Re: Chinese poker books
 

Been livin' in Thailand for the past few years and make it to HongKong a couple times a year? Are there established Chinese poker rooms, places to play in Maccaou? Just wondering how one might find a game if not a local.

or any pokergames in Asia for that matter.

Sat at a Paigow table in Cambodia but the payout structure make it a losing bet/ though the dealers tend to make some obvious mistakes.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

huge props for "nuf"

UPenn
 

[ QUOTE ]
I got good at poker by playing in a game at the University of Pennsylvania against seven super players. Four of them found reknown in gambling related fields. Donald Smolen was one of them. nuf said.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are any of these guys still at UPenn? (maybe as professors or something) I'm at law school there now.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

I've played this Chinese Poker with some Philipino friends. they called it Russian Poker. In their variation they simplify the payout structure in that the dealer is called the banker. Everyone takes turns dealing/banking.

Everyone compares their hands only with the banker. If you win 2 out of 3 you get paid 1 unit. If you win all 3 you get 2 units. No one really gets hurt. A very friendly home variation I guess.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've played this Chinese Poker with some Philipino friends. they called it Russian Poker. In their variation they simplify the payout structure in that the dealer is called the banker. Everyone takes turns dealing/banking.

Everyone compares their hands only with the banker. If you win 2 out of 3 you get paid 1 unit. If you win all 3 you get 2 units. No one really gets hurt. A very friendly home variation I guess.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've played this version, it was called pasoi where I played it. I'm curious now about the strategy, it did not seem like that rich of a game, but perhaps I am missing some subtlety.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

I have Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker by Stanford Wong. It is a short book, but it goes into great detail about the best ways to set your hand. I believe it's a classic.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

Uh oh.

[ QUOTE ]
I've played this version, it was called pasoi where I played it.

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing about pasoi is that it's a name for about 4 different games. 2's or 3's might be high, depending on the version. Sometimes you make some number of ahnds and compare, and sometimes you discard in turn matching "hand types" that must beat the last discarded type.

Just wanting to point this out before people start chiming in with: "THAT'S NOT PASOI!" Since it is. They all are, depending on who you ask.

~D

Re: Chinese poker books
 

I havn't read this thread in a while but my reaction when reading was that he really didn't understand what "optimal" meant at all. I'd be mighty careful taking his advice unless one really understood what what was being said.

Re: Chinese poker books
 

Pai Gow and chinese (also called russian or 13 card) are different games (although they share some structure).

Re: Chinese poker books
 

Yeah I played another game with my Philipino friends called Pasoi Dos or Vietnamese Poker. 4 players get dealt 12 cards each. 4 get mucked randomly during the deal.

Whoever has a certain 3 (I think spade) starts the play by flipping it over either by itself or as part of a pair, trips, quads, straight, flush or tight. Next player has to beat that hand using the same number of cards. ie if Player 1 plays the lone 3 Player 2 can play a 3 of higher suit (I forget the order of suits) or any higher card. If player 1 plays trip 3s, Player 2 has to play higher trips. Play rotates around the table like this until no one can or wants to beat the board. Last person to play then can lay down any hand they want. 1 card, pair, trips etc. and it gets done again.

It's been ahwile since we played this but I think deuces are the highest rank. Everything else is normal.

Anyhow first person to play all their cards wins. Everyone pays you one bet.

If you play a deuce as part of your last play that's Pasoi Dos and they all pay double.

Strategy involves sometimes passing when it is your turn to play even if you can beat the board. It is sometimes better to wait.