then everything happens as in OKP, except for one nuance - fantasy.

Nice bonus

This rule was not previously mandatory, but today it iscomplements online and offline games. Chinese poker also welcomes this bonus, but in "Pineapple" it has some differences.

The right to fantasy is given to a player who has collected a hand with a pair of queens (or cards of a higher value) in the lower row. In this case, in the next hand, the participant immediately receives 14 cards face down, which serve as a regular hand.

This gives a noticeable advantage. But in order to keep this bonus, the player is required to fulfill one of the specified conditions - to collect combinations not lower than: four of a kind in the highest row, a full house in the middle or a set in the junior one. After making a made hand, the 14th card is discarded.

An additional card slightly increases not only the chances of winning, but also increases the possibility of meeting the condition under which the player can use the bonus again.

Scoring

At the end of the hand, scoring occurs (after comparing the hands of the players with each other). Each combination is checked in pairs (highest with highest, etc.). "Dead" hands, respectively, get 0 points.

The task of the game is not only to make the strongest hand, but also to get the maximum number of "roy alties" without violating the order of seniority in the lines. After laying out the cards, poker players compare their combinations in turn in all three rows. For each line won, the player also receives two additional points. Thus, for the victory in all three combinations, the participant receives six points.

There are two types of scoring:

• Classic -used in Chinese poker (its rules are described in the paragraph above).
• American - used for playing "Pineapple" and accepting the "American" convention in other varieties of OKP.

The rules of the last method are somewhat different in that only one point is awarded for a winning combination (and is taken away from the opponent accordingly). However, a completely winning hand gives six points at once. Bonuses are calculated in the same way as in classical Chinese poker, with the only caveat: their number increases for certain combinations.

It's not that hard to learn how to play OKP, but if you run into problems, Chinese poker software "Pineapple", found on the net, albeit in small quantities, can help.