Chinese Poker Strategy Guide

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Online poker is a bit like this jock guy who peaked in high school around 2010. He used to be handsome, gigantic and ripped to the bone, he could throw a mean ball and he used to get all the girls. Unfortunately, he never got to play for an A-list team, now he's pushing thirty, he's starting to develop a beer belly and while he can still throw that mean ball he's in desperate need of something that would reinvigorate him.

Online poker environment is far more difficult to thrive in and far less popular than it used to be. The idea of playing cards for a living is now no more romantic than the idea of becoming an esports player or creating a successful startup company. Poker lost a bit of its cultural significance and it isn't as attractive for the potential new players as it once was.

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However, it's not like there is a plethora of jobs that can offer similar freedom that poker can provide, or even hobbies that can result in a nice side-income. Online poker is far from being done, but it could sure use a nice pick-me=up and the emergence of Asian online poker rooms can be exactly what the doctor ordered.


Why Asia?

In case you've been living under a rock for the past year or two there's a clear new trend when it comes to managing western online poker rooms. PokerStars is the obvious example of a site that does everything in it's power to make itself less attractive to regs and more attractive to recreational players by cutting down on volume rewards, making bum hunting as difficult as possible, filming commercials with famous celebrities and coming up with new fast poker formats aimed at attracting the western clientele with ever decreasing attention spans.

Even if we consider another example of poker network that seems infinitely more reasonable and less revenue oriented in its changes like Microgaming decreasing the rake at micro stakes and allowing for unlimited screen name changes is supposed to have the same effect PokerStars is hoping for - increasing the number of new players and new deposits.

Asian market represents everything western poker so desperately seeks. A fresh batch of new players excited about gambling with lots of disposable income. Even though Chinese economy is slowing down it still managed to produce a large middle class that has time for leisure and money to spend. Given the fact that China is so insanely populous Asian poker market is no joke and might be the best thing that happened to poker since Chris Moneymaker's win at the WSOP Main Event in 2003.

And that's just China. Other Asian countries are also full of potential new players and on the whole that number is much larger than western poker rooms could ever dream of.


Gambling Tradition

'If you don’t gamble, you don’t know how lucky you are'. - Chinese Proverb

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In western countries, we're socialized to think that we're the masters of our own domain, that we can achieve anything as long as we work hard enough. We don't need luck or fate or God. Asian countries promote a vastly different narrative. Deep belief in luck and faith is at the very core of eastern culture.

People believe that their destiny is largely predetermined by the ancestors and therefore being lucky at a poker table is a sign of being blessed by the gods. Gambling is often a part of family gatherings, it's not uncommon for Korean families to play gambling games for real money during New Year's Holiday or Thanksgiving (Chuseok). Think about what would happen if you proposed a nice game of short handed 50NL to your parents and siblings after the next Christmas dinner.


Gambling is something that's far more socially acceptable in the Asian countries than it is in western culture. It also has a higher cultural significance. Sure we had Casino, Maverick, Rounders and countless other works of fiction that managed to appeal to some parts of our society (namely young men), but poker is generally frowned upon when presented as an alternative career or even a serious hobby.

The social aspect of gambling is much more pronounced in Asia than it is in Europe or USA. The deeply-rooted ideas of capitalism and individualism make it obvious for western players that in order to play the game of poker with any degree of seriousness you have to value EV over everything else.

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Everyone is in it for themselves and the archetype of a successful player is a lone wolf or a shark.

In Asia, a gambling game is as much about the result as it is about building the sense of kinship. Playing dice, poker or mahjong for money is not viewed as a problem by most because it's done in the social context with other people. That's why Asian poker rooms have the potential to create ecosystems that are far easier to sustain since money isn't the only motivator for the large percentage of the player population.


Lastly, if we look at the gambling addiction rates in Asia when compared to Europe it's clear that games of chance are far more prevalent in the eastern culture. The rate of gambling addiction in Europe varies between 0.5% to 3% depending on the country while in Japan it's 2 to 10 times higher at 5%.

It doesn't mean that you should be eager to take advantage of vulnerable people that you might meet playing on the Asian poker rooms, but it's yet another proof that poker in Asia is a big deal.

Getting Your Feet Wet - Conventional Asian Poker Sites

If you're convinced that Asian poker rooms might be something that's worth looking into here's a good news - you're just a few clicks away from setting up an account at All in Asia and getting access to the IDN Network that's full of players.


