Burned by Chinese

Chinese poker is the tournament circuit's new side game of choice. It enthrals and excites the most skilful, intelligent, and thoughtful poker players the world over. But what is it about this game in which skill is almost nonexistent, luck prevails, and the swings can be brutal that makes it so popular?

Chinese poker, also known as Russian poker or 13-card poker, is a card game that has been extremely popular in mainland China and within the Asian community for centuries. Its origins are not fully known, but its strong similarities to pai gow poker, a game that originated in the 10th century, mean it's safe to assume that it has been around for a long time.

Since its brief World Series of Poker appearance in 1995 and 1996, Chinese poker has seen a massive increase in popularity, especially in western cardrooms. The $5,000 Chinese poker event at the 1995 World Series had a small (24) but impressive field, and was won by Steve Zolotow, with Doyle Brunson finishing second and Howard Lederer fifth. Since then, most of the top players have been hooked, and the rest of us have slowly followed.

It's not hard to see why Chinese poker has caught on the way that it has. The rules are very basic, it's just as much fun to play heads up as it is fourhanded, and unlike Texas hold'em, in which the skill-to-luck ratio is estimated at 70-30, Chinese poker is the complete opposite. It's the perfect game for the novice, action junkie, looking to play for lots of money and not be outclassed. Even though the skill-to-luck ratio is closer to 10-90 in Chinese poker, there is enough skill involved that the experienced player does have a small edge.

Daniel Fong, the owner and founder of www.chinesepokerfaq.com, believes that although the edges are small, over time, any difference in skill will become evident. "There is a large element of luck involved, but if players consistently make mistakes and fail to capitalize on good hands, they'll eventually be outclassed once the luck has evened itself out."

The Little Red Rulebook

The basics of Chinese poker are very simple to pick up. It is played with one deck of cards (no jokers or wild cards are used). Each player is dealt 13 cards and a game is played with two, three, or four people. After you have been dealt your 13 cards, the objective is to arrange them into three different hands or sets. The back and middle hands must contain five cards, leaving the front with three. The only rule in regard to the different hands is that the back hand must be stronger than the middle, and the middle must be stronger than the front. The different hands are ranked the same as in Texas hold'em. In the front set, the strongest hand you can have is three of a kind; straights and flushes do not count.

Once you have laid down your three hands, each player compares hands with everyone else's, like for like. You win one point when your hand beats your opponent's, and you lose one point when his hand beats yours. There are three popular systems for scoring, so be sure that you know which one is being used before you start. "1/3" is the most basic system; if you win two out of three hands, you receive one point, and if you win all three, you receive three points. The next is "2/4"; if two of your hands are better than one of your opponent's, you win two points from him. If all three are better, you win four points. "1/6" is exactly the same as 1/3, except that you get a three-point bonus if you win all three hands. There are other popular optional rules relating to specific bonuses for clean sweeps and bonus hands; for detailed explanations of all of them, check out chinesepokerfaq.com. After each round, you add up how many points each player has won or lost, and they equate to a monetary value that is decided before the game.

Chop-Chop

Experienced pros like Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, and Phil Ivey are all huge fans of the game, and can regularly be found playing it at Bellagio in the "big game." Ivey has described Chinese as a potentially "real expensive game," which, coming from a player with Ivey's sort of money, gives you an idea of the stakes at which it can be and is played. Swings of hundreds of thousands of dollars have been reported in several sessions involving many big pros and gamblers.

Ivey once famously convinced Barry Greenstein to play Chinese poker with him on the plane on the way to the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions. Apparently Ivey decided to attend the tournament only because Greenstein agreed to play him. Ivey memorably then went on to win the $1.6 million first prize in the main event, and who knows how much more from Greenstein on the flights there and back. Greenstein is also said to have dropped $1.5 million to high-stakes friend Ted Forrest in a monthlong game of Chinese poker.

Another well-documented Chinese poker matchup involved the two Phils, Hellmuth and Ivey, and this one took place during last year's Monte Carlo European Poker Tour. Whilst waiting in the hotel lobby, the two decided to start up a small $1,000-a-point game. Hellmuth quickly found himself down $83,000, and not long thereafter with new higher stakes of $2,000 a point, he found himself down $180,000. The pair continued to play all through the night in Ivey's suite. And finally, at 10 a.m. the next day, Hellmuth decided to quit, allegedly a $536,000 loser. Hellmuth's previous biggest-ever loss in one session of any game was $135,000. "This is the very reason I avoid the big game at Bellagio," said Hellmuth.

The good thing about the game is that the action can be catered for, depending on who's playing. But be warned, even when playing the tamest set of rules, Chinese poker is still straight-up gambling, and when luck is playing such a big part in the outcome, prepare to have as many bad days as you will good ones. Chinese poker has recently found its way back onto the tournament circuit with an appearance at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour last September. This pleased a lot of players, and got them very excited about a possible return to the World Series sometime in the future.