You are dealt 13 cards and must arrange them into three poker hands:
Hands are scored row by row according to standard Chinese Poker matchups, with house row royalties and optional full-hand specials described under Royalties & full-hand specials, plus fouls as noted in Scoring & Fouls.
Your three rows must be arranged in strict ascending order of poker hand strength: Front (weakest) < Middle < Back (strongest). If this order is violated, your hand is a foul and automatically loses to any player with a legal board.
Lock your layout before the timer expires (live tables in Chinese Poker) or when you are satisfied (solo practice in Chinese Poker Swipe). Once confirmed and locked, your board is validated and scored.
At a live table, points are calculated head-to-head against other players. You can review the round readout to see the row-by-row results for every matchup.
A foul (illegal ordering or invalid rows) causes you to forfeit the hand against all players who submitted a legal board. Scoop bonuses and row royalties apply on this site as described under Royalties & full-hand specials.
The following house rules add row royalties and optional full-hand specials on top of ordinary Chinese Poker row wins. They apply only when your board is legal (the back row is at least as strong as the middle, and the middle is at least as strong as the front, using standard poker rankings).
For each opponent, you compare the three rows. Winning a row earns that row; winning all three rows against the same opponent earns a scoop bonus. Row royalties from the first table below are added at face value and are not multiplied because you also scooped. Full-hand specials (patterns built from all 13 cards) follow the separate rules in the second table and the settlement paragraph that follows it.
Only the combinations listed here pay an additional royalty for that row. If your row beats the opponent but is not in the table, you still earn the row; you simply get no extra royalty units for that row.
Examples of row wins with no table royalty: On the front, high card or a pair (three cards cannot make two pair, a straight, or a flush as a row category). On the middle, any hand weaker than a full house (including two pair, trips, a straight, or a flush that is not a straight flush). On the back, any hand weaker than four of a kind (including full house, flush, straight, or trips). Three of a kind on the front is the only front-row hand in the royalty table (+3); it wins the row against a weaker front and adds the royalty when applicable.
| Row | Hand | Royalty units |
|---|---|---|
| Front (3 cards) | Three of a kind | +3 |
| Middle (5 cards) | Full house | +1 |
| Middle (5 cards) | Four of a kind | +3 |
| Middle (5 cards) | Straight flush | +4 |
| Back (5 cards) | Four of a kind | +2 |
| Back (5 cards) | Straight flush | +3 |
Front row comparison: The front row is compared only as high card, one pair, or three of a kind. Straights and flushes are not used as hand categories on the front for row comparison. Certain three-card sequences still count toward the three straights full-hand special, as described below.
At most one full-hand special applies to your 13 cards: you receive credit for the single highest-valued pattern you qualify for. Values are in special units scored against each opponent.
| Special | Units (per opponent) |
|---|---|
| Three flushes (one flush in each row) | 9 |
| Three straights (see definition below) | 10 |
| Six pairs (six pairs plus one singleton, no trips) | 10 |
| Dragon (one card of each rank from 2 through Ace) | 19 |
Settlement when a full-hand special is involved: If either you or your opponent has a full-hand special with units greater than zero, then for that pairing only the difference in special units is settled. Ordinary row wins, the scoop bonus, and row royalties from the table above are not applied for that matchup. If neither player has a full-hand special, that pairing uses rows, scoop, and row royalties as usual. If both have specials, you pay or receive only the net difference in units (equal values net to zero for specials between those two players).
The back row must be a five-card poker straight; the middle row must be a five-card poker straight (including wheel and Broadway). The front row must be three consecutive ranks; A-2-3 and Q-K-A qualify for this pattern. Dragon is checked first when both could apply.
Across all 13 cards you must have exactly six pairs and one singleton, with no three-of-a-kind.