How to Play 13-Card Chinese Poker and Check the Score

In closed Chinese Poker, you receive all 13 cards at once and arrange them face down into three rows: 3 cards in the front, 5 in the middle, and 5 in the back. A legal arrangement must follow back ≥ middle ≥ front in hand strength. At showdown, each row is compared only with your opponent’s matching row. This guide uses one documented Western 2–4 ruleset: net row points plus one majority point. It does not apply automatically to OFC or every table.

Which Format and Scoring Rules Apply Here?

This guide covers closed, traditional Chinese Poker under the Club One rules, using Western 2–4 scoring: +1 for each row won, −1 for each row lost, and one additional point to the player who wins the majority of rows, with the opponent losing that point.

The source is the Club One rules, section 13, “Chinese Poker,” PDF pages 5–9, viewed 16 October 2026. These are documented local rules, not a universal standard for every table.

This version uses a standard 52-card deck. Up to four players receive 13 cards each, all at once, and arrange them before showdown.

You settle separately with each opponent: your front against their front, your middle against their middle, and your back against their back.

How This Differs from Other Games

Closed Chinese Poker is not Open-Face Chinese Poker (OFC), where cards are placed face up gradually. OFC dealing variations, extra modes, and scoring features are outside this guide.

Pai Gow Poker and Pai Gow tiles are also different games. Their hand-splitting rules do not apply to Chinese Poker’s three rows.

How to Check an Arrangement: 3/5/5 → Unique Cards → Categories → Order

Check four things in this order: row sizes, duplicate cards, each row’s hand category, and the relative strength of the rows.

1. Count the cards. The front must have 3 cards, the middle 5, and the back 5: 13 in total.
2. Check for duplicates. Each specific card must appear exactly once. For example, A♠ and A♥ are different cards; two copies of A♠ are a duplicate.
3. Identify each row’s category. Determine the poker hand first, then compare card ranks where needed.
4. Check the strength order. The back must not be weaker than the middle, and the middle must not be weaker than the front. Equality is allowed only when the hand comparison genuinely produces equal strength.

For five-card rows, the hand categories run from weakest to strongest:

High card → pair → two pair → three of a kind → straight → flush → full house → four of a kind → straight flush.

Do not compare only the highest cards. Two pair beats one pair, even when the single pair is kings and both pairs in the other hand are lower.

In the three-card front row, only trips, a pair or high card count: straights and flushes do not.

Example 1: A Legal Arrangement and a Foul from the Same 13 Cards

These 13 cards can form a legal arrangement or a foul—a mis-set hand that breaks the required row-strength order.

All 13 cards:

A♠ A♥ K♣ K♦ Q♠ Q♥ J♣ T♦ 9♠ 8♥ 7♣ 4♦ 2♠.

Legal Arrangement

This arrangement is legal: the pair of aces in the back beats the pair of kings in the middle, which beats the queen-high front.

The arrangement passes all four checks: the row sizes are 3/5/5, no card is repeated, the categories are correctly identified, and the strength order is legal.

Foul Arrangement

This arrangement is a foul: the row sizes and card uniqueness are correct, but the strength order is reversed.

The front’s pair of aces beats the middle’s pair of kings. The middle also beats the queen-high back. Both parts of back ≥ middle ≥ front are violated.

Original diagram showing the same 13 cards in a legal arrangement and a foul arrangement with the row-strength order reversed

Original diagram, not a screenshot: the same 13 cards arranged legally and as a foul.

When Is a Hand a Foul, and What Does It Cost?

Under the selected Club One Western rules, a foul scores −4 points against each ordinary legal opposing hand. A foul is an error in the arrangement or card composition, not a decision to fold.

A foul includes:

• Incorrect row sizes instead of 3/5/5.
• A violation of the required row-strength order.
• A duplicate of the same card discovered at showdown.

There is an important procedural distinction: an incorrect card count noticed before showdown may be handled as a misdeal. Do not automatically treat that situation as a foul; check your table’s procedure.

The −4 result applies only to this chosen version against an ordinary legal hand. Clean Sweep hands (declared special 13-card hands) and other rulesets can have different consequences and are not modeled here.

Example 2: Complete A/B Hands and the +4 / −4 Calculation

Player A wins all three rows and scores +4 points, while Player B scores −4 points. All 26 cards are listed below: neither hand contains a duplicate, no card appears in both hands, and both arrangements are legal.

Player A’s Complete Hand

A’s rows are in the correct order: three fives beat two pair, and two pair beats a pair of jacks.

Player B’s Complete Hand

B’s rows are also in the correct order: two pair beats a pair of kings, which beats a pair of tens.

Comparing All Three Rows

A wins every row: the front wins on pair rank, while the middle and back win with stronger hand categories.

Under the selected Club One Western 2–4 rules, add one majority point to the net row result:

A: (+1 +1 +1) +1 = +4 points.
B: (−1 −1 −1) −1 = −4 points.

Original scoring diagram showing A winning all three rows for three row points plus one majority point, giving A plus four and B minus four

Original diagram, not a screenshot: +3 for the three row wins and +1 for the majority give A +4 and B −4.

This example has no ties, and neither hand triggers a separate bonus provision. No cash result is shown because a point value has not been specified.

For a 2–1 row result under the same system, the calculation is (+1 +1 −1) +1 majority point = +2 points for the winner. The loser scores −2.

What to Agree on Before Playing

Before the deal, confirm the point value, scoring system, tie rules, and any local additional awards. A legal arrangement alone does not ensure that everyone will calculate the same settlement.

• Point value. If playing for money, agree on the cash value of one point.
• Scoring system. For Western 2–4, confirm the formula: net row points plus one majority point.
• Ties and button position. In the basic settlement system described in the Pagat Chinese Poker rules, equal corresponding rows mean neither player wins or loses a point for that row. In the variant where everyone plays against a house or banker, tied rows go to the house. The cited Club One rules do not specify a tie rule, so agree on one before play. Button position affects the local order of settlement and declarations. The worked hand above has no ties.
• Clean Sweep, royalties, and bonus schedules. Check whether any apply and under what conditions. They are not universal and must not be added to this guide’s examples.
• Errors before showdown. Confirm how an incorrect card count is handled so that a misdeal is not confused with a foul.