All Hands On Deck

Learn how to play a Chinese card game without knowing Chinese!

Without paper, there would be no cards, and since China is credited with the invention of paper, it should be of no surprise that the first appearance of card-playing took place in China in 969 AD. Shortly after the invention of paper, Emperor Muzong was said to have played “domino cards” with one of his concubines, but the deck they used consisted of 33 cards and was composed of four suits: coins, strings of coins, myriads of strings, and tens of myriads.

Over the centuries, playing cards caught on in other countries and eventually reached France, where the 52-card deck consisting of four suits – diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs – appeared during the 15th century. Nowadays, this is the standard deck used in a multitude of games in practically every country around the world.

In China, playing cards can be an important time for families to bond, and there exists a plethora of popular Chinese card games, many of which share similarities with Western ones but go by different names. Playing with Chinese friends is a great way to socialize, as well as develop your language ability.  

Dou Dizhu 斗地主

"Beat the Landlord"

In addition to having a gloriously satisfying name, this three- or four-player game, thought to have originated in Hubei, is an ideal introduction to Chinese card games, with a strong community of people playing online.

Objective: The landlord must try to get rid of his or her cards before the other players. The game described here is the three-player version, but for four players, simply deal out all the cards without jokers.

Rules: To play the game, both jokers must be included, with the red joker (大王) holding a higher value than the black joker (小王). The card with the next highest value is 2, then A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and finally 3. Suits are irrelevant in this game.

The landlord (also the dealer) shuffles the cards and then offers them to the player on their left to cut. The dealer then deals out all cards. Each player should have 18 cards.

How to play: The landlord begins the game by laying down a single card or any other legal combination (see next page). The order then moves counterclockwise around the circle, where the next player must either pass (not lay down a card) or put down a combination of the same number of cards with a higher value. There are two exceptions to this rule: A Rocket can beat any combination, and a Bomb can beat any combination except a higher Bomb or Rocket. The play continues around the circle until all players either cannot move or have passed. Once this happens, the cards already played are discarded and the player who played the last combination of cards can then begin again with any combination they like. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.

The combinations

Single card – One card of any suit or value

A pair – Two cards of the same value

Three of a kind – Three cards of the same value

Triplet with an attached pair – Any triplet with a pair added (like a Full House in poker), with the ranking determined by the triplet

Sequence of pairs – At least three pairs of consecutive ranks, from 3 up to ace (2s and jokers cannot be used)

Sequence of triplets – At least two triplets of consecutive ranks from 3 up to ace (triplets of 2s cannot be used)

Sequence – At least three cards of consecutive rank, from 3 up to ace (2s and jokers cannot be used)

Sequence of triplets with attached pairs – An extra pair is attached to each triplet and only the triplets have to be in sequence (triples of 2s cannot be included, but 2s or jokers can be attached)

Bomb – Four cards of the same rank (also known as Four of a Kind), a Bomb can beat everything except a Rocket, and a higher ranked Bomb can beat a lower ranked one

Rocket – A pair of jokers, the most valuable set of cards; beats any other combination

RANKS AND SUITS

Each region has its own variations, so if you’re playing against a Sichuan ren, be sure to watch out for different names! But here’s how they go in Beijing:

English name	Characters	Pinyin	English translation
Ace	尖儿	jīan’r	point
King	K	kei	“K”
Queen	圈儿	quān’r	circle
Jack	勾	gōu	hook
Joker	王	wáng	king
Red joker	大王	dà wáng	big king
Black joker	小王	xǐao wáng	little king
Hearts	红桃	hóng táo	red peach
Clubs	梅花	méi huā	plum flower
Spades	黑桃	hēi táo	black peach
Diamonds	方块	fāng kuài	square piece