Chinese Poker is a game that is growing rapidly in popularity and that anyone can play, all you have to do is find a poker site that offers the game. 13 cards are used in Chinese Poker, and the object of the game is to create three different poker hands:
- A five-card back hand
- A five-card middle hand
- A three-card front hand
Normal poker hand rankings
Chinese Poker follows normal poker hand rankings, with a few exceptions that will be addressed below. The five-card back hand must be the strongest, the five-card middle hand must be the second strongest, and the three-card front hand must be the weakest.
Beat your opponents’ hands
When it comes to showdown your five-card back hand is matched against your opponents’ back hands, the middle hands are matched against each other, and the front hands are matched against each other. You get a point for each of your hands that beat another player’s hand. Each point is worth one betting unit, which must be paid by the loser player to the winner.
Bonus hands in Chinese Poker
There are several different bonus hands in Chinese Poker:
- A four of a kind is worth four betting units and a five card straight flush is worth five betting units
- A five card straight flush is worth five betting units
- A full house in the middle hand is worth two betting units
- A three of a kind in the front hand is worth three betting units
Keep in mind that you only get these bonus pay outs if you win the hand in question.
Immediately winning hands
There are special hands in Chinese Poker you can turn over right away and receive a bonus payout. These include:
- A complete straight (ace through king) - worth 13 betting units.
- Three flushes - worth three betting units.
- Three straights - worth three betting units
- Six pairs - worth three betting units
The only time you can use straights or flushes in the front hand is when you create these special hands. Otherwise straights and flushes do not count in the front hand.
Play Chinese Poker
More and more online poker sites are offering Chinese Poker. Pokerroom.com and Tigergaming.com are two places where you can find this exciting game, which is very popular among high stakes gamblers.