Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC): Hand-Building Strategy and Scoring

Open Face Chinese poker is a Chinese poker variant where your first five cards arrive at the same time, and the next 8 are issued one at a time. This sequential card dealing increases the chances of fouling in OFC.

Most players like OFC because you get more royalty points for setting strong legal hands. For example, you can earn up to 7 bonus points and see all your cards at once for having a pair of Queens or better in the front.

This guide will show you open face Chinese poker rules, how it differs from standard Chinese poker, and specific strategies for earning more points.

What Is Open Face Chinese Poker?

Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) is a Chinese poker variant in which you organize 13 cards into three hands (front, middle, and back).

Unlike Classic Chinese poker, the cards don’t arrive at the same time. You first receive 5 cards at once. Then you start getting one card at a time until all 13 cards are complete.

You must place your cards face up into any of the three hands once you get them, and you cannot change their position once set.

Since each player gets 13 cards, a maximum of 4 players can play this game. But 2 or 3 players often play it.

The game originated in Finland in the mid-2000s and spread to Russia a few years later. It was not until 2012 that it reached the shores of America.

Many recreational players love it because there is no betting or poker bluffing involved. You can easily pick it up once you master basic poker rules and card placement.

✅ Popular Open Face Chinese Poker Formats

Standard OFC has several variations that use different setups. Some of the most popular OFC offshoots are:

➡️ Pineapple Open Face Chinese Poker

In Pineapple OFC, you get three cards at once instead of one after the five initial cards. You must set two of the cards immediately and discard the last one face down.

Since you see 17 total cards to build your 13-card hand, you can play a lot more aggressively. For instance, you can split a starting low pair like 4♠️ 4❤️early to hunt for huge back-row hands because your hidden discards give you critical information your opponents can’t see.

Pineapple OFC also uses the progressive fantasyland model. Hitting a legal top row of Queen❤️ Queen♣️, King♠️ King♦️rewards you with 14, 15, or more cards on the next deal.

I love Pineapple OFC when I want a fast game that allows me to easily build monster hands like Full Houses, and tracking clean outs gives you a clear edge.

➡️ Double Deck Open Face Chinese Poker

Double Deck OFC allows up to six people to play by mixing two full decks together. This format completely changes your card and the poker odds.

Tracking your opponents’ live cards gets trickier, but hitting your own flushes is much easier since there are 26 cards of each suit.

It also introduces five-of-a-kind, like holding five Aces: Ace♠️ Ace❤️ Ace♦️ Ace♣️ Ace♠️. This is now the absolute best hand in the game, and it easily beats a Royal Flush.

Hitting a Pair of Queens on top to trigger Fantasyland is much easier with two decks, but you have to watch out since the risk of getting swept by a giant five-of-a-kind in the back row also rises.

Open Face Chinese Poker Hand Order

OFC uses the same poker hand ranking and three-hand structure as Classic Chinese Poker. This means the back must be stronger than the middle, which must be stronger than the front.

The major difference is that you must build your hand card by card without seeing the full picture.

How Open Face Chinese Poker Is Dealt

The following are steps to set up and start playing open face Chinese poker at home:

1️⃣ Dealer Appointment

The first step in playing open face Chinese poker is choosing a dealer. This person shuffles and distributes the cards. In OFC, cards are distributed in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.

2️⃣ Initial Five Cards

The croupier deals five cards (face down) at once to the player to his left. The player turns the cards up and sets them into any row immediately. After this, the other players also get five cards each, which they must set as soon as they receive them.

3️⃣ The Next 8 Cards

Next, everyone at the table will get one card at a time over 8 rounds until all 13 cards are complete. You must set the card as soon as you receive it.

4️⃣ Hand Comparison

After setting all hands, players take turns comparing their hands with their opponents’ in a row-by-row format. The hand comparison takes place one at a time.

Note that you actually play for points, not chips, in OFC. You will get 1 point for every row you win and vice versa. And you can also score bonus points for winning all three hands against an opponent.

Key Rulings of Open Face Chinese Poker

There are many other rules of OFC poker you must know before you start playing. These include:

✅ Game Variant

The first thing you must ask before sitting down is about the game variants. OFC poker can be classic, double-deck, pineapple poker, etc. Knowing the game variants gives you an idea of the number of cards to expect, how to set your hands, and the number of opponents you’ll play with.

