Players:  26
Tables:  4

Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC)

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:

General rules:

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 is known as the Back

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

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

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 the 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 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 of the previous hand.

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

Related Topics:

Pineapple OFC (Basics)

Progressive Pineapple OFC (Rules)

Turbo OFC (Basics)