1. Open Face Chinese Poker Solver Solution
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A variation of Chinese Poker called Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) has been spreading wildly across the world. In OFC the basic gameplay is as follows: Each player is dealt five cards initially. These cards are set in either the front, middle or back hands in any way the player sees fit. Open-face Chinese Poker, or OFC, has become all the rage recently, especially among high-stakes gamblers, because it’s a fun, quick, and exciting game that can be played at any time with just two to four players. Pokerrrr wants to help you get in on the action. Are you ready to get started? Well, first thing’s first—yo.

Chinese poker is a beginner-friendly poker game, where players don’t need to bet or bluff, and only play with points. Instead of holding just one hand, however, players hold 3; a bottom and middle hand with a total of 5 cards, and a top hand with a total of 3.

These hands are arranged like a pyramid, and in Open Face Chinese (OFC) Poker, they are also displayed face up. This means all players can view the cards you have in play, and makes the game less about representing a hand and more about making well-calculated choices in arranging the cards dealt to you.

The number of cards you receive in each round depends on the variation you’re playing, and we’ll get into more detail on the rules and variations of OFC below.

OFC Games Available on CoinPoker

For the moment you will be able to find OFC Pineapple, the game’s most popular variation, in the CoinPoker lobby. Depending on community feedback, more versions of this fast-paced poker game will be added in the future.

OFC Classic and Pineapple Rules

Classic Open Face Chinese and its Pineapple variation are strikingly similar games with just a few key differences. Below we’ll cover the basics of the classic game, and point out how Pineapple differs and why it makes it a faster-paced and more popular variation.

OFC Basic Gameplay

Classic OFC can be played by 2, 3, or 4 players while its Pineapple counterpart has a maximum number of players set at 3. The reason for this difference is that more cards are dealt in Pineapple, but we’ll get into that a little later.

Every OFC cash game follows the same principles as Hold’Em or PLO in the sense that they have a set buy-in. The difference is that when you sit down at the table with your buy-in there will be no bets or chips. Instead, you will compete for points, and each table has an assigned value to one point. For example, a 500 CHP buy-in game will usually have a 5CHP/point value set.

Each round is referred to as a set, and the number of hands in a set depends on the number of players at the table.

  • A Set with 2 Players Consists of 2 Hands
  • A Set with 3 Players Consists of 3 Hands

During the game you will sometimes notice that the number of hands increases, this is because of the Fantasyland feature, which will be explained later on.

The game starts with the player left of the dealer, and each player is given 5 cards to start with. Players need to arrange the cards into 3 hands, consisting of 13 slots, which will be visible to everyone at the table.

After the first 5 cards are dealt, players are dealt one card at a time in Classic OFC, or 3 cards at a time in Pineapple. Pineapple is a lot faster paced, and in this variation players get these cards face down, choose 2 to play with and reveal, then discard the third.

Fouling and Hand Order

OFC is less about bluffing your opponents and more about calculating the odds of making a certain hand. When arranging the cards into each row there are a few important rules to consider in addition to trying to make the best possible hand.

  1. Your bottom row must be stronger than the middle and top rows
  2. Your middle row must be stronger than the top row

Failing to comply with these rules results in a foul. Fouling gets you -6 points at the end of the hand. That’s the same penalty as losing all three rows, and fouling will cut these points off your score regardless of whether or not your rows are stronger than your opponents’.

Scoring and Royalties in OFC

Once all 13 cards are placed and you have successfully avoided fouling, it’s time you compare hands with your opponent(s). The system for scoring is the same in both Classic OFC and Pineapple, and can seem a little confusing at first.

  • Best Hand in Any Row: +1
  • Best hand in All Rows: +6 (+1 point for each row +3 points for getting a Scoop)
  • Lost Hand in Any Row: -1
  • Lost Hand in All Rows: -6
  • Incorrect Hand Order: -6 (Foul)

In addition to these points, OFC and Pineapple scoring also includes royalties. These are special points awarded for certain hands, and are added to the basic scores. Higher hands on the top row get the highest number of royalty points, followed by the middle and bottom rows.

You can find a handy cheat sheet for all OFC royalties here.

Rules of Fantasyland

If you manage to get QQ or higher in your top row without fouling then you enter into what is called Fantasyland. Fantasyland gives you the special advantage of receiving 13 cards at once in Classic or 14 in Pineapple (1 you would discard) instead of just the initial 5 on your next hand.

You can then use these cards to make your hands without the uncertainty that comes with drawing 1 or 3 at a time. Players can stay in Fantasyland in the next hand and beyond by satisfying any of the following conditions during the current hand:

  1. Trips in your top hand
  2. Quads or higher in your bottom hand

Fantasyland adds an extra hand to your existing set, giving you a huge advantage during the hand and an opportunity to grab more points from your opponent(s).


