Open-face Chinese poker Standard Chinese poker hands Origin Finland Alternative names
Open Face Chinese, OFC, OFCP Players 2–4 Skills Tactics, strategy Cards 52 Deck French
Rank (high→low) A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Play Clockwise Playing time 5 -10 min. per
round Chance Medium to High Related games Chinese poker
Pai gow poker
Open-face Chinese
poker, OFCP, commonly known as Open Face Chinese or OFC, is a variant of Chinese poker
where players receive five cards to start and then one card at a time until each player
has a 13 card hand legal or not. The game originated in Finland during the mid-2000s
and spread to Russia a few years later. Professional poker player Alex Kravchenko, who
is credited with introducing the game to the Russian high-stakes community, describes
the game as "spreading like a virus".[1] The game was introduced to the United States
in 2012.[2]
In December 2014, TonyBet hosted the first-ever World Championship of OFC
where Jennifer Shahade won the High Roller and Mikal Blomlie won the Main Event.[3][4]
On Monday, Dec. 7th, 2024, TonyBet Poker Ambassador Isabelle Mercier became the first
Open-Face Chinese Poker Progressive Pineapple world champion.[5]
Gameplay [ edit
]
Open-face Chinese poker is typically played as a two- to three-person game, though it
can also be played with four people. Each player must use thirteen cards consisting of
3 cards in the front hand, 5 cards in the middle hand, and 5 cards in the back hand.
Play is in clockwise order and starts with the player left of the dealer. As in
standard Chinese poker, the back hand must be stronger than or equal to the middle hand
and the middle hand must be stronger than or equal to the front hand. The strength of
the hand is determined by poker hand rankings. The middle and back can make the best
five-card poker hand while the front hand can only make the best three-card hand. The
best front hand is three aces. Straights, flushes, and straight flushes are not legal
front hands.[6]
Objective [ edit ]
The goal of the game is to achieve more units (also
known as points) than your opponents by winnings more hands also known as rows and/or
by collecting royalties on premium hands without fouling. See fouling for more
details.
To win rows, your hand ranking must be higher than your opponents' in that
same row, for example:
Ivey Hellmuth Winner Front 6 ♠ 6 ♣ 4 ♥ A ♥ K ♦ Q ♦ Ivey Middle
10 ♦ 10 ♠ 9 ♣ Q ♠ 8 ♣ 9 ♥ 9 ♦ 5 ♥ 5 ♦ 4 ♣ Hellmuth Back 3 ♥ 3 ♦ 3 ♠ 2 ♥ 2 ♦ K ♠ J ♠ 9 ♠
8 ♠ 7 ♠ Ivey
Ivey would win the front row and back row, but lose the middle row. See
scoring for more details.
Fouling [ edit ]
Fouling also known as mis-setting is when an
illegal hand is made and as a result, the hand is forfeited. The back hand must be
stronger than or equal to the middle and the front, the middle must be stronger or
equal to the front, otherwise, the hand is not legal and is considered fouled. In this
case the player who fouled loses six points (one point per line plus three-point scoop
bonus) per non-fouling player and each non-fouling player gains six points. Players who
fouled can lose additional units if players with legal hands achieved royalties.
Opponents with legal hands gains six points plus any royalties in their hands, but not
the royalties in fouled hands. When a hand is fouled the fouling players loses all
royalties in their hands as well. If more than one player foul, then the players who
foul tie other players who foul and no points are gained or lost between players with
fouled hands. Unlike standard Chinese poker, players do not receive all thirteen cards
at once. Therefore, fouling plays a large factor, and strategies are devised to avoid
it.[6]
Legal hand structure Row/Hand Strength of hand Front (3 cards) 3rd / Weakest
hand Middle (5 cards) 2nd / Stronger Back (5 cards) 1st / Strongest
Dealing [ edit
]
Unlike standard Chinese poker where all thirteen cards are dealt at once, in open
face Chinese each player is dealt five cards in the beginning and then one card at a
time until thirteen card hands are made (8 deals after 5 cards are dealt). The cards
are all set face up. The dealer deals clockwise with the player to the left of the
dealer acting first. In the beginning it is not necessary to set cards in each row.
Players can set all cards in three or fewer rows depending on their preference. For
example, if a player receives A♣ 2♦ 3♠ 4♥ 5♣ as the first five cards he or she can set
them all on the back or middle row if desired. Once a row has been completed (e.g. 3
cards in the front or 5 cards in the middle or back) then another open row must be
picked. Once a card has been set it cannot be moved to a different row.
Fantasyland [
edit ]
Fantasyland is a special bonus awarded to players that make a hand that has a
pair of queens (QQx) or stronger in the front hand and does not foul. When fantasyland
is achieved, the next hand, the player receives all thirteen cards dealt at once while
other players must play out the hand as standard open face. Players in fantasyland set
their hand face down when it is their turn to act. Players can fantasyland repeatedly
if they are able to make the required hand. If a player makes fantasyland while already
in fantasyland, he or she must declare it to all opponents.[6] However, to remain in
fantasyland while in fantasyland requires higher royalties, one or more of the
following conditions must be met:
Remain in Fantasyland Row/Hand Strength of hand Front
(and/or) Any three of a kind Middle (and/or) Full house or higher Back (and/or) Four of
a kind or higher
More than one player can achieve fantasyland. Another way of stating
how to stay in fantasyland would be one must score a 10-point royalty or higher in any
sub-hand.
