You’ll receive five cards to start with and then one card at a time until each player has a 13-card hand consisting of 3 cards in the front hand, 5 cards in the middle hand, and 5 cards in the back hand. The middle and back can make the best five-card poker hand while the front hand can only make the best three-card hand.

1) History of OFCP 

  • Open-face Chinese poker, OFCP, commonly known as Open Face Chinese or OFC, is a variant of Chinese poker where players receive five cards to start and then one card at a time until each player has a 13-card hand legal or not.
  • China can be found at the root of all poker, as games bearing a resemblance to Chinese poker were being played with patterned tiles 1,000 years ago.
  • The game originated in Finland during the mid-2000s and spread to Russia a few years later. Alex Kravhenko is widely regarded as the player who brought this game to the Russian poker community.
  • The games include ‘Pai Gow,’ were the ancestors of Chinese poker, and were being played long before similar games spread to Europe.
  • 2012 saw the game break onto the US poker scene and quickly gather a following.
  • In terms of live OFC, the 2013 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo saw the addition of an OFC side event, with a 2,150 Euro buy in and an option for re-entry.
  • In September 2014, APT introduced for the first time the OFC Pineapple in a major Asian poker event.  Jae Kyung Sim aka Simba will be remembered as the first winner of an OFC trophy in Asia.
  • Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) is unusual in a sense, being a new variant of poker that has become widespread and popular.
  • The game is certainly becoming more popular, with private games being common, and most APT festivals now include an OFC side event.

2) How to play on app 

3) Fantasy Land & Scoop in OFC Poker

FANTASY LAND:

  • This is simple: If you make a qualifying hand with QQX or better on top, then your next hand will be “in Fantasyland.
  • Fantasyland is treated as a bonus round of OFC. It’s common for the button not to move, and a player is not allowed to quit or get dealt out of the hand during his opponent’s Fantasyland round.
  • The player in Fantasyland has a big advantage because he or she is dealt all 13 cards at once, instead of starting five and then one at a time. The player then sets the cards to face down in turn and then waits for his opponents to play their hands according to standard OFC rules.
  • Once all players are finished setting, the Fantasyland hand is revealed and scored like a regular OFC hand. Thus, a player in Fantasyland, after rounds and rounds of setting his hand imperfectly because he doesn’t know what’s coming, is able to set his hand perfectly.
  • A player in Fantasyland gets to “stay in Fantasyland” if he makes quads or better on the bottom, a full house or better in the middle, or three-of-a-kind on top. The full list of hands qualifying to stay in Fantasyland are below:

SCOOP:

    • The most common OFC scoring bonus is the “scoop bonus.” If you beat an opponent's top, middle, and bottom, you win an additional three points. This is sometimes referred to as the “1-6” scoring system. If you beat your opponent two out of three rows, you win one point overall. If you scoop him, it’s worth six points overall.
    • Since a scoop is worth 6 points and winning 2 out of 3 only nets you 1 point, then the value of a scoop over a simple win is 5 points, more than the bonus for making a flush royalty (4 points).
    • Many times, there is nothing you can do, and winning 2 out of 3 is the best you can do, but there are situations where you can take on a little more risk and give yourself a chance at scooping.

4) OFCP Rules

  • Most Open Face Chinese poker games consist of 2-4 players with the standard game online consisting of 3-handed tables
  • A dealer button is used for the sake of determining the order of action and moves after each hand.
  • The exception is a hand where one player is in "Fantasyland." When a player is in Fantasyland the button freezes until all players are playing standard OFC.
  • Starting with the player to the left of the button, each player is initially dealt five cards which he or she must set.
  • The player to the left of the button then sets his five cards to face up into whichever row(s) he wishes. This continues until the player on the button has acted.
  • Please note that once you have set your hand and your turn is concluded, you cannot change your hand.
  • After the first five cards are dealt, another card is then dealt to each player.
  • Starting with the player to the left of the button, that card is placed and the action continues to the button player. This continues until each player has placed all 13 cards.
  • Once the last card is placed players make comparisons and score their hands.

5) Royalties/Bonuses in OFCP

6) How/Why OFC is more exciting than other poker variants?

  • OFC poker rules are close to Chinese poker rules but one big difference separates these two poker games from each other and affects the gameplay significantly.
  • In OFC poker, you don’t see all your cards in the beginning but build your three OFC hands by drawing 1 card (or 3 cards in OFC pineapple), from the deck at the ti
  • At the start of the OFC poker round, each player is dealt 5 cards, and after the rest 8 cards are drawn from the deck until the total of thirteen cards are facing up on the table in three rows - top row (3 cards), mid row (5 cards) and bottom row (5 cards)
  • Not knowing your cards and building your hands requires skill and is very exciting. These elements of randomness and OFC strategy make this poker variant so fun to play.
  • Then there are the special rules you can only find in OFC poker such as Fantasyland and OFC Pineapple max. 3-player rule. Fantasyland is based on drawn cards and hand results, which is not part of the normal variant since no cards are drawn from the deck

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