Tichu
Tichu cards
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| Other name(s) | Tai Pan |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Strategy card game |
| Players | 4 |
| Age range | 10+ |
| Playing time | 60-90 minutes |
| Material(s) required | Tichu card set |
Tichu (also known as Tai Pan) is a multi-genre card game; primarily a shedding game that includes elements of Bridge, Daihinmin, and Poker played between two teams of two players each. Teams work to accumulate points; the first team to reach a predetermined score (usually 1,000 points) is the winner. Tichu is the trade name for what appears to be a variant of Choi Dai Di (Cantonese) or Da Lao Er (Mandarin), meaning "big two", combined with Zheng Fen ("Competing for Points"). It is also marketed as Tai-Pan in Dutch.
The following covers the basic rules of gameplay. However, for more comprehensive rulesets, consult the links below.
Each player sits across from their teammate so that play alternates between the two teams. The game is traditionally run counter-clockwise, but is frequently played clockwise.
The game is played with a deck of 56 cards, consisting of a 52-card deck of four suits (Jade, Sword, Pagoda, Star) plus four special cards (Mah Jong, Dog, Phoenix, Dragon). A standard 52-card deck with 4 jokers (marked to indicate the special cards) can also be used.
Each player is dealt (or alternately draws, in Chinese play) eight cards, and may call "Grand Tichu," a 200-point bet that he (not his partner) will be the first to get rid of his cards. Once players have decided whether to make this call, six more cards are dealt (the remaining cards in the deck) and players may no longer declare "Grand Tichu." Now, and at any time prior to playing his/her first card, a player may call "Tichu," a 100-point bet that he (not his partner) will be the first to get rid of his cards. The differences between Grand Tichu and Tichu are when they may be called, the number of cards you've seen, and the number of points involved.
All players prepare three cards for simultaneous exchange, with each player passing one card (face down) to each of the other players—one to each opponent and one to the partner. Should a player declare "Tichu" before the simultaneous exchange, players are allowed to change their out-going exchange cards.
After the card exchange, the player with the Mah Jong leads the first trick. In Tichu, playable card combinations are generally based on Poker hands, with some exceptions. A player may pass on a trick with the option to play in later (essentially checking in Poker), and a trick is completed if it is passed three times in a row.
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Wikipedia