Betonline

USA_flagBest poker, sportsbook + casino for US players, big bonus, deposit options for US customers.

Read More

Bet365 Poker

Our Top Room Pick. Best tournaments + support, lots of fish. Best Sportsbetting odds!

Read More

Carbon Poker

USA_flagEasy deposit options, great choice for US players. $600 bonus, very fishy room with lots of tournaments.

Read More

Pokerstars

Top room with a Bonus of $600, still the largest poker room. Lots of fish, massive tournament calendar.

Read More

Poker server blocked? How to play any online poker room, from anywhere - read this article!

These are the rooms with the easiest competition - check this article

5 good reasons to switch to a new poker room - read more ...

Best online Satellites for Live Poker Events - find them here!

Poker rooms with the best high stakes action - read this to find them.

Best poker and sportsbook combination - read this review.

Newest Poker Promotions

$88 Free No-Deposit Bonus from 888 Poker - Sign up here!

How to Play Open Faced Chinese Poker

This poker game is quite a paradox as it is both simple and complex. As long as you understand basic poker it will take you less than 15 minutes to understand the rules of this game so you can get started playing. A great place to find all the information needed to learn is OpenFaceOdds.com.

Once you start playing you will find the strategy anything but simple. Poker Professionals from all over will tell you this is the toughest game they have come across to run the numbers on. The new challenge along with the fact that all you need is another player and a pad of paper to track units won, is what has so many people hooked on this game.

Open Face Poker Set upTo get started you simply need to decide on the bet value per unit and start dealing the cards, first five down to each player. Once the player receives their cards they have to choose to set them in either the Back, Middle or Front hand, five, five and three cards respectively. The photo on the right shows both player’s hands after setting first five cards.

Depending on the type of rules you are playing, and there are many variations, you may go for Queens in front. Keep in mind when setting your cards the middle hand must be stronger than the front hand and the back hand must be stronger than the middle hand or you foul. Fouling not only forces you to pay three units to each of the other players but causes you to lose any Royalty Points you may have.

Because my opponent has a Queen up and my odds of catching another Queen with only 2 outs is 35% or less I have decided not to play Queens in the front row. The chances of catching my flush however based on having 8 outs and 8 cards left to draw are 85%, so I have set up my cards to play for the flush in my back hand.

Heads Up Open Face Odds Chart




Playing in position, playing last, is a good benefit in Open Face Chinese Poker because it allows you to see how your opponents have set their hands and allows you to know exactly the number of outs you have at any given time. I have included an outs chart from OpenFaceOdds.com. The only time it is not possible to know the exact number of outs is if one of your opponents is in Fantasyland, which means they get all their cards face down when they get a pair of Queens of better in the Front Hand without fouling.

Now all players have set their opening cards and we start dealing cards out one at a time to each player, as each card is received the player must set it to one of their three hands. Once a card is set to a hand it is locked in position for the balance of the deal. During the placing of these cards it is important to watch your different hands to be sure you do not foul. It is also important to watch your opponent’s cards to beat the hands they receive on each corresponding level.

Final hands for chinese pokerThe dealing is continued until each player receives 13 cards and fills in all three hands. I have included another diagram from FantasyLandPoker.com showing the finished hand and the scoring. On the finished board you will see my opponent fouled. My second last card was the King of Diamonds and based on 25% odds I decided to place it in my middle hand and play for my flush in the back hand. The result… I fouled also. Better luck next time and stay tuned for more Open FACE Chinese Poker News and Views.

Deposit options for US poker fans

If you are based in the US, finding a poker room that accepts US players is only one of your problems. It is also difficult to make money transfers. But there are a number of options for deposits and withdrawals for US gamblers and we have described them here ... read more

All Freeroll Poker Tournaments starting now

All the big poker rooms are offering freeroll tournaments. There is no need to deposit, but you can still win real money. To find a permanently updated schedule of all freerolls starting in the next few minutes, across all rooms - click this link!

Play Poker and Blackjack at the same room

Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games, due to a low house edge and the fact that strategy can improve your results. But not all poker rooms have Blackjack too. Find our favorite rooms for Poker and Blackjack - read this!

European Poker Tour qualifiers

The European Poker Tour is becoming more and more popular. With moderate buy-ins, but very large prize pools, a lot of money can be made at these events. In consequence, several rooms are offering satellites to qualify for the offline EPT events. To find out which rooms offer the best chances for EPT qualification read this article.