Origin | Finland |
---|---|
Alternative names | Open Face Chinese, OFC, OFCP |
Players | 2 - 4 |
Skills required | Tactics, strategy |
Cards | 52 |
Deck | French |
Play | Clockwise |
Card rank (highest first) | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
Playing time | 5 -10 min. per round |
Random chance | Medium to High |
Related games | |
Chinese poker Pai gow poker |
Open Face Chinese Poker Pineapple
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]
Ofc Poker Online Play
1 day ago where is the best place to play OFC/P. Multi-QuoteQuote & Reply. Join the Conversation at CardsChat.com. CardsChat is an online poker community of. 348,926 members in 190 countries. Pineapple OFC is an exciting variant of Texas Hold’em, but is not quite the same game. While the rules (hand ranking) are the same, the set-up is slightly di. Open Face Chinese Poker Odds Calculator. Welcome to OFCCalc, the most advanced Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) odds calculator.
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.[5]
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.[5]
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.
Play Ofc
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.[5] However, to remain in fantasyland while in fantasyland requires higher royalties, one or more of the following conditions must be met:
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 for $10 per unit versus each other, while all other player pairings play for $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.
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 |
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.[7] 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.[8]
References[edit]
- ^Dave Behr (2012). 'Not just another pretty face'. Bluff Magazine. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13.
- ^Jennifer Shahade (2012-10-18). 'How to Play Open-Face Chinese Poker'. Card Player.
- ^Calvinayre.com: Mikal Blomlie Wins the TonyBet OFC World Championships
- ^Pokernews.com: Jennifer Shahade Wins Biggest Open-Face Chinese Live Poker Event in History
- ^ abc'Chinese Poker'. PokerNews. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
- ^'2013 Carnivale of Poker $5000 Open Face Chinese Poker Official Medaillion Event'(PDF). World Series of Poker. 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^'Introduction to Pineapple Open Face Chinese Poker'. PokerOpenFace. Archived from the original on 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
- ^'OFC Rules'.
Tired of playing the same old poker games? With their new browser-based client, FlopTurnRiver.com (FTR) is offering up an exciting and totally different way to play poker. The game is Open Face Chinese Poker, and it can be played here for free.
The vast majority of you reading this probably just thought out loud, “What the hell is Open Face Chinese Poker?” The game originated in the mid-2000s in Europe and soon spread to Russia; by the turn of the decade Open Face Chinese had caught on in the United States. Since then it has become one of the more popular games among the professional poker crowd. Daniel Negreanu tweeted that “It’s been a while since I’ve been addicted to a card game but I am completely addicted to Open Faced Chinese Poker.”
The game can be played with 2-4 players, and is based on a point system—instead of placing bets on every street, each winning hand is worth a set number of points, the value of which is chosen before the game begins. Some people may play for $1 a point, while higher stakes players may end up playing for $100 a point.
Each player is given 13 cards, which are then organized into three rows: the top hand (3 cards), the middle hand (5 cards), and the bottom hand (5 cards). Similar to regular Chinese poker, the bottom hand must be strongest, the middle hand the second strongest, and the top hand the weakest. Points are then awarded based on the amount of hands won, as well as by collecting royalties on premium hands and avoiding fouls. For a more detailed analysis, you can read this article on the Open Face Chinese Poker rules.
FTR has created a web browser-based client that is available on both PCs and Macs, and, because it’s run through a browser, it is also mobile friendly, meaning you can play it on your iPhone, iPad, Android, or any other mobile device or smartphone. This also means that the game suffers no slowdown when played on a mobile device, which is a definite improvement over other mobile poker clients.
Two different types of Open Face Chinese poker are available to play: regular OFC and POFC (Pineapple Open Face Chinese). The difference between the two is that with POFC, after the first five cards are placed, each player is dealt three cards instead of just one. Players must then choose where to place two of the cards and discard the third.
There are also two types of tables available: Open FTR Tables, which are open to anyone, and Private Tables. Players have the option of choosing from either regular or turbo tables, the difference being the amount of time a player is allowed to have per round (5 minutes on beginner tables and only 2 minutes on turbo tables).
Open tables are set up like cash games, where a player can leave any time they want. At the moment, play on the Open FTR Tables is limited to heads up play only, but 3-4 handed tables are expected to become available in the upcoming weeks. If you are interested in playing with multiple people, you can create and customize your own Private Table, adding a personalized password and choosing the amount of time allowed and number of rounds to be played. There are two different card modes, click-card mode, and drag-card mode, which are both pretty self-explanatory.
On the Open FTR Tables, you can play for free or you can gamble with FTR Points. Only FTR members can play and earn points, but registering a free account is easy and will instantly earn you 1000 points. Click here for a detailed description on how to earn FTR Points. Similar to other poker programs, players will be able to trade in their FTR Points and purchase FTR clothing and items. In the future, FTRP will also be used as buy-ins for freerolls and real-money tournaments.
On the beginner’s tables, players can also compete against computer opponents (bots). The bots, consisting of Glass Joe and Bald Bill, are relatively easy to beat once you have a decent grasp of the game, and they earn you FTR Points. They are also a wonderful way to learn the ins and outs of OFC, and a great way to win over new players who may feel slightly intimidated by the game’s rules and scoring system.
Speaking of the scoring system, at the end of every hand two buttons appear at the bottom of the screen: “Did I set it right?” and “Did I play it right?” This allows a player to share their hand history on the FTR forums with the rest of the FTR community. It’s yet another great way for players to learn the intricacies of the game.
At the moment, no major online poker company supports OFC, so this is the best opportunity to learn how to play and compete against real players. Because of the novelty of the game, there aren’t a lot of players currently on the tables, and it can often take several minutes to get a heads-up game going. That being said, the client itself is clean and user-friendly, and I didn’t notice any slowdown or glitches. Hopefully, as the number of players increase, tournaments, high stakes tables, and real-money games will be made available. All in all, Open Face Chinese poker is an exciting game, and FTR’s browser-based client is a blast to play.