Taiwanese Big Two Rules

Overview

Big Two (大老二, also known as Deuces or Chor Dai Di) is a four-player shedding card game played with a standard 52-card deck, hugely popular in Taiwan, Hong Kong and across the Chinese-speaking world. Each player gets 13 cards and takes turns playing singles, pairs, straights, full houses and other combinations to beat the previous play, with 2 as the highest rank. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins, and the other three pay according to the cards left in their hands.

• Players: Four per table.
• Cards: One standard 52-card deck, no Jokers.
• Goal: Be the first to play all 13 cards in your hand. The first player out is the only winner of the hand; the other three are losers, and each pays the winner according to the cards left in their hand.
• Hand: From the deal until someone has played all their cards and the scores are settled.

These Taiwanese Big Two rules (the Douque platform specification) differ from the common house versions in a few ways. Please pay attention to these on your first game:

1. There are only six combinations: single, pair, straight, full house, four of a kind and straight flush. There is no "flush", and you cannot play a triple or two pair.
2. Four of a kind and straight flush are called Monsters (怪物) and can beat any combination, including singles and pairs.
3. Straights have their own ranking: 2-3-4-5-6 is the highest and A-2-3-4-5 the lowest.
4. The player holding the 3 of clubs starts, but the first play does not have to include the 3 of clubs.
5. A player who has passed can still play when their turn comes around again in the same round.

Cards and Dealing

• The 52 cards are shuffled and dealt out completely, 13 to each player.
• Rank order (high to low): 2 > A > K > Q > J > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3.
• Suit order (high to low): spades ♠ > hearts ♥ > diamonds ♦ > clubs ♣.
• Cards are compared by rank first, then by suit. The highest single card in the game is ♠2 and the lowest is ♣3.

How to Play

1. Who starts: The player holding the 3 of clubs plays first. The first play can be any legal combination and does not have to include the 3 of clubs.
2. Direction of play: Turns pass counterclockwise.
3. Leading: In each round (trick), the leader may play any combination they like. The leader cannot pass and must play.
4. Following: On your turn you have two choices:
   • Play a combination of the same type that is higher than the one on the table, or play a Monster (four of a kind or straight flush);
   • Pass (play nothing). You may pass even if you could beat the table.
5. Passing does not lock you out: After passing, you can still play the next time your turn comes, as long as the round is not over.
6. End of a round: When someone plays and the other three players then all pass in a row, the round ends and the player who played last leads freely.
7. End of a hand: As soon as anyone plays their last card, the hand ends immediately and is scored; the other three do not play on for places.

Combinations and Ranking

The Six Combinations

Anything that is not one of these combinations cannot be played: a triple (three of a rank), two pair, a flush (five cards of the same suit that are not consecutive), three loose cards, or four loose cards (four of a kind must always include a fifth card) are all illegal.

Straight Ranking

There are only these 10 straights (and straight flushes), from lowest to highest:

• Sequences that wrap around the 2, such as J-Q-K-A-2, Q-K-A-2-3 and K-A-2-3-4, are not straights.
• When two straights have the same sequence, compare the suit of "the highest-ranked card". Ranks follow 2 > A > K…, so for both A-2-3-4-5 and 2-3-4-5-6 you compare the suit of the 2, and for 10-J-Q-K-A you compare the suit of the A.

What Beats What

• Regular combinations (single, pair, straight, full house) can only be beaten by the same type. For example, a straight cannot beat a full house and a full house cannot beat a straight; a pair can only be beaten by a higher pair.
• A Monster (four of a kind or straight flush) can beat any regular combination, regardless of card count. Even when the table shows a single or a pair, you can play a five-card four of a kind or straight flush on top of it.
• When the table already shows a Monster, only a higher Monster can beat it:
  • Straight flush > four of a kind (any straight flush beats any four of a kind);
  • Four of a kind vs. four of a kind: compare the rank of the four;
  • Straight flush vs. straight flush: compare the straight ranking first, then suit.
• Once a Monster has been played, the rest of the round follows that Monster.

Dragon and Flush Dragon

• These are only possible while your hand still has all 13 cards (you have not played anything yet this hand).
• You may play them at any time on your turn, regardless of what is on the table, and nothing can beat them.

Legal Plays and Fouls

• Only legal plays may be made: cards that do not form a combination, or that cannot beat the table, cannot be played.
• The leader cannot pass; when following you may pass at any time.
• When several combinations are equally strong, you choose which suits to use: for example QQQ can go with any pair of 10s, and 34567 can use any of your 3s.
• We do not use the Ding Da (頂大) rule (see below).
• You cannot play for another player, and you cannot take back a play.

Scoring

This scoring follows the Douque platform's Big Two specification.

There is only one winner per hand. Each of the three losers separately works out what they owe with the formula below; the winner's score is the sum of the three payments, and the four scores add up to zero.

• Loser pays = base stake × cards left × loser multiplier × winner multiplier
• Winner scores = total paid by the three losers

Loser Multipliers (based on the loser's own remaining cards; multiply all that apply)

Only one "cards left" tier applies; tiers never multiply together.

Winner Multipliers (based on the winner; applied to every loser; multiply all that apply)

Worked Example

Base stake 10. The winner's last play is a pair of 2s (♠2, ♥2); it is not a Grand Slam and does not include the 3 of clubs:

• Winner multiplier = 2 × 2 = ×4 (finishing with two 2s).

The winner scores 120 + 1,440 + 2,400 = +3,960 points for this hand; A, B and C score −120, −1,440 and −2,400 points respectively.

Special Rules and Rulings

• You can come back after passing: A player who has passed can still play when their turn comes again in the same round; they are not locked out until the round ends.
• The first play need not include the 3 of clubs: Holding the 3 of clubs only decides who plays first.
• We do not use the Ding Da (頂大) rule. Ding Da ("play your top card") is a common Taiwanese house rule against two players helping each other: when the next player is down to their last card, a player who leads or follows with a single card must play their highest single card (they may instead play a combination of two or more cards). Here you may play any legal hand, even when the next player has one card left.
• Monsters can beat singles and pairs: Four of a kind and straight flush are not bound by the "same number of cards" requirement.
• Four of a kind is always five cards: The four cards of the same rank must be played with one other card; you cannot play just the four.
• What counts as an "unplayed Monster": It is based on the cards left when the hand ends: it counts if they can form a four of a kind (four of a rank + one other card) or a straight flush. If the remaining cards are exactly four of a rank with no fifth card to go with them, they do not form a four of a kind by definition, and this item does not apply.
• Scoring a Dragon: It counts as "finish with a Monster" ×2; if the 13 cards include the 3 of clubs, multiply by another ×2 for "finish with the 3 of clubs"; and since it always includes a 2, multiply by another ×2 for "finish with 2s". A Flush Dragon uses ×20 in place of the ×2 for finishing with a Monster, with everything else multiplied as usual.
• What counts as a Grand Slam: The starting player must win, and the other three must not have played any cards from start to finish.
• A flush is not a combination: Five cards of the same suit that are not consecutive cannot be played.

Rules source: Douque platform Big Two specification. For the two points where the specification contradicts itself (the Ding Da rule and the pass restriction), see "Special Rules and Rulings" above.