If you play Chinese poker online, there are a few hints you may find helpful as you surf the Web. As with any game from blackjack to roulette, there are house rules that vary from one online casino to the next when it comes to Chinese poker. Most of these are relevant only in the scoring department, but are worth noting nonetheless.
In some internet casinos you can opt to surrender if your hand is weak. This means you forgo the final showdown against the other players and simply pay out a set number of chips--usually three--to each of the other contestants. In "western" scoring systems, winners are granted an additional bonus point for victories as well as point deductions for losses. Hence, a two-of-three triumph carries two points in all, two for the victories, minus one for the loss, plus one more for the bonus.
Other Scoring Options To Consider When You Play Chinese Poker Online
Some casinos also reward specialty hands called "clean sweep" hands. The most uncommon (but highest-paying) of these is the dragon, in which each ranking is represented in the 13-card hand. If you're lucky enough to land a dragon it amounts to 13 additional points from each of the other players in the game. As you might have guessed, this rarely happens when you play Chinese poker online or in a live casino.
More common are the "six pair," "three straights," and "three flushes," each of which comes with three additional bonus points. The names are fairly apt in describing the makeup of each of these clean sweeps, so there's no need to break them down one by one. If you fail to declare your clean sweep, no matter what type you have, you miss your chance to collect valuable bonus points and can't go back and do so later.