✅ Scoring Model and Scoop Bonuses

Just like Chinese poker, most OFC poker sites and home games use the 1-6 scoring system. You’ll get 1 point for every row you win and vice versa. Winning all three hands (scoop) comes with an extra 3 bonus points, taking your total to 6 points. 

✅ Fouling Penalty

Fouling occurs when you mis-set your hand order. For example, you place straight in the middle and trips in the back. In OFC, fouling attracts a penalty that varies by the format you’re playing.

• Zero to frame Penalty: This system is most common in OFC poker tournaments. Here, you simply lose all points and royalty bonuses for the round when you foul.
• The Key OFC-specific Penalty: This is peculiar to home games with a 1-6 scoring system. You don’t only forfeit all your royalties but also lose 6 points to everyone at the table.

✅ Fantasyland Condition

Fantasyland is a special reward for having a pair of Queens (Q-Q-X) or better in the front hand.

In fantasyland, you’ll receive 14 or more cards (face down) at the same time, from which you’ll set 13 cards and discard the rest. The other players continue the game in the standard fashion, and you’ll only reveal your card after setting their hands.

In progressive OFC, you can get up to 17 cards in fantasyland depending on the strength of your top hand, as seen below:

➡️ OFC Poker Fantasyland Rewards

The condition for staying in fantasyland in the next round is even tougher. You must have either:

• Trips in the front
• Full House in the middle
• Four of a kind in the back

✅ Royalty Bonus

Royalty bonuses are extra points for having strong hands without fouling. OFC poker offers one of the highest royalty bonuses among classic Chinese poker offshoots.

The royal hands in OFC and their bonuses include:

➡️ OFC Royalties: Front Row (Top Hand) Royalties

You must have a pair of 6 to three Aces to qualify for a bonus in front. In addition, you also get fantasyland rewards for having a pair of queens better.

➡️ OFC Royalties: Back and Middle Rows

The middle row generates the highest bonus points. Aim for a strong middle hand as long as it doesn’t threaten the back.

How Scoring Works in Open Face Chinese Poker

Points are calculated in OFC by comparing each row of your hands to your opponents’, i.e., front vs front, middle vs middle, and back vs back. Everyone at the table takes turns comparing the hands until all points are settled.

Let’s look at an example from the 3-player live game session between Ross, Elga, and me to show you how scoring works in OFC. Pay attention to how front-row royalties and Fantasyland qualification change the math in OFC — mechanics you won’t see in Classic Chinese Poker.

After all cards were dealt, the final setup looked like this:

✅ The Final Showdown Grids

To calculate the payouts, we compared our hands on a row-by-row basis, awarding extra points for royalties across all rows and naturals.

Below is the final matchup result and payout:

Despite losing the base game to Elga, I still won the round thanks to a 7-point royalty bonus from my Q-Q front row hand. It also easily qualified me for fantasyland in the next round, where I saw 14 cards at the same time, giving me a better edge over Elga and Ross.

Open Face Chinese Poker Strategy

OFC poker doesn’t involve as many tricks as 5-Card Omaha Poker, 7-card Stud Poker, and other typical poker formats. You can win 50% of the session just by setting your hands legally.

Some of the best tips for setting strong and legal hands in OFC poker include:

💡 The Irreversibility Principle

In open face Chinese poker, you must always keep in mind that your decisions are permanent.

Before placing your card, ensure you can escape fouling if you don’t get any strong cards again. This keeps you from setting a front or middle hand that threatens the back.

💡 Take Advantage of Button Position

When you’re on the button, you must know what to do with it. Some of the ways I leverage button poker position include: 

Credit: 888Sport

➡️ Counting Number of Outs

The button position gives me complete information on other players’ hands. I take advantage of this information to determine when it’s safe to go after a straight or flush. If I’m trying to build a hand and see that opponents don’t have my outs yet, I chase confidently knowing the draw is still alive.

For example, one time I was on my tenth card sitting on four to an Ace-high flush in the back row with A♠️ K♠️ 9♠️ 2♠️. To score a 4-point royalty, I needed one more spade over my final three draws. Since I was acting last, I scanned the table before making my move. I noticed Ross had the 7♠️ and 4♠️ on his grid, while Elga had the Q♠️ and J♠️ locked in her middle row.

