Gavin Griffin: Poker Questions Asked And Answered

People in the poker community often come up to me and ask about whatever is on their mind. Some of these questions are good questions, and some are bad beat stories in disguise. I’ve been through quite a few things in my poker career and I like to help whenever possible, and in this new Card Player series, I’d like to share my experiences and knowledge. Feel free to ask any poker-related question, and I’ll do my best to answer it in the space below.

Question: Have you started playing Open Face Chinese poker? If so, do you have any tips? — Tim

Gavin: I recently started playing Open Face with some friends and have really enjoyed it. If you don’t know the game, let me give you a quick overview. The game can be played from 2-4 handed just like regular Chinese poker and can also be played criss-cross where you play heads up but each play two hands. There is another variant that I haven’t played yet called Pineapple Open Face that is maximum 3 handed but I won’t go into that one much. Regular Open Face starts with each player getting 5 cards and you set them in order going from the left of the dealer button clock wise. The goal of the hand is just like Chinese Poker. You make a three-card hand on top, a five-card hand in the middle, and another five-card hand in the back. Your back has to beat your middle and your middle has to beat your top.

After setting the initial five cards, you receive your next eight cards one by one and set them face up as well. At the end of the hand, you pay based on how your hand compares to your opponents’ hands. Each hand that you beat gets you one point and if you beat them in all three hands you get an additional three points for a total of six. You can also earn royalties for very strong hands in each position. A pair of sixes or better up top gets you royalties, trips in the middle or better get you royalties, as well as a straight or better in the back. If you foul your hand, meaning your back doesn’t beat your middle and top or your middle doesn’t beat your top, you lose points equivalent to getting scooped plus any royalties you have to pay to your opponents. You agree to how much each point is worth before playing and settle up for each point you lose after each hand. Of course, many people play this game on an app on their phone and settle up after a certain number of hands.

Okay, that’s all settled then. Let’s move on to strategy. Most people these days are playing with a condition called Fantasyland. You go into Fantasyland when you set a proper hand with Q-Q or better up top. When you go into Fantasyland you get dealt your next hand as a complete hand, all 13 cards right from the start, and get to set them like a regular Chinese Poker hand. You get to stay in Fantasyland if you can set trips up top, a full house or better in the middle or quads or better in the back. Going to Fantasyland is obviously a huge advantage as it’s very difficult to lose and you can set your hand as close to perfectly as your skill level allows. Fantasyland is worth 13 points on average plus you get all of the royalties from a hand that has Q-Q or better up top. As a result of all of this added equity, it’s my opinion that you should go for Fantasyland quite often. If I have a pair and 3 of one suit, I split the pair to go for a flush in the back unless I have Fantasyland capabilities like 7 A K 7 5. In that case I would set it K-A-7, 7, 5 because of that extra Fantasyland equity. That’s not a particularly aggressive setting but I do go for more aggressive ones and that leads to quite a few fouls but it’s worth it when you get Fantasyland.

I’m sure there are plenty of discussion threads on forums and strategy sites that can give you plenty of information about a very popular game that is going right now. Many people are playing it via the Open Face Poker app and that leads to some other questions and concerns. First of all, be sure to always play with someone you trust. Of course, we can’t know for sure if someone is trustworthy, but be reasonably certain if you can. We need to be sure that they will pay if they lose so that we’re not getting freerolled and that they won’t try to hack the app to cheat you. Secondly, even if you are playing with someone you trust, make sure you settle up after each game so that your outstanding debts don’t get too big. Next, I think you should buy the four color deck option if it’s available as it will vastly cut down on the number of miss sets you have. Finally, start at small stakes. Start playing with your friends for fun and then eventually, once you get the hang of this very complicated game, you can start playing for small money. I would suggest starting at 50 cents or $1 per point as you can very easily lose a couple hundred points over 100 hands or so.

Open Face is a very fun game that can hold your interest for a long time. Be sure to only continue to play if it’s still fun for you.

If you have a question for Gavin, send it to [email protected].

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