In Chinese poker you are dealt 13 cards that must be arranged into three poker hands, two hands of five cards and one hand of three cards. They are called the back hand, the middle hand, and the front hand. The back must be worth more than the middle, and the middle must be worth more than the front.

When everyone is ready the hands will be shown and compared to other corresponding hands. If your hand is better, you win one betting unit for each better hand, and lose one for every hand that is beat. Equal hands result in a tie, and no bets are exchanged.

Depending on how the rules are laid out, you can win more with certain card combinations, called royalties. If a player mis-sets his hand he must pay everyone still in the hand an amount equal to being scooped all three hands.