Dou Di Zhu
Encyclopedia
Dou Di Zhu, is a card game
in the genre of shedding and gambling. It is one of the most popular card game
s played in China
.
Dou Di Zhu is described as easy to learn but hard to master requiring mathematical and strategic thinking as well as intended execution. Suits
are unnecessary in playing Dou Di Zhu. Players can easily play the game with a set of Dou Di Zhu playing card
s, without the suits printed on the cards. Currently, there are no cards manufactured specifically for Dou Di Zhu, despite its popularity. Less popular variations of the game do exist in China, such as four-player and five-player Dou Di Zhu played with two packs of cards.
during the Cultural Revolution
in China
reportedly authorized the peasants to violate the human rights of the landlords who were among the Five Black Categories
and Stinking Old Ninth
, whence the name Dou Di Zhu, . China's Generation Y, who are among one of the most enthusiastic player groups, has no personal experience
of the class struggle
. Nowadays, the name of the game carries no negative connotation
.
The game originated and was popularized in the Huangshan District
and Anhui
.
Dou Di Zhu's popularity spread to Shanghai
and Chengdu
, which are among the four directly controlled municipalities
.
of cards, including the two jokers
. The game starts with players bidding for the Landlord position. Those who lose the bid enter the game as the Peasant team competing against the Cop. The objective of the game is to be the first player to have no cards left.
All players first review and appraise their own cards without showing their cards to the other players. Then, players take turns to bid for the Cop position by telling the other players the risk stake they are willing to accept.
There are three kinds of risk stakes, 1, 2, and 3, with 1 being the lowest and 3 being the highest. Generally, the more confident a player is in the strength of one's cards, the higher the risk stakes one is willing to bid. In most of the online game rooms, the first bidder is chosen randomly by the system. In reality, players usually make up their own rules as to who gets to bid first.
A player may accept the prior player's bid by passing their turn to bid or one may try to outbid the prior player as long as the prior player did not bet 3 as the risk stake. In other words, 1 can be outbid by 2 or 3; 2 can only be outbid by 3; and 3 cannot be outbid.
The highest bidder takes the Cop position; and the remaining players enter the Bandit team competing against the Cop. The three leftover wild cards are revealed to all players before dealt to the Cop.
The Cop wins if he or she has no cards left. The Bandit team wins if either of the Bandits have no cards left.
, and Big Two
, often prejudice the rules.
, except there are more variations and not necessarily consisted of only five cards.
Since there are so many elements affecting score of the game in a round, it is hard to predict how big one will win or lose.
and Jiangsu
provinces, including Shanghai
. It uses a double deck
, including two red and two black jokers - 108 cards altogether. Each player takes 25 cards and 8 cards are left over for the Landlord, who plays alone from a hand of 33 cards against the other three players in partnership.
The combinations that can be played differ from those in the three-player game, listed above, as follows:
In 2006 another Dou Di Zhu online tournament held by www.vnet.cn, attracted 200,000 players to compete with each other.
In September 2007 YunNanHong held a traditional competition of Dou Di Zhu in Kunming
, China
, where over a hundred people competed for the first prize (source: yndaily.com).
Dou Di Zhu tournaments are held in Chinese cities every year, the winners not only receive high prize but also become popular experts in Dou Di Zhu.
. Thanks to the debut of Dou Di Zhu online, Dou Di Zhu has become more wide spread and is now a national game in China. The popularity of Doh Di Zhu has increased substantially, from 50,000 in December 2002 to 100,000 in 2004
and 17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while Dou Di Zhu leading the core place in 2005.
There are almost 1 million concurrent Dou Di Zhu players on the Tencent QQ
game platform alone.
It is more popular than other Chinese poker games like Chinese poker
and Big Two
.
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
in the genre of shedding and gambling. It is one of the most popular card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
s played in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Dou Di Zhu is described as easy to learn but hard to master requiring mathematical and strategic thinking as well as intended execution. Suits
Suit (cards)
In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
are unnecessary in playing Dou Di Zhu. Players can easily play the game with a set of Dou Di Zhu playing card
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
s, without the suits printed on the cards. Currently, there are no cards manufactured specifically for Dou Di Zhu, despite its popularity. Less popular variations of the game do exist in China, such as four-player and five-player Dou Di Zhu played with two packs of cards.