A variation of Chinese Poker called Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) has been spreading wildly across the world. In OFC the basic gameplay is as follows:

  • Each player is dealt five cards initially.
  • These cards are set in either the front, middle or back hands in any way the player sees fit.
  • Play continues in rounds with each player being dealt one card at a time and placing that card in any available hand.
  • Play rotates clockwise with the ‘under the gun‘ player always revealing his cards first. This process is repeated until all players have been dealt 13 total cards.
  • The hands and royalties are scored and each player settles with the other players. Rules for fouling a hand are the same as traditional Chinese Poker.

General rules:

  • A 52-card deck is used (2 to Ace, excluding Jokers). The card suits are equivalent.
  • The maximum 3 number of players at a table
  • 17 pocket cards.
    13 of 17 cards must be laid out into 3 boxes.
    The remaining 4 cards must be discarded.
  • No community cards.
  • No betting rounds (no blinds, ante, etc.)
    Every player at a table takes one seat with 3 boxes to lay 13 cards out into (5 cards into the middle and back (the lowest) boxes, 3 cards into the front box (the highest). At the end of a hand, the back box hand must be stronger than or equal to the middle box hand, and the middle box hand must be stronger than or equal to the front box hand.
  • The game is played for points. The goal of the game is to achieve more points than your opponents by winning more hands and/or by collecting royalties on premium hands.
    Point score is the cost of one point (for example, 1 cent for 1 point). The calculation is made at the end of a match.
  • Cap – the maximum limit of loss in one match. Thus, over a match, a player can lose the maximum amount of money equaling to that specified in Cap.

Open Face Chinese Poker Solver Solution

Hand Structure in Open Face Chinese

In both traditional Chinese Poker and Open Face, players will look at their cards and begin setting up three different poker hands,

  • A three card hand, known as the Front
  • A five card hand, known as the Middle
  • Another five card hand known as the Back

For a hand to be valid, the back hand must be the strongest of the three hands in accordance with traditional poker hand rankings. The middle hand must be of a lower rank than the back hand, but higher than the front hand. The front hand must be the lowest strength. A valid hand would look like:

  • Front – 2 2 7 (Pair of Twos)
  • Middle – A A 4 4 J (Two pairs: Aces & Fours)
  • Back – 8 9 T J Q (Straight)

Open Face Chinese Poker Solver Solution

Fouling in Open Face Chinese

If the order of strength does not go front to back, weakest to strongest, it is called a fouled hand.

For example,

  • Front – 2 2 7 (Pair of Twos)
  • Middle – K K 3 3 9 (Two Pairs: Kings & Threes)
  • Back – Q Q 8 8 J (Two Pair: Queens & Eights)

Scoring in Open Face Chinese

Once all three hands have been set, players will compare front, middle and back hands. Each hand is worth one point. If one player has won two of the three hands they will score 1 point (winning two points and losing one for a net of +1 points). More points can be earned if the player wins all three hands, known as scooping. Players can also earn points by making high ranking hands known as royalties.

A player scoops the hand by winning all three showdowns with their front, middle, and back holdings. The player is awarded one point for each showdown won, and three bonus points for scooping for a total of six points.

When a player has fouled their hand, it counts as an automatic scoop and is worth six points. If both players have fouled their hand, the game is considered a tie.

Royalties Chart

Front, middle and back rows may earn points for making certain hands as long as the hand does not foul. The type of royalties and how much they are worth varies from game to game. Below is one common scoring chart:

Multi Player Scoring

In a game with more than two players, scores are settled by position. The player under the gun will settle with each player in a clockwise order. The player to the left of the under the gun player will then settle their debts. This continues until are players have paid.

If a player fouls in a multi-player game, that player will pay 6 units to each player plus any royalties on hands that have not fouled.

Fantasyland

Fantasyland is a type of ‘bonus round’ in Chinese Poker. A player may enter Fantasyland when they have made a pair of Queens or better in the front hand without fouling.

Entering Fantasyland means that on the next hand, they receive all 13 cards at once. They make all three hands at once, a huge advantage as they’ll be able to see if they hit any straights or flushes in advance, and lay cards perfectly without any risk of fouling.

Other players play as normal, with just one card dealt at a time. The button does not move during Fantasyland – this is considered a continuation on the previous hand.

Open Face Chinese Poker Odds Calculator

A player may stay in Fantasyland (and receive the same advantage next hand) if they make any of the following hands:

  • Three of a kind in the front
  • Full House or better in the middle
  • Four of a Kind or better in the back

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