Everything you need to know to play Open Face Chinese Poker at Vamos Poker Tour events, including the official rules, scoring system, and special features used in our tournaments.

This guide provides a complete overview of Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) as played at the Vamos Poker Tour. It covers Gameplay, Scoring rules, Royalties, Fantasyland, and the Key Points every player should know before sitting down at the table. The objective is to ensure a transparent, consistent, and professional OFC experience across all VPT events.

The format of OFC Poker played in Vamos Poker Tour events is Progressive.

Progressive is a variant of Open Face Chinese. In OFC/P Progressive, larger bonuses are awarded for stronger hands in the top row.

Progressive OFC Poker Gameplay

2 or 3 players can play Progressive OFC Poker. During the course of the hand, players will arrange their hole cards on the layout in rows to make 3 poker hands, arranged in order of ascending rank. These 3 poker hands are called the top, middle, and bottom:

• Top hand: A 3-card poker hand, which may only rank as a high card, a pair, or three of a kind. Straights and flushes do not count. It must rank lowest of the 3 hands.
• Middle hand: A standard 5-card poker hand. It must rank higher than the top hand.
• Bottom hand: A standard 5-card poker hand. It must rank the highest of the 3 hands.

A Progressive OFC Poker hand that breaks these rules (by having a top hand stronger than the middle hand, or a middle hand stronger than the bottom hand) is a fouled hand and automatically loses.

At the start of a hand, each player is dealt 5 face-down hole cards. Clockwise from the dealer, players in turn set and confirm the positions of these 5 cards on the layout, face-up. Once confirmed, the cards become visible to all players and cannot be changed or moved.

For the rest of the hand, each player is dealt 3 face-down cards at once in turn, and must place 2 of the cards into available positions on the layout while discarding the third. Once positioning is confirmed, the cards become visible to all players and cannot be changed or moved to a different row.

The remaining cards are dealt in this manner, three at a time, until all players have completed their layouts of 13 cards. Hands are then compared and scored.

Scoring

At showdown, players’ hands are