History
The class struggleClass struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
reportedly authorized the peasants to violate the human rights of the landlords who were among the Five Black Categories
Five Black Categories
The phrase Five Black Categories referred to the following five political identities during the Cultural Revolution period in the People's Republic of China:* Landlords * Rich farmers * Anti-revolutionists * Bad-influencers ["bad elements"]...
and Stinking Old Ninth
Stinking Old Ninth
Stinking Old Ninth is a Chinese dysphemism for intellectuals used at several points in history.*During the Yuan Dynasty the Mongol conquerors imposed ten "castes" of Chinese: Bureaucrats, officials, Buddhist monks, Taoist priests, physicians, workers, hunters, prostitutes, Confucian scholars and...
, whence the name Dou Di Zhu, . China's Generation Y, who are among one of the most enthusiastic player groups, has no personal experience
Personal experience
Personal experience of a human being is the moment-to-moment experience and sensory awareness of internal and external events.-History:An early belief of some philosophers of Ancient Greece was that the mind was like a recording device and simply kept somehow-objective records of what the senses...
of the class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
. Nowadays, the name of the game carries no negative connotation
Connotation
A connotation is a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word's or phrase's explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation....
.
The game originated and was popularized in the Huangshan District
Huangshan District
Huangshan District is a district of Huangshan City, Anhui province, People's Republic of China. It has s population of 160,000 and an area of . The government of Huangshan District is located in Jintai Town...
and Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
.
Dou Di Zhu's popularity spread to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
, which are among the four directly controlled municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
.
Object
Dou Di Zhu is played among three people with one packPlaying card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
of cards, including the two jokers
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...
. The game starts with players bidding for the Landlord position. Those who lose the bid enter the game as the Peasant team competing against the Cop. The objective of the game is to be the first player to have no cards left.
Game play
A shuffled pack of 54 cards is dealt to three players. Each player is dealt 17 cards each, with the last three leftover "kitty" cards detained on the playing desk exposed to all players.All players first review and appraise their own cards without showing their cards to the other players. Then, players take turns to bid for the Cop position by telling the other players the risk stake they are willing to accept.
There are three kinds of risk stakes, 1, 2, and 3, with 1 being the lowest and 3 being the highest. Generally, the more confident a player is in the strength of one's cards, the higher the risk stakes one is willing to bid. In most of the online game rooms, the first bidder is chosen randomly by the system. In reality, players usually make up their own rules as to who gets to bid first.
A player may accept the prior player's bid by passing their turn to bid or one may try to outbid the prior player as long as the prior player did not bet 3 as the risk stake. In other words, 1 can be outbid by 2 or 3; 2 can only be outbid by 3; and 3 cannot be outbid.
The highest bidder takes the Cop position; and the remaining players enter the Bandit team competing against the Cop. The three leftover wild cards are revealed to all players before dealt to the Cop.
The Cop wins if he or she has no cards left. The Bandit team wins if either of the Bandits have no cards left.
Features of the game
- The rules are not complicated, basic knowledge of poker hand rankings helps players to get started. But, many of Dou Di Zhu's rules are different from PokerPokerPoker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
and Big TwoBig TwoDeuces is a card game similar to the game of Asshole, Crazy Eights, Bullshit, Winner, and other shedding games. It is sometimes called "Chinese poker" because of its Chinese origin and its use of poker hands, though there is actually a different game by that name of an entirely different nature...
. - There is an element of luck involved, but what counts is not only luck but also skill of playing and strategy. Poor player with great hands may be defeated by skillful player with poor cards.
Rules
A few fundamental and exceptive rules are essential for understanding the game play of the game. Some rules are structured differently from the other popular card games. Players who have prior experience with other card games, such as pokerPoker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, and Big Two
Big Two
Deuces is a card game similar to the game of Asshole, Crazy Eights, Bullshit, Winner, and other shedding games. It is sometimes called "Chinese poker" because of its Chinese origin and its use of poker hands, though there is actually a different game by that name of an entirely different nature...
, often prejudice the rules.
- Individual cards are ranked. Colored Joker > Black & White Joker > 2 > Ace (A) > King (K) > Queen (Q) > Jack (J) > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3.
- SuitsSuit (cards)In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
have no value. Players can play the game fine with all the suits erased from the cards!
The Nuke and the Bomb
The Nuke and the Bomb are worth specific mentioning since they are a very different breed in terms of game play. They defy normal category rules. Players may gain a better understanding of the rules by studying them separately as a special category.| Special Category | | Description | | Example | Special Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuke | Colored Joker and B&W B&W -Companies:* Babcock and Wilcox, an American manufacturing company * Brown & Williamson, a former American tobacco company, now merged with R. J... Joker |
Colored Joker + B&W B&W -Companies:* Babcock and Wilcox, an American manufacturing company * Brown & Williamson, a former American tobacco company, now merged with R. J... Joker |
It can beat everything in the game. |
| Bomb | 4 cards of the same rank | 3-3-3-3 (the lowest ranking Bomb)2-2-2-2 (the highest ranking Bomb) | It can beat any other category and individual card except Nuke or another Bomb with a higher rank. |
Category of hands
The game uses the concept of hands, similar to the hands in pokerPoker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, except there are more variations and not necessarily consisted of only five cards.