The experience will be largely the same as it would be if you decided to set up an account with PartyPoker, PokerStars or a Microgaming Network skin, with the only difference being the softer player pool. You'll even get a good old-fashioned 30% rakeback deal (paid every Monday) and you can deposit or withdraw money using most of the methods available to you on western sites.

This is a safe and familiar experience that has a lot of the benefits emerging Asian market can offer without feeling alien to western players.

More about All In Asia: The Star of an Asian Poker Boom you can read here.

Agent System and the Rise of Home Game Apps

Asian poker goes way deeper than simply setting up an account on a big, widely available poker room. We're all used to the idea of simply looking up something on the internet and having immediate access to it.

If you want to play poker on Unibet you just google Unibet (or an affiliate website like PokerVIP), a few clicks and one filled out form later you're a proud member of a Unibet player pool. In Asia, the process can be much more complicated. In many different eastern countries including China poker is technically illegal, there are no regulations or taxes, but due to the cultural significance of gambling, everyone is still playing games of chance.


Poker in China is sort of a gray area that's not very easy to get into especially for western players. Many Chinese poker rooms don't market themselves to western players and in order to play there, you need to get in contact with an agent.

Asian poker rooms and online gambling, in general, operates on a so-called 'agent system'. Agents act as both cashiers and gatekeepers. They are the people who decide if you can play on a certain poker room and all of the money transactions are handled through them. For example, you can make a request for an agent to deposit 500$ in your name on certain account to play poker with (same goes for sports betting etc.).

Chinese Poker Strategy Guide
Often times this can be done on a credit system and you don't necessarily have to supply the money at the moment of the transaction.

Finding an Asian poker room might not be the hardest thing in the world but just because you can find the site it doesn't mean that you can get in on the action. As we already mention many Asian poker rooms don't market themselves to the English speaking audience and a good agent can be instrumental in breaking both the language and the cultural barrier.

But wait, there's more! The fact that social aspect of gambling is so important in Asia combined with the lack of regulations resulted in the raise of home game apps. For the uninitiated apps like 'PP Poker' look like little mobile play money home games but in reality, many home game hosts assign a value to the play money chips which result in the creation of small poker rooms.


Some apps allow for the existence of rake and therefore running a successful poker club through the app can be very profitable for the host bringing in thousands of dollars in profit a day. Imagine how much value gaining access to such a poker room would represent to a solid western regular.

Unfortunately, the process isn't very straightforward, and it boils down to befriending the club's owner or finding an agent that will enable you to become a member of a certain home game app. This is obviously a lot more complicated than what most of us are used to and few western players will even bother trying to get access to those games which makes them all the more attractive to the people who will.

Who knows, maybe we're going back to the old days when gaining access to good games was a hard and risky process with more impact on one's winnings than the mastery of betting patterns?



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Chinese Festivals and Events

Chinese New Year games include traditional Chinese strategy and gambling games like Majiang and Chinese Poker, which can be played in groups, as well as other year-round popular games that can be enjoyed for longer in the 7-day+ Spring Festival holiday free time.

The Chinese culture has always been fond of games and group activities, and almost no family or group gathering will be complete without a little added fun. This is especially evident during the Chinese New Year celebrations. As many family members normally stay together for a few days under one roof (or even in the same room), one of the most common ways to pass the time and feel the festivity, is to play Chinese New Year games.

1. Majiang (Mah Jong)

The most popular Chinese New Year game, without a doubt, is Majiang (Mah Jong).

The traditional Chinese game is played using tiles, and resembles the western game 'Rummy'. The game is usually played in groups of 4, and involves quite complex strategic and mathematic abilities, and is astounding to see Chinese people of all ages and generations play it quickly and effortlessly with a unique sleight of hand.

Many elderly homes are likely to have a Majiang table, or even dedicate a whole room to it, as it may be one of their most beloved leisure activities, and is not strictly a Spring Festival game, but a year-long hobby. Majiang is not an easy game to learn, and besides the quite complex strategy needed to play well, a pretty good understanding of Chinese characters will also be required as some tiles are labelled with them.

See more on (Sichuan) Majiang.

2. Dou Dizhu (Chinese Poker)

The second most popular game, that surely almost any Chinese can play, is known as Dou Dizhu, or 'Fight the Landlord' in English, and is a card game that in the modern day is commonly played with standard poker-card decks.

