Big two

For other uses, see Big two (disambiguation).

Big two

大老二 or 鋤大弟
A 3-player Big Two game begun with a pair-3
Origin	Hong Kong
Alternative names	Big deuce, deuces, top dog, Chinese poker; dà lǎo èr; sho tai ti, chor dai di, co daai di, dai di; cap sa; ciniza, giappuniza; pusoy dos, chikicha, sikitcha, Filipino poker, Mot Hai Ba
Type	Shedding
Players	2-4
Age range	all
Cards	52
Deck	Standard 52-card deck
Rank (high→low)	2,A,K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3 Spades are the trump, followed by Hearts, then Clubs, and Diamonds are the lowest
Chance	Moderate

Big two (also known as deuces, capsa, pusoy dos, dai di and other names) is a shedding-type card game of Cantonese origin. The game is popular in East Asia and Southeast Asia, especially throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. It is played both casually and as a gambling game.

Big two is usually played with two to four players played with a standard 52-card deck. The objective of the game is to be the first to play off all of one's cards.

Names

This game has many names, including big deuce and top dog. In Mandarin Chinese it is 大老二 (da lao er, pinyin: dà lǎo èr). In Cantonese it is 鋤大弟 (chor dai di, jyutping: co⁴ daai⁶ di²). It is 十三 "thirteen" (cap sa, pe̍h-ōe-jī: cha̍p-saⁿ) in Hokkien, a name which is commonly used in Indonesia. In Malta, it is often referred to as ciniza ("Chinese") or giappuniza ("Japanese"). A variant is called pusoy dos in Filipino, or chikicha in other Philippine dialects.

Rules

The entire deck is dealt out among the players as far as they can go, with an equal number of cards for each player. If there are leftover cards, they are given to the player holding the 3♦. Joker cards are not used.

At the beginning of each game, the player with the 3♦ starts by playing it singly or as part of a combination. Each subsequent player must play a higher card or combination than the one before, with the same number of cards. Players may pass their turn, meaning they choose not to play or they do not have the cards to make a play.

When all but one of the players have passed in succession, the turn is over and cards that were played remain in a waste-pile. A new turn is started with all players, initiated by the last player to play.

The game ends when one player has played all of the cards in their hand.

Examples of valid combinations by number of cards, the five-card combinations ranked from strongest to weakest with the rank determined by the fully-visible card

Combinations

Cards can be played as singles or in groups of 2, 3, or 5. The leading card(s) in a trick establish the number of cards to be played. To continue the trick, players must play the same number of cards as was led, with a higher value. Alternatively, they must pass their turn.

The value of a card is first determined by its rank, in the following order (from highest to lowest):

   2
   Ace (A)
   King (K)
   Queen (Q)
   Jack (J)
   10
   9
   8
   7
   6
   5
   4
   3

Next, the suit determines the ranking. The order of suits, from highest to lowest, is:

   Spades (S) — Trump suit
   Hearts (H)
   Clubs (C)
   Diamonds (D)

Thus, the highest-ranked card is 2S (2 of Spades), and the lowest-ranked card is 3D (3 of Diamonds).

The following are the valid trick combinations, ranked from lowest to highest:

   Singles: Any individual card, ranked by value with suit used as a tie-breaker.

   Pairs: Two cards of the same rank, ranked by the higher suit.

   Triples (Three-of-a-Kind): Three cards of the same rank.

   Five-card hands: The five types of five-card hands, ranked from lowest to highest, are:
       Straight: Any five consecutive cards, but not all of the same suit. The rank is determined by the highest card, with suit used as a tie-breaker.
       Flush: Any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence. The ranking is determined by the suit, and in case of a tie, the highest card is used.
       Full House: A combination of three cards of the same rank and two cards of another matching rank. The rank is determined by the value of the three-of-a-kind.
       Four-of-a-Kind: Four cards of the same rank, plus one additional card. The rank is determined by the value of the four cards.
       Straight Flush: Five cards in sequence of the same suit. This is ranked the same as a straight, with suit used as a tie-breaker.

Scoring

The most common version of scoring is as follows.

For each player with cards, each card is 1 point, unless if they have 10 or more cards in which case each card is 2 points. The points are paid to the winner. For example, if North wins, and East, West, and South respectively still had 3, 11, and 8 cards remaining, then East scores −3, West scores −22, South scores −8, and North scores +33.

Any unused 2's, four-of-a-kinds, or straight flushes doubles the points paid to the winner. If the winner ends the game by playing a trick of a 2, a four-of-a-kind, or a straight flush, points are also doubled. For example: North wins with a 2 as their last card played; East, West, and South respectively still had 3, 9, and 8 cards left. West had an unused Straight Flush, and South had an unused 2; East would score −6, West would score −36, South would score −32, and North would score +74.

See also

• Chinese poker
• Dou di zhu (similar rules, played with three players)
• Gnau
• Zi pai
• Four color cards
• Daguai luzi also known as wild escape or the joker's way
• Balatro (video game)