Seeing those four spades dead on their boards completely changed the poker maths and my strategy. Instead of blindly chasing a broken draw and risking a massive foul penalty, acting last gave me the exact leverage I needed to shift gears. I abandoned the flush draw right there, paired my King♠️ with a King♦️ on the next turn, and safely locked in a legal two-pair to protect my bankroll.

➡️ Managing Fouling Properly

The button position gives me info on opponents with an illegal setup or those on the verge of fouling. When I spot a fouled opponent, I abandon risky moves and focus on setting legal hands to collect 6 points if we’re using the 1-6 scoring system.

For instance, in a home game with Ross and Elga, I was on my 9th card on the button when I noticed Ross had accidentally locked in a Three-of-a-Kind in his middle row while only holding a Two-Pair in his back row. His hand was completely fouled.

Since he was automatically dead for the round and forced to pay everyone 6 points, I immediately stopped chasing a risky straight flush in my own back row. I pivoted to safety, set my high cards away legally, and focused entirely on keeping my grid secure to lock in the easy payday.

➡️ Neutralizing Fantasyland Advantage

Acting on the button helps me catch opponents building fantasyland (Q-Q or better in the front) early. In response, I try to build a stronger fantasyland or other royalties to neutralize their advantage.

During a session last month, Elga used her early turns to place Q❤️ and Q♣️ directly into her front row, signaling an obvious Fantasyland push. Seeing this play out before it was my turn to act allowed me to change my entire game plan.

Instead of burying my high pairs in the back row to play a standard defensive game, I used the button leverage to play aggressively. I pushed my own King♠️ and King♦️ directly to the front row on my next draws, successfully punching my own ticket to Fantasyland alongside her and neutralizing the massive positional edge she was trying to steal.

💡 Use Visible Information

Because everyone builds their hand card by card in OFC, the board acts as a live map that rewrites your odds with every single turn. You must monitor the board every time to avoid missing key information.

During a live three-way session, I was sitting on a wrap straight draw in the middle row with Jack♣️ 10❤️ 9♦️ 8♣️. I needed either a Queen or a 7 to complete it. Right before my turn to act, Elga pulled a Queen♦️ for her back row, and Ross immediately followed by placing a 7♣️ in his front row. In a single round of dealing, two of my absolute best outs vanished right in front of me.

Thanks to the sequential layout, I didn’t have to guess. I saw the draw die in real time, stopped chasing the straight, and immediately pivoted to a safe two-pair configuration to lock down a legal finish.

💡 Foul Risk Management

The sequential dealing means your early mistakes trap you in OFC. When the deck goes cold on your 8th or 9th card, you have to be willing to intentionally break a prospective big hand to save your entire grid from collapsing.

Front: K♠️ (High card)

Middle: 9♦️ 9♣️ 5❤️ 4♦️ (Chasing a dead draw)

Back: 7❤️ 7♣️ 2♣️ (Stuck on a low pair)

Take a live session I played recently. By the 9th card, I was trapped by the deck. I had a weak Pair of 7s (7❤️ 7♣️ 2♣️) in my back row, and a Pair of 9s (9♦️ 9♣️ 5❤️ 4♦️) in the middle. On my 10th turn, I drew the 9♠️.

Insert that card into the middle, and I hit Trips. It looks great on paper, but because a 52-card sequential game locks your rows in real-time, hitting those Trips in the middle would instantly foul my entire hand since it beats a simple Pair of 7s in the back.

Instead of gambling on hitting a miracle Full House in the back row over my final three cards, I hit the panic button. I took that 9♠️ and threw it directly into my front row as a high card. It completely killed my middle row strength, but it safely preserved my legal alignment. I lost a few points on the middle comparison, but taking that tactical escape route saved me from an automatic -6 point foul penalty to every player at the table.

Expert Opinion

George Williams

Senior Editor / Betting & Casino Expert

If you want to earn more bonus points, you must pay attention to the middle hand. You also stand a chance to reap higher bonuses in the middle. For example, three 2s in the middle fetch you 4 bonus points while a straight in back gives you only 2 points.

Open Face Chinese Poker Bankroll Management

OFC poker is a very volatile game, and you need solid bankroll management strategies to survive the downswing. Some of the other tips I use to manage my funds in OFC include: 

✅ Set Stop Loss for Fantasyland

You’re more likely to lose to an opponent who sees 14 to 16 cards. And this loss can quickly cut into your profits if they stay in fantasyland back-to-back.

If an opponent hits fantasyland 3-4x in a row and you’ve lost like 40% of your bankroll, you should quit the game to limit your losses moving forward.

✅ Chase Royalties During Downswings

In Open Face Chinese poker, you can still earn royalty points despite losing all the hands.

If you find yourself getting scooped consistently, try to set a royal hand in the back or middle to win more bonus points and recover part of your losses.

Common Mistakes in Open Face Chinese Poker

After playing several OFC poker rounds, I have noticed some common poker mistakes beginners make time and again. I’ve highlighted how I fix them in my game to help you improve your result:

❌ Ignoring Opponent Cards Entirely

Many newbies ignore opponents’ cards and end up missing out on critical information. I always pay attention to the board to keep up with opponents and know when to shift my strategy.

For instance, during a session, Ross set his initial five cards aggressively with Ace❤️King❤️Queen❤️ in the back and Ace♣️King♣️ in the middle, to get an early scoop.

Realizing this, I immediately abandoned my high-variance plays and went into full defensive mode. When I caught a Jack♦️and a Jack♠️ on my next cards, I kept them together to lock up a solid Pair of Jacks in the middle row instead of splitting them.

Because I actively tracked his board, I built a solid legal grid that blocked his scoop when he hit his flush draw. This reduced losses to just 1 point instead of a 6-point sweep.

❌ Setting All 5 Starting Cards Without Planning for the Next 8

Another common mistake beginners make is playing their first 5 cards without a plan for the next 8. This increases the chances of fouling and prevents them from making most of their cards.

Before setting my initial 5 cards, I plan the hands I want to build out and consider if these hands are possible. 

For example, if I have three Kings in my first 5 cards, I send the trips to the back immediately to build four of a kind or a full house. This makes it easy for me to set strong hands in the middle and front without fouling.

Expert Opinion

Leo Coleman

Chief Editor / Gambling Specialist

Most beginners' errors come from trying to win a row. This approach often leads to building one strong and royal row on a shaky back or front. Your goal in OFC poker must be to build legal hands across all rows and collect royalty points.

Conclusion

OFC is a Chinese poker game with a little twist: you will set your hand card by card, which increases your chance of fouling.

Having played many rounds of OFC, my personal approach for setting strong and legal hands is:

• Placing my first five cards such that I don’t foul, even if my next cards are bad. 
• Setting the back row first
• Putting strong cards in my first 5 cards in the back.
• Keeping an eye on the opponents’ board, etc

Up next, start practicing OFC poker for free on our poker training apps. After perfecting the hand setting, try real games at our recommended casino sites to get a chance at winning money.

When you do, play with the smallest stakes, use a stop-loss, and follow our bankroll management tips to keep yourself in the game longer.

FAQs

What Is Open Face Chinese Poker?

Open Face Chinese poker (OFC) is a poker game where you arrange 13 cards into 3 hands. After the initial 5 cards, which come together, the remaining cards arrive one at a time, and you set them immediately.

How Does Fantasyland Work in Open Face Chinese Poker?

In fantasyland, you get 14-17 cards at the same time. You need a pair of queens or better to reach it.

What Is the Difference Between Standard Open Face Chinese Poker and Pineapple OFC?

In standard Open Chinese poker, your last 8 cards arrive one at a time. In Pineapple OFC, you’ll get 3 cards at once, and discard 1 until all cards are complete.

How Is Open Face Chinese Poker Different From Standard Chinese Poker?

In Classic Chinese poker, your cards arrive at once, while in Open Face Chinese poker, you get your cards one at a time.

Is Open Face Chinese Poker Harder to Play Than Classic Chinese Poker?

Yes, Open Face Chinese poker is more challenging than classic Chinese poker since you receive your cards one at a time.

What Does It Mean to Foul in Open Face Chinese Poker?

A foul occurs in OFC poker when you mis-set your hand order. For example, if you place a straight in the middle and two pairs at the back.

Can You Move Cards Once Placed in Open Face Chinese Poker?

No. Card placement is permanent in open face Chinese poker.

How Many Players Can Play Open Face Chinese Poker?

OFC can accommodate up to 4 players. But it’s often played by 2 or 3 players.