The fast-paced game is often referred to as the 'Chinese poker', and is usually played in groups of three, and sometimes more. This game also has dozens of rule variations and playing styles depending on region. It is often said that the game is 'easy to learn but hard to master', and this may be a huge understatement, as the game requires extraordinary strategy just to even get through a few rounds.

As the game is very fast-paced, it creates an exciting, loud, and tense atmosphere, making it an ideal Chinese New Year game!

3. Chinese 'Long Cards'

A rummy-like game played with long cards with Chinese number characters on them is frequently played in rural areas in the south of China.

4. Gambling

It is important to note that although the games mentioned above are essentially 'gambling games', similar in style to poker, gambling is prohibited in the majority of Mainland China.

Of course, if playing at home with friends or family, using cash money or giving hongbao (red envelopes with money in) electronically using smartphones will normally be involved in the game without any issues. If playing such games outside, or in public 'game-room' settings, it is advised to exercise caution and avoid playing with money.

Having said that, culturally speaking; gambling has been loved by Chinese people for centuries and is why many traditional Chinese games are designed around the practice.

For people who really love gambling, both Hong Kong and Macau, the 'gambling capital' of Asia, serve as ideal places to go and let loose, and win (or lose) some cash! It just so happens that the Chinese New Year is also the time of Hong Kong's horse-racing 'Chinese New Year Cup', the most famous and popular event of the horse-racing season in Hong Kong.

5. Chinese Chess

Chinese chess is played a lot at Chinese New Year... as always among the usual partakers (particularly retired men).

6. Fortune-Telling (through games)

Chinese tradition has always included many activities related to fortune-telling and other superstitious practices, and this also takes form in card-reading.

Some Chinese New Year games involving cards, are meant and designed to predict the players' fortune in the coming year. Particularly during the Spring Festival, it is common for parents or grand parents to 'read' the fortunes of their children using playing cards, and there are many different ways in which cards can be arranged in order to 'predict' good or bad fortune in particular months of the new year.

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In more religious families, these fortune-tellings could even play a role in deciding the best times to do certain things throughout the year, such as traveling, moving house, changing job, or buying a car.

Check how to read palm lines

7. 'Hunting' for Money

In the last decade or so, a new Spring Festival 'game' has been occupying many people, particularly children and young adults, throughout the holiday...

As customary during the Chinese New Year, people often give hongbao, or 'red packets' with money, to friends and family. In the modern age of technology, these red packets can be easily sent to one another through messaging applications on smartphones (mostly WeChat).

Chinese Poker Strategy Guide

As these messaging apps usually would have various 'group chats' with many people inside, if someone were to send a 'red packet' (of an unknown amount prior to opening) to the group, then all members have a chance to open the packet, and be given a random share of the total sum that was sent.

As most people would probably have several different group chats on their phone (for work, family, friends, etc.), it is likely to see many red packets being sent at random throughout the week. Normally, the first few people to open these, would get a bigger amount, so being quick to open is key. Because of this, it is common to see people quickly racing to check their phones at the sound of a message-alert, to get as many Hongbao's as possible, and beat their family and friends to the biggest prize!

8. Strategy Games

For generations, various types of card and tile games have been a beloved pastime for Chinese people, and until today remain a main occupying activity for many elders. It is very common to see older people sitting in groups around city parks or squares and playing complex strategy card-games.

Younger generations also participate in the occasional 'game-night', and it is easy to find many game-rooms around cities where people of all ages spend an evening playing card games.

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Chinese New Year is perhaps the one time each year when everyone puts their skills to the test, and the younger generations typically try to beat the elders who are generally very proficient at such games due to their high frequency of playing.

9. Youngsters' Games

Youngsters (mostly boys) off school play computer games (or Internet gaming) and their own versions of cards (Pokemon etc.) or stone games like 'five in a row'... and the more athletic ones play basketball etc., but they're hardly traditional CNY games. Skipping games and cat's cradle are traditional games that are more popular among girls in China.

10. Lantern Riddles for Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival on Chineses New Year day 15 is traditionally the last day of Spring Festival, though nowadays most people return to work a week before.

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A popular game during this festival when visiting a place is solving riddles affixed to brightly colored (mostly red) lanterns that are hung up everywhere in abundance.