Posted on 2018-01-17 Comments (0)

Big Two is a Chinese climbing game for two to four players. Although it plays much like Thirteen (tien len), it is unique among the climbing games in that it allows for the use of standard poker hands as valid combinations. For example, while most climbing games will let you play a five-card straight, only in Big Two could that straight be beaten by a flush or a full house!

Object of Big Two

The pairs in the hand are made of two different values, and a fifth card with a different value from either of the pairs. Here’s an example of a two pair: The is a “two pair, queens and fives”, and the kicker card is a jack. As Singles (just one card) As Pairs (two cards of matching values) As Triplets or “Trips” (three cards of matching values) As Poker Hands (five cards forming a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind or straight flush) Note: you must play a fifth card with four of a kind to make a legitimate five card poker hand.

The object of Big Two is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. This is achieved by discarding cards as parts of valid combinations.

Setup

Anyone wanting to play a game of Big Two needs a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Of course, we’d absolutely love it if you chose a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards for your game. You should also have something handy to keep score with, like pencil and paper.

Shuffle and deal thirteen cards to each player. Set aside any unused cards; they will have no effect on game play.

Card ranking

Big Two uses the card ranking order usually found in other climbing games of Asian origin: aces are high, and 2s are even higher than the ace. This gives a full ranking of (high) 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 (low).

Ties in rank (as when single cards or pairs are played against each other) are broken by suit. Suits rank in the following order: (high) spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds (low).

Game play

Combinations

Play of the hand in Big Two revolves around different combinations of cards. The valid combinations that can be played fall into four categories, which have no rank or standing relative to each other. These four categories are:

• Single cards
• Trips (three of a kind)
• Five-card poker hands (as described below)

Within the category of five-card combinations, there are a number of valid combos based on poker hands, which do have ranks relative to each other. These combinations are more or less what you’d expect if you’re familiar with poker, with some caveats. From highest to lowest:

1. Royal flush

A royal flush consists of A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. Ties are broken by the suit of the royal flush, thus the best five-card combination is the spade royal flush.

2. Straight flush

Five cards of the same suit, in sequence (example: 4-5-6-7-8♠). In straight flushes, 2s rank below 3s, as they do in most climbing games, and aces can be either high or low, but not both, so 6-5-4-3-2 is fine, but 2-A-K-Q-J and 4-3-2-A-K are not. The highest-ranking card is used to determine the rank of the straight flush; if two straight flushes have the same top rank, then the tie is broken by the suit of the highest-ranked card.

3. Four of a kind

Four of a kind consists of all four of a particular rank of card, plus one unmatched fifth card. (example: 5-5-5-5-J). Ties are broken by the rank of the cards (four 6s beats four 5s). Note that unlike in most other climbing games, four-of-a-kinds are not a valid combination by themselves, and must be played along with a fifth card.

4. Full house

A full house consists of three of one rank of card and two of another (example: 7-7-7-3-3). Ties are broken by the rank of the three matching cards (Q-Q-Q-9-9 beats 10-10-10-K-K).

5. Flush

A flush consists of five cards of the same suit, not in any particular order (example: 5-6-9-J-K♦). Unlike in poker, ties are broken by the suit of the flush. Only if two flushes are of the same suit is the rank of the highest card used in determining the which flush is higher.

6. Straight

A straight consists of five cards of any suit in sequence (example: 4♦-5♣-6♣-7♠-8♥). If all cards are the same suit, it becomes a straight flush. The rules for what constitutes a valid straight and how to rank it are otherwise the same as those for a straight flush.

Note that lower poker hands than straights cannot be played as five-card combos—there is no provision for playing a three-of-a-kind with two extra cards, two pairs, etc. These must be played by themselves as trips, pairs, or single cards.