Shooting the moon [ edit ]
If a player has J-high in the back hand and does
not foul, he or she receives 20 units from all other players. Shooting the moon is
rarely found in open face Chinese poker games, and is generally reserved for kitchen
table home games.
Scoring [ edit ]
The stakes played for in Chinese poker are known as
units or points: an amount of money agreed on per unit before the game starts. Basic
scoring rules dictate that a player collects one unit from each opponent whose front,
middle or back hand is beaten by his own corresponding hand. Thus, unlike most poker
games, being second-best at the table is good enough to win money. In some variants
players are also paid an additional unit if they win in two or three of the hands. In
other variants players only get an additional unit if they win all three hands (known
as a scoop). Also, due to the head-to-head nature of the comparisons, it is possible
for different players to play for different stakes. For example, A and B could play
forR$10 per unit versus each other, while all other player pairings play forR$1 per
unit. Many variations of scoring are in common use; refer to the external links for
more information.
The most common scoring system used in Open-face Chinese poker is the
1–6 scoring method.
In the 1–6 method the players receives 1 unit for each hand they
win, and 3 bonus units if they win all three hands from a player known as a scoop.
Players lose 1 unit for each hand they lose to each player and lose 3 bonus units to
each player who scoops them.
In the example above, Hellmuth would pay Ivey 4 units, as
Hellmuth scored 5 units, while Ivey scored 9. The difference is 4, and therefore
Hellmuth would pay Ivey 4 units. Hellmuth received 5 units by scoring 1 unit for
winning the middle hand, and 4 units for a flush royalty in the back. The total becomes
5. Ivey scored 9 units by scoring 1 unit for the winning the top, 1 unit for a pair of
6 royalty up top, 1 unit for winning the bottom, and 6 units for a full house royalty
on the bottom. The total becomes 9.
Points are added to the winner and subtracted from
the loser as the game progresses. If a game has more than two players, players gain a
point for each hand/row they win from each player and lose a point for each hand/row
they lose from each player. Royalty points are also scored based on the number of
players involved. For example, a player with a completed back hand flush in a three
player game would receive an 8-point bonus, 4 per player excluding royalties in any
non-fouled opponents' hands. If other players do not have royalties, they would lose 4
points each otherwise, players would calculate the difference between the royalties
achieve in their own legal hands.
Royalties [ edit ]
Royalties, or bonuses as they are
sometimes called, are extra units that may be awarded to players with particularly
strong hands. Hands that qualify for royalties in Open-face Chinese are lower than that
of standard Chinese poker as hands formed are generally weaker.
Open Face Chinese poker
royalties[7] Front Units Middle Units Back Units 66 1 Three of a kind 2 Straight 2 77 2
Straight 4 Flush 4 88 3 Flush 8 Full house 6 99 4 Full house 12 Four of a kind 10 TT 5
Four of a kind 20 Straight flush 15 JJ 6 Straight flush 30 Royal flush 25 QQ 7 Royal
flush 50 KK 8 AA 9 222 10 333 11 444 12 555 13 666 14 777 15 888 16 999 17 TTT 18 JJJ
19 QQQ 20 KKK 21 AAA 22
Other variations play with naturals and can be scored the same
as standard Chinese poker or to the players preference.
Like standard Chinese poker, in
open face Chinese royalties cancel out. For example, if one player has 7777x in the
back and another has 6666x in the back, the player with 7777x would win 1 unit for the
back hand/row but not the royalty units. Even if a player loses a hand/row he is
eligible for the royalties in the hand as long as it is not fouled.
Variations [ edit
]
Pineapple Open Face Chinese poker (POFC) For a maximum of three players. Each player
is dealt five cards to start. Instead of being dealt one at a time players are dealt
three cards at a time.[8] Players set two cards and discards one until 13 card hands
are made. If a player achieves fantasyland the player receives 14 cards and discard
one. Traditional OFC rules apply to enter fantasyland. Some players suggest AA+ as a
minimum requirement. To remain in fantasyland requires three of a kind on top and/or
four of a kind or better on the bottom. Full house in the middle does not qualify.
Double deck open face Chinese poker In this variant two decks of cards are shuffled
together and both used in the game, allowing more people to play, Double deck pineapple
can also be played. Apart from this the games are played using the same rules as the
single deck games. Some players suggest a AA+ as a minimum requirement for fantasy
land. By using two decks it is possible to get 5 of a kind; some suggest giving this
hand the same royalties as the straight flush.
Live tournaments [ edit ]
PokerStars
hosted a live OFC tournament in the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
OFC has never
been featured at the World Series of Poker, only in the Carnivale of Poker. The
Carnivale of Poker is a smaller tournament series that had a brief run, organized by
the WSOP.[9]
OFC is not common in live tournaments. This is mainly due to not being
mainstream like other variants of poker such as no-limit hold'em. However, other issues
are caused by having 3 players maximum per table, unlike other poker tournaments that
can have 10 players per table, and the number of dealers that would therefore be
required. These factors make live tournaments logistically difficult and unprofitable
for operators.[10]