- Compare only the same Category. A player can only beat the prior hand using of the same Category but not the others.
- Compare only the Chains with the same length. Beat the prior hand using the same number of cards is a basic doctrine which only the Nuke and the Bomb may violate. For example, although both 9-10-J-Q-K and 3-4-5-6-7-8-9 are Single Chains, 9-10-J-Q-K cannot beat 3-4-5-6-7-8-9, nor vice versa.
- Compare the rank in the Primal cards only. The Kicker's rank is irrelevant to the comparison.
- Jokers and 2 are inconsecutive cards. Colored Joker, B&WB&W-Companies:* Babcock and Wilcox, an American manufacturing company * Brown & Williamson, a former American tobacco company, now merged with R. J...
Joker, and 2 cannot be used in any of the Primal cards of the Chains since they are not traditionally considered as the consecutive cards sequentially next to the Ace. Examples of illegal Chain:2-3-4-5-6,2-2-2-3-3-3 w/ A-A-7-7,K-A-2 + B&W Joker + Colored Joker
| Category | | Description | | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primal | with (/w) Kicker | Chain | | Lowest rankand/or Shortest Chain | Highest rankand/or Longest Chain possible | |
| Solo | Х | Chain | ≥ 5 consecutive individual cards | 3-4-5-6-7 | 3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A |
| Pair | Х | — | Two matching cards of equal rank | 3-3 | 2-2 |
| Pair | Х | Chain | ≥ 3 consecutive Pairs | 3-3-4-4-5-5 | 5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10-J-J-Q-Q-K-K-A-A |
| Trio | — | — | Three of a Kind: Three individual cards of the same rank | 3-3-3 | 2-2-2 |
| Trio | — | Chain | ≥ 2 consecutive Trios | 3-3-3-4-4-4 | 9-9-9-10-10-10-J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A |
| Trio | Solo | — | Three cards of the same rank with a Solo as the kicker | 3-3-3 w/ A | 2-2-2 w/ 4 |
| Trio | Solo | Chain | ≥ 2 consecutive Trios with each carries a distinct individual card as the kicker | 3-3-3-4-4-4 w/ 2 + Colored Joker | 10-10-10-J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A w/ 3-4-5-6-9 |
| Trio | Pair | — | (Full House) Three cards of the same rank with a Pair as the kicker. | 3-3-3 w/ 5-5 | 2-2-2 w/ 8-8 |
| Trio | Pair | Chain | ≥ 2 consecutive Trios with each carries a pair as the kicker | 3-3-3-4-4-4 w/ 2-2-7-7 | J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A w/ 2-2-5-5-6-6-8-8 |
| Bomb | Four must carry a Kicker. Four cards of the same rank without the Kicker is called Bomb, which defies category rules, even beats Four /w a Kicker. | 3-3-3-3 | 2-2-2-2 | ||
| Four | Dual Solo | Х | Four cards of the same rank with two distinct individual cards as the kicker | 3-3-3-3 w/ 2-A | 2-2-2-2 w/ 5 + B&W Joker |
| Four | Dual Pair | Х | Four cards of the same rank with two sets of pair as the kicker | 3-3-3-3 w/ 4-4-Q-Q | 2-2-2-2 w/ 10-10-K-K |
Illegal Play with the Kicker
Beginners and players who are familiar with some other card games with similar but different hand's rules often misinterpret some of the rules that involve the Kicker causing illegal play.| Illegal Play | Example | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| Rank of the Kicker = Rank of the Primal cards | Trio Chain /w Solo is |
When using any Kicker attached to Primal Cards, the Kicker card cannot be the same card rank of any Primal Cards used. |
| Dual Solo = Pair | Four /w Dual Solo: |
Dual Solo must consist of two cards with different ranks, such as J-K. Otherwise, it is counted as pair which is different. |
| Dual Pair = 4 Cards of the Same Rank | Four /w Dual Pair: |
Dual Pair must consist of two sets of pairs of different ranks, such as 3-3-7-7. |
| Nuke = Kicker cards | Four /w Dual Solo: B&W -Companies:* Babcock and Wilcox, an American manufacturing company * Brown & Williamson, a former American tobacco company, now merged with R. J... Joker |
Only one of the Jokers can be used as a Kicker card in a Single or Dual Solo Kicker. |
Scoring rules
There are 4 elements that will affect the score in a round: Bid of the risk stake, the position of the player (Cop/ Bandit), Nuke and Bomb, No deals played.- Bid of the risk stake. There are three kinds of risk stakes, 1, 2, and 3, from low to top. It is the basic score of the game in a round.