Play of the hand

Game play begins with the player holding the 3♦, the lowest-ranked card in the game. If nobody holds the 3♦, then play starts with the 3♣, and so on upward to whoever is determined to hold the lowest card that’s actually in play. This player plays face up to the table any combination they desire that contains the low card. The next player to their left must then play a higher combination of the same length. That is, they must play a higher single card if the first player led with a single card, a pair if the first player led with a pair, etc. If the player cannot or does not wish to play higher, they may also pass, with the option to play again on their next turn.

This continues, with each player playing progressively higher combinations, until all of a player’s opponents pass to their play. (In a four-player game, this means three consecutive passes, or two consecutive passes in a three-player game.) When this happens, the remaining player is free to play whatever combination they wish. The next player to their left must then beat this new combination, as before, and the game continues on in this fashion.

Players must keep their hands visible at all times, and if asked how many cards they hold, must respond truthfully. This is to allow players holding high cards in reserve to play them to stop an opponent they fear may be able to play their last cards.

Ending the hand

The hand ends whenever a player runs out of cards. At this point, the hand is scored. Each player counts the number of cards they have remaining. If they have nine or fewer, they score one point for each card left in their hand. If they have ten through twelve cards left, they score two points per card remaining. An unlucky player left with all thirteen cards—having never played a card the whole hand—scores 39 points, three points per card!

The deal rotates to the left and new hands are dealt. Game play continues until one player reaches a predetermined score (such as 100 points). Whichever player has the lowest score at that point is the winner.

Posted in China, Game Rules Tags: big two, card games, climbing games

OBJECTIVE OF POKER WITH TWO HANDS: Win the pot with the best hand.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2-5 players

NUMBER OF CARDS: 52-card deck

RANK OF CARDS: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

TYPE OF GAME: Casino

AUDIENCE: Adult

INTRODUCTION TO POKER WITH TWO HANDS

There are several variations of Poker which utilize two hands in the game, such as Chinese Poker and Pai Gow Poker. Below are poker games which are played with two hands, although these instructions assume the reader is familiar with traditional Poker and the Poker Hand Rankings.

Open Face Chinese Poker, not to be confused with the variant of Chinese Poker mentioned above, is three hand poker- not two.

HENWAY

This is a split pot game is played with up to 5 players, each dealt 10 cards after placing an ante.

Big Two Poker Hands Game

Players split the 10 cards into 2 five card hands. After the player’s hands are arranged, each player flips the top card of each of their hands over, so that it is visible. This is followed by a round of betting. This pattern of play continues for the second, third, and fourth cards in hand. Following the fourth round of betting, players reveal their hands. Highest ranking and lowest ranking hands split the pot evenly.

10 CARD REGRETS

Ten card regrets is also a split pot game that accommodates no more than five players. Players are dealt 10 cards each which are arranged into two five-card poker hands: on the left a low hand and on the right a high hand.

After placing an ante, players are dealt two cards at a time, face-down. After, they decide whether these cards are going to be a part of the left hand, the right hand, or one to each. After each player has had their turn there is a round of betting.

Big Two Poker Hands Games

The deal repeats, and players are dealt another two card, followed by another round of betting.

This continues until each player has 2 five-card hands. Once a card is assigned to a hand it cannot be moved nor can the hands exceed five cards.

At showdown, the pot is split between the highest and lowest hands, they must be won by the proper corresponding hand, i.e. a right hand cannot win low hand.

COWPIE POKER

The deal and betting process is the same as Seven Card Stud.Seven card stud is simplified as, “two down, four up, one down,” which refers to the quantity and order of the way cards are dealt, with betting rounds in between each card.

After all the players have seven cards, they are split into a five card and a two card hand. Cards dealt face-up and face-down remain that way. The five card hand must be higher ranking than the two card hand and include at least one face-down card. A final betting round occurs and next is the showdown. The pot is to be split between the best five card and two card hands.

REFERENCES:

https://www.pagat.com/poker/variants/two.html

http://www.wsop.com/poker-games/7card-stud/rules/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven-card_stud

https://www.pagat.com/poker/variants/7stud.html#hilo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker