Bonus Chinese Poker (Extra Suit) Rules

Overview

Bonus Chinese Poker is a four-player variant of Chinese Poker (Shisanzhi, 十三支): each player receives 16 cards, picks 13 and sets them into a 3-card Front, a 5-card Middle and a 5-card Back, with the Front lower than the Middle and the Middle no higher than the Back, then compares row by row with the other three players. Each hand a cut card sets the "Bonus rank", and three of a kind, full houses and four of a kind made from Bonus cards are upgraded to Bonus hands; an extra set of spades adds five of a kind and the Paired Flush. Scoring is by scoops plus bonuses for big hands.

This variant differs from ordinary Chinese Poker in two ways:

• Extra suit (加一色): The deck has one extra full set of spades compared with a normal deck, so every spade (for example, the A♠) appears twice.
• Bonus cards (彩金牌): At the start of each hand, one card is cut from the deck; its rank becomes this hand's "Bonus rank" (彩金點). The other 4 cards of that rank in play are the "Bonus cards", and three of a kind, full houses and four of a kind made with them are upgraded to stronger Bonus hands.

Hand: From the cut, deal, arranging and comparing until all four players' scores are calculated. The four scores always add up to 0 (whatever units someone wins, someone else loses).

Cards and Dealing

• 65-card deck: two sets of spades, and one set each of hearts, diamonds and clubs. Each rank has 5 cards (2 spades + 1 of each other suit).
• Cut: After shuffling each hand, 1 card is cut at random and removed from the hand. Its rank is this hand's Bonus rank, known to all four players.
• Bonus cards: The other 4 cards of the same rank as the cut card. For example, if the 4♣ is cut, the remaining four 4s are this hand's Bonus cards.
• The remaining 64 cards are dealt evenly to the four players, 16 each, using up the deck exactly.
• Rank order: A is highest, 2 is lowest.
• Suits have no rank. Hands of the same type and ranks are a tie. The two sets of spades are completely identical, with no ranking between them.
• Bonus cards are not wild cards and cannot stand in for other cards; each one is simply a card of its own rank, which upgrades the hand type when used to make three of a kind, a full house or four of a kind.
• The dealer for the first hand is chosen at random; after each hand, the dealer moves one seat counterclockwise. The dealer only affects the order in which hands are revealed and how tied places are listed; it does not affect scores.

How to Play

1. Cut: One card is cut, and this hand's Bonus rank is announced.
2. Deal: Each player receives 16 cards, visible only to themselves.
3. Arrange: Choose 13 of your 16 cards and split them into three rows:
   • Front: 3 cards
   • Middle: 5 cards
   • Back: 5 cards
   • The remaining 3 cards are discarded and not compared.
4. Check the order: Your three rows must satisfy "Front < Middle ≤ Back" (see "Legal Arrangements and Fouls"). An arrangement that doesn't cannot be played.
5. Compare: Once all four players have arranged, the rows are revealed and compared head-to-head against each of the other three players, in the order Front, Middle, Back. Your Front is only compared with other players' Fronts, your Middle with Middles, and your Back with Backs.
6. Score: The four players' scores for the hand are calculated as described in "Scoring", and then the next hand begins.

Hand Rankings

Hand Ladder (Highest to Lowest)

Notes:

• Each Bonus hand ranks directly above its regular counterpart: Bonus Trips > any three of a kind, Bonus Full House > any full house, Bonus Quads > any four of a kind. Bonus Trips with a Bonus rank of 2 still beat three Aces.
• Whether a hand counts as a Bonus hand depends only on "whether the cards making the three/four of a kind are Bonus cards". For example, with a Bonus rank of 7: 7-7-7-K-K is a Bonus Full House; K-K-K-7-7 is just a regular full house (the three of a kind is not Bonus cards).
• A pair or two pair made with Bonus cards gets no upgrade; it is just a regular pair or two pair.
• Since one card of the Bonus rank has been cut, only 4 remain, so five of a kind in the Bonus rank is impossible; four Bonus cards plus any card is Bonus Quads.
• Straight ranks: 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest, A-2-3-4-5 the lowest. An Ace can play low (as 1) or high, but a straight can only go up to the Ace; there is no J-Q-K-A-2 straight. The same applies to straight flushes.
• The Front has only 3 cards, so it can only be high card, one pair, three of a kind or Bonus Trips; there are no straights or flushes in the Front.
• Paired Flush exists only because of the extra suit: two cards of the same rank and suit can only come from the two sets of spades, so a Paired Flush is always in spades. It beats any flush.
• There is no "three of a kind flush": with only two sets of spades, you cannot get three identical cards.
• When a hand qualifies as more than one type, it takes the highest on the ladder. For example, five consecutive spades are a straight flush, not a Paired Flush or a straight.

Legal Arrangements and Fouls

Your three rows must satisfy:

Front < Middle ≤ Back

• The Middle and Back can be equal (same type, same ranks). Because suits have no rank and spades come in two sets, this really can happen.
• The Front must be lower than the Middle. The comparison uses the full hand value, kickers included: compare hand type first, then the main rank if the types match, then the kickers if still equal. Since the Front has only 3 cards, once the comparison reaches kickers the Front doesn't have, the Middle counts as higher.
• An arrangement that breaks this order is called a Foul (相公, mis-set). A fouled arrangement cannot be played; it must be rearranged into a legal one before the showdown. As a result, there is no "foul penalty".

Examples:

Scoring

This variant uses scoop scoring (打槍制): winning or losing an individual row scores nothing by itself; points come only from the three items below.

Total score = scoop points + home run points + bonus points

Scoop and Home Run

• Scoops still count when you hit a Home Run. A player who hits a Home Run gets 3 + 6 = 9 units from scoops and the Home Run alone.
• Because a tie also counts as "not losing", if two players' three rows are exactly equal, they scoop each other, and the +1 and −1 on each side cancel out.

Bonus Points

If you beat a given player's row using one of the hand types in the table below (ties don't count), that player pays you the listed units in addition. This is calculated separately against each of the three players and added up player by player; it is not doubled for a Scoop or Home Run.

• Bonus Front Trips and Front Trips are never both scored: when your Front is Bonus Trips, only Bonus Front Trips +2 counts.
• Bonus Quads is worth +5 whether it is in the Middle or the Back.
• Bonus points have nothing to do with scoops; they depend only on whether you won that row: if your row with a hand type in the table beats the opponent's, you collect; if that row ties or loses, you don't.

Scoring Example 1: Home Run

• A does not lose any row against B, C or D → A scoops all three players, hitting a Home Run.
• B does not lose any row against C → B scoops C.
• No other pairing is a scoop, and none of the four players has a bonus hand.

The four players total 9 − 2 − 4 − 3 = 0.

Scoring Example 2: Bonus Points Added Player by Player

• B does not lose any row against A → B scoops A. No other pairing is a scoop.
• C's Front is three of a kind (Front Trips) and beats the Fronts of A, B and D.
• D's row with Bonus Quads beats that row for A, B and C.

The four players total −7 − 5 − 2 + 14 = 0. D's +15 is 5 units times 3 players, added player by player, not doubled.

Special Rules and Rulings

The following are rulings on points where the specification text is not clear enough:

1. Bonus cards are not wild cards. They only upgrade three of a kind, full houses and four of a kind into Bonus hands, and cannot stand in for other ranks or suits.
2. The Middle and Back can be equal (Front < Middle ≤ Back). The player guide's "Front < Middle < Back" is a simplification; this page is authoritative.
3. Comparing the Front and Middle includes kickers. "Front K-9-4, Middle K-9-4-3-2" is legal; "Front 9-9-K, Middle 9-9-5-4-3" is a foul.
4. The condition for a scoop is "not losing"; tied rows count.
5. Bonus points are not doubled: whether or not there is a Scoop or Home Run, the values in the bonus table are used as is, added player by player. The common house rule of "doubling bonus points on a scoop" is not used.
6. A Paired Flush is always in spades, and there is no three of a kind flush.
7. There is never a foul penalty: fouled arrangements cannot be played, so all four players' arrangements are legal every hand.
8. No whole-hand special hands: "13-card special hands" such as three flushes, three straights, six and a half pairs, five pairs and trips, four sets of trips, all one color, all low, all high, three quads (三分天下), three straight flushes, twelve royals, dragon (一條龍), and supreme dragon (至尊青龍) are not used in this variant; the three rows are always compared normally.
9. Scoop scoring only, no per-row scoring (比道制): winning or losing an individual row scores nothing.
10. Units only: there is no base stake, money conversion or rake; your score is simply the number of units.

Rules source: the Douque (鬥雀) platform's "GSCAS-十三支" specification (Chinese Poker with an extra suit, Bonus cards and scoop scoring) and the "彩金十三支 玩法說明" (Bonus Chinese Poker player guide).