- The position of the player (Cop/ Bandit). The Cop shoulders the risk of loss while the 2 Bandits share it. The Cop wins double score while 2 Bandit share the same number of points.
- Nuke and Bomb. Each Nuke and Bomb dealt by each player doubles the score in a round.
- No deals played. If the player doesn’t deal any card in a round, the final score will be double.
Since there are so many elements affecting score of the game in a round, it is hard to predict how big one will win or lose.
Basic strategy
- Players can deal with unrelated or useless cards by making them the Kicker Card.
- Nuke and Bomb are the ultimate weapons in the game. If they are in one's hand, one should make full use of it when time comes. Be warned, if players do not possess high confidence in winning, they should think twice about dealing a Nuke/Bomb or not, because once the Nuke/Bomb is dealt, the risk stake of the round will be doubled for each Nuke/Bomb dealt. Players will either win or lose double for each Nuke/Bomb dealt.
- Bandits should co-operate together to fight against the Cop.
- Bid high for Cop with the best hand. If a player has the best hand, bid high for the position of Cop enables him to win a bigger pot.
Four-handed Dou Di Zhu
The four-player version of Dou Di Zhu is played mainly in ZhejiangZhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
and Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
provinces, including Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. It uses a double deck
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
, including two red and two black jokers - 108 cards altogether. Each player takes 25 cards and 8 cards are left over for the Landlord, who plays alone from a hand of 33 cards against the other three players in partnership.
The combinations that can be played differ from those in the three-player game, listed above, as follows:
- Single card attachments are not permitted.
- Nor are there "four of a kicker" categories.
- A bomb can consist of four or more cards of equal rank, and a bomb with more cards beats a bomb with fewer cards irrespective of the ranks of the cards.
- For a nuke you need all four jokers.
Tournaments
In 2005 117,931 people participated in the Dou De Zhu online tournament held by GICQ, an online game development and operation company in China.In 2006 another Dou Di Zhu online tournament held by www.vnet.cn, attracted 200,000 players to compete with each other.
In September 2007 YunNanHong held a traditional competition of Dou Di Zhu in Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where over a hundred people competed for the first prize (source: yndaily.com).
Dou Di Zhu tournaments are held in Chinese cities every year, the winners not only receive high prize but also become popular experts in Dou Di Zhu.
Popularity
Dou Di Zhu was once just a provincial game in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Thanks to the debut of Dou Di Zhu online, Dou Di Zhu has become more wide spread and is now a national game in China. The popularity of Doh Di Zhu has increased substantially, from 50,000 in December 2002 to 100,000 in 2004
and 17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while Dou Di Zhu leading the core place in 2005.
There are almost 1 million concurrent Dou Di Zhu players on the Tencent QQ
Tencent QQ
Tencent QQ, generally referred to as QQ, is the most popular free instant messaging computer program in mainland China. As of July 11, 2011, the active QQ users accounts for QQ IM totaled 812.3 million, possibly making it the world's second largest online community. The number of simultaneous...
game platform alone.
It is more popular than other Chinese poker games like Chinese poker
Chinese poker
Chinese poker, also Pusoy , is a card game that has been played in the Asian community for many years...
and Big Two
Big Two
Deuces is a card game similar to the game of Asshole, Crazy Eights, Bullshit, Winner, and other shedding games. It is sometimes called "Chinese poker" because of its Chinese origin and its use of poker hands, though there is actually a different game by that name of an entirely different nature...
.
| Year | Popularity in China | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 50,000 players | GICQ(ourgame.com) |
| 2004 | 100,000 players | GICQ(ourgame.com) |
| 2005 | 17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while Dou Di Zhu leading the core place. | Chinese Online Game Research Report in 2005 made by iResearch |
| 2006 | +1,000,000 online player play it concurrently | Tencent QQ game platform in China |
| 2008 | roughly 1,450,000 online players per hour in Tencent QQ game platform | Tencent QQ game platform in China |
| 2008 | roughly 76,000 online players per hour in GICQ | GICQ |
See also
- Zheng ShangyouWinner (card game)Winner is a card game popular in China, similar to the game President, the game Big Two, and other shedding games. It is the game from which Tien Len and other similar games are derived.-Cards:...
, a similar popular card game in China - Big 2
- Big 3, aka Dig the Pit a very similar game of one against two in temporary alliance.