[xphilophobia]

Okay, so daily, me and my classmates play chinese poker in class (for money).
I use to think I was good but I barely win (although I always have 2-3 cards left so it's not a major loss).
So I have a few questions on your playing style:

Do you go for risks or play safely? (i.e. if you have pair ace and someone puts out like a pair queen, would you put that down if you don't have a lot of high cards?)
if people are putting down singles, would you put down your second to highest card? or even your highest card if you have a few low cards?
if you have low combo (like 3 4 5 6 7 or 7 8 9 10 J) but not a lot of high cards (ace of diamonds is your highest) should you wait to use your combo or split it up? what if your combo splits up your pairs?

when playing for money (based on how many cards left), should you try and get more of your cards or play to win the round?
other poker tips would be appreciated!


EDIT
i didn't know some people wouldn't know what chinese poker is so here's my brief summary:
standard players - 4 ppl, each get 13 cards
here are the cards from lowest to highest: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2
here are the symbols from lowest to highest: diamond, clover, hearts, spades (so a 3 of clovers is higher than a diamond 3)

the point of the game is to get rid of all your cards which you can do by putting down "higher" cards than the one before you.
the person with diamond 3 usually goes first (although some ppl may play with winner goes first)
2 of spades is the highest card and some people call this game "big two"

you can put out singles, pairs, triplets, or combos (i think quadruples are allowed but i don't see why anyone would do that .. )
combos include (ranked lowest to highest)
straight - 5 consecutive numbers
flush - 5 cards (of any value) with the same symbol
straight flush - 5 consecutive numbers with the same symbol
three of a kind - 3 cards of the same number with a random pair
four of a kind - 4 cards of the same number with a random single

if you cannot beat what the other player has put down, you "pass"
if everyone passes and you were the last to put down the highest card, you can put down whatever you want

gambling methods:
play until one person has won
count the number of cards each person has at that time and multiply that by the amount you are playing for ($1, $5, etc)
pay the winner

PS: If one person does not have any face cards, the cards are re dealt
same thing if one person has 4 twos.



EDIT
What's the point of knowing what cards others have put out?

[Shikabane Hime]

Never heard of it.
So I google'd it, and guess it really is called chinese poker...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_poker

For anyone else that was confused lol

[silver-typhoon]

You might want to mention it's also known as "Big 2", as it's often known as that on the web application versions... In comparison to the rules you posted, when I play with family/friends, straight flush is worth more than four of a kind ^^;; I guess there's rule variations depending on where you are o.0

I usually get rid of my junk cards (ie low cards that do not fit into any combination) as soon as I can. I also somewhat... unconsciously keep track of who's playing what when I play in a group of 4 people. When I play against only one person, I usually go for singles/doubles tactics because combos do not work very well. I win often ^^:; But it might just be because the people I play against aren't very good at this game. Playing against people from Hong Kong never went well for me, because they'd always win >.<

There's also a Vietnamese version of this game where the suits (lowest->highest) spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts and you can put straight combos ranging from min of 3 cards to maximum of however many you can play... You can also "cut" a player when they play a two by putting down four of a kind.

[Deziel]

Never create a flush if it leaves behind singles.
Play your lowest to highest.
Same things goes for your hands. If you had a flush and a full house, put the flush first. Etc...

Just play with your instinct. If you have the big 2, I guess you can leave your smallest card as the last card, but I don't recommended. o.o It's not like Jackass(or wtv you call it) where joker beats all

All though the game ends after one person wins, me and my friends always play to the last card to see who gets kicked out. It's a 4 player game, sometimes we are like 6, so we have to kick the bottom 2 or something. I've never been the last person to finish their cards.

[FFDk]

u can try to scare other players off with a 2 so u can get rid of a small single or a crappy combo. Pair is useful.

[Shikabane Hime]

大老二
Big 2

Never call it chinese poker. Never do it again. It's not some people, it's almost everyone lulz =x
I might confuse it with black ace which is also pretty popular for "chinese poker."

Anyways...this is for chinese-style, cause viet style is hax with infinitely long straights (well, how long can it be anyways?):

-Don't go in with hands unless everyone's doing it, cause in the end you might never have the chance to do so and you screw yourself over.
-Know what they played (unless the discard pile is face up)
-Always take out singles first. Well, it depends on the situation, but most likely you'd like to have pairs or triples or hands in end-game.
-If everyone has pairs, and you have pairs, break them up. Do it, don't question me lol
-Don't bluff, it's silly

For money...up to you really. I'm not a huge gambler, I play to win the round. If you're feeling adventurous, you can play for cards.
But it's really stupid when someone's dealt two hands and three two's immediately with starting 3 mixed in there. We don't count that as a real win lol...

[xphilophobia]

^ what's the point of remember who put what?

[Fuznut88]

y this game you can play with urself if you are in a long flight.

[Shikabane Hime]

^ what's the point of remember who put what?

So you can predict who has which cards.
Of course, if you're playing for fun it doesn't really matter and not worth blowing some brain cells over.

It's like playing mahjong and wondering why you have to bother paying attention to what someone's collecting and discarding: you don't have to do it.