Thai Card Games

[PigDogg]

What kind of card games do the Thais play?

52 card standard deck?

[dummy_plug]

On prior trips, Eye/JJ and Jane/Cream (Em) showed me the same card game that I am assuming is prevalent among Thais. I'm not going to even begin to describe it but I can't think of a close Western equivalent. All I remember is that I was so bad at it that Cream said I couldn't play any more!

[olekunde]

they're into any game farang lose (their money).

[jackc]

Lately, or at least with me, the thais have been playing the card game called "chor tai tee" which uses a combination of poker rules where the objective is to finish putting down your 13 cards first. Played by 4 players with 13 cards each.

[PigDogg]

(jackc @ May 06 2006,22:02) Lately, or at least with me, the thais have been playing the card game called "chor tai tee" which uses a combination of poker rules where the objective is to finish putting down your 13 cards first. Played by 4 players with 13 cards each.  

So it's a standard 52 card deck then? Is there a website that describes the rules?

[dummy_plug]

(jackc @ May 06 2006,21:02) Lately, or at least with me, the thais have been playing the card game called "chor tai tee" which uses a combination of poker rules where the objective is to finish putting down your 13 cards first. Played by 4 players with 13 cards each.  

This sounds suspiciously familiar to a Chinese game with a very similar name (I don't know how to romanize it), but phonetically, the sound of the name is virtually identical. In English, the game's name is translated as 'Big Two'. The rules you describe seem to match somewhat. It has a variant of poker rules requiring players to form pairs, straights, full houses, etc...

[jackc]

It is of chinese origin I think, and the name of the game is the same. The "2s" in the deck are the "joker/strongest" hand you can play. Roughly translated, the game is called "Whacking the big twos". It should be fairly easy to cotton on to, if you are familiar with poker. Great for drinking games too. Sorry, don't know of any website for it.

[Guest]

I also know it as "chinese poker"

I'll attempt to describe the rule:

Object of the game is to get rid of all you cards, the first one to do so wins.

2 is the highest, unless jokers are played (rules differ here, some use it some don't) So lets say jokers are play the order of highest to lowest is: joker, 2, ace, king, queen, jack, 10 ->3. Suits are from spades, hearts, club, diamond, so a king of club is higher than a kind of diamond.

The person who starts a "round" can choose to put down a single, pair, 3 of a kind (some people don't allow putting 3 of a kind, some do), or 5 card (straights, flush, fullhouse, 4 of a kind, or royal flush)

If the starter of the round choose to put down a single card, you must put down a higher single, if he choose to put pair, then that round is pairs only. Lets say the starter puts down a small straight (lets say 3,4,5,6,7), you can put down a higher five card hand of any kind, such as a flush, or full house, but not a pair or single, since the round started off with 5 card.

The round ends when no one has anything higher to put down or choose not to do so. This is call a "pass". Lets say someone puts down a single king of club, the only single card I have is 2 of spade, but I don't want to use it, so I pass. If everyone else passes, then the person who put the king of club can start a new round and and therfore has a choice of what to put down again, meaning singles, pairs, or 5 card. But lets say I put down the 2 of spade, which is the highest in most case unless jokers are played, and everyone else passes, then I won the round and I can choose what to put down for the next round.

You keep on playing as many rounds as necessary till someone gets rid of all their card, and therefore wins.

Its a really easy game to pick up, play several rounds and you'll instantly get the rule of the game.

Hints on winning a game:
Taking control of each round to start the next round is the key to the game. So you must recognize which card in your hand has the potential to take control of a round and use it strategicly to your advantage. Don't just throw out cards cause you can. Use the cards you know that everyone will pass on to get rid of your low cards such as 3 of diamond, since its the lowest card possible, there is no way to put it out in the middle of a round. You can only get rid of low cards by taking control of a round and start the next round with it.

Usually you want to put 5 card hands together, cause you can put one 5 card hand down, instead of putting 5 individual cards 5 different times. So if you have 3,4,5,6,7 of diamonds, use it as a straight, if you try to put these down individually you prolly have to take control of 3 rounds, to put them down since they so low and most likey someone will start a round with something higher. But if you take control of a round and let it go as a small straight, you just got rid of 5 very shitty card in one turn. So lets say if someone puts down a single 4 of spade, you don't want to put down the 5 of diamond, cause now you broke your small straight have a 3,4,6,7 of diamond left that can only be put down individually and they are hard to get rid of. So save it as a five card hand so you only need to take control of one round to put it down as straight instead of 3-5 times to put it down as singles.

But this is not always the case. Lets say you have the 2 of spade, heart, clubs and Ace of spades and heart. You don't want to play them as a full house. Cause these cards can be use to take control of a round. As singles they can take control of a round 5 sepreate times instead of a medium high full house. So look at your hand and see what low cards you have and have an idea of how many times you need to take control of rounds to get rid of them.

So lets say your hand is all medium high cards (i.e. all tens and above), you prolly dont' need to take control of any round, since most rounds start with a low card a player want to get rid of. So most likey you can get rid of those cards in the middle of a round.

I hope that tutorial is not too confusing

[jackc]

There you go, chanish has described it to the tee. The Thai LBs love playing this, but they still suck at the game, so once you get the hang of it, you can beat them at their own game. It's all about strategy.