Chinese Poker Casino. Chinese poker is a game that uses standard five-card poker hand rankings to determine the points scored with unique gameplay. Players arrange their cards into three different hands. The front hand has three cards, and the middle and back hands have five cards apiece. The Open Face Chinese Poker Scoring Chart New Player Welcome Bonuses are only available to players who create an account and make their first deposit at Casino Cruise. You may only claim one Welcome Offer (Welcome Package or Live Casino Bonus). The most common scoring system used in Open-face Chinese poker is the 1-6 scoring method. In the 1-6 method the players receives 1 unit for each hand they win, and 3 bonus units if they win all three hands from a player known as a scoop.

Open-face Chinese poker
Related games
Origin	Finland
Alternative names	Open Face Chinese, OFC, OFCP
Players	2 - 4
Skills required	Tactics, strategy
Cards	52
Deck	French
Play	Clockwise
Card rank (highest first)	A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Playing time	5 -10 min. per round
Random chance	Medium to High
Chinese poker Pai gow poker

Open-face Chinese poker, OFCP, commonly known as Open Face Chinese or OFC, is a variant of Chinese poker where players receive five cards to start and then one card at a time until each player has a 13 card hand legal or not. The game originated in Finland during the mid-2000s and spread to Russia a few years later. Professional poker player Alex Kravchenko, who is credited with introducing the game to the Russian high-stakes community, describes the game as 'spreading like a virus'.^[1] The game was introduced to the United States in 2012.^[2]

In December 2014, TonyBet hosted the first-ever World Championship of OFC where Jennifer Shahade won the High Roller and Mikal Blomlie won the Main Event.^[3]^[4]

Gameplay[edit]

Open-face Chinese poker is typically played as a two- to three-person game, though it can also be played with four people. Each player must use thirteen cards consisting of 3 cards in the front hand, 5 cards in the middle hand, and 5 cards in the back hand. Play is in clockwise order and starts with the player left of the dealer. As in standard Chinese poker, the back hand must be stronger than or equal to the middle hand and the middle hand must be stronger than or equal to the front hand. The strength of the hand is determined by poker hand rankings. The middle and back can make the best five-card poker hand while the front hand can only make the best three-card hand. The best front hand is three aces. Straights, flushes, and straight flushes are not legal front hands.^[5]

Objective[edit]

The goal of the game is to achieve more units (also known as points) than your opponents by winnings more hands also known as rows and/or by collecting royalties on premium hands without fouling. See fouling for more details.

To win rows, your hand ranking must be higher than your opponents' in that same row, for example:

Ivey	Hellmuth	Winner
Front	6♠6♣4♥	A♥K♦Q♦	Ivey
Middle	10♦10♠9♣Q♠8♣	9♥9♦5♥5♦4♣	Hellmuth
Back	3♥3♦3♠2♥2♦	K♠J♠9♠8♠7♠	Ivey

Ivey would win the front row and back row, but lose the middle row. See scoring for more details.

Fouling[edit]

Fouling also known as mis-setting is when an illegal hand is made and as a result, the hand is forfeited. The back hand must be stronger than or equal to the middle and the front, the middle must be stronger or equal to the front, otherwise, the hand is not legal and is considered fouled. In this case the player who fouled loses six points (one point per line plus three point scoop bonus) per non-fouling player and each non-fouling player gains six points. Players who fouled can lose additional units if players with legal hands achieved royalties. Opponents with legal hands gains six points plus any royalties in their hands, but not the royalties in fouled hands. When a hand is fouled the fouling players loses all royalties in their hands as well. If more than one player foul, then the players who foul tie other players who foul and no points are gained or lost between players with fouled hands. Unlike standard Chinese poker, players do not receive all thirteen cards at once. Therefore, fouling plays a large factor, and strategies are devised to avoid it.^[5]

Legal hand structure
Row/Hand	Strength of hand
Front (3 cards)	3rd / Weakest hand
Middle (5 cards)	2nd / Stronger
Back (5 cards)	1st / Strongest

Dealing[edit]

Unlike standard Chinese poker where all thirteen cards are dealt at once, in open face Chinese each player is dealt five cards in the beginning and then one card at a time until thirteen card hands are made (8 deals after 5 cards are dealt). The cards are all set face up. The dealer deals clockwise with the player to the left of the dealer acting first. In the beginning it is not necessary to set cards in each row. Players can set all cards in three or fewer rows depending on their preference. For example, if a player receives A♣2♦3♠4♥5♣ as the first five cards he or she can set them all on the back or middle row if desired. Once a row has been completed (e.g. 3 cards in the front or 5 cards in the middle or back) then another open row must be picked. Once a card has been set it cannot be moved to a different row.

Fantasyland[edit]

Fantasyland is a special bonus awarded to players that make a hand that has a pair of queens (QQx) or stronger in the front hand and does not foul. When fantasyland is achieved, the next hand, the player receives all thirteen cards dealt at once while other players must play out the hand as standard open face. Players in fantasyland sets their hand face down when it is their turn to act. Players can fantasyland repeatedly if they are able to make the required hand. If a player makes fantasyland while already in fantasyland, he or she must declare it to all opponents.^[5] However, to remain in fantasyland while in fantasyland requires higher royalties, one or more of the following conditions must be met:

Remain in Fantasyland
Row/Hand	Strength of hand
Front (and/or)	Any three of a kind
Middle (and/or)	Full house or higher
Back (and/or)	Four of a kind or higher

More than one player can achieve fantasyland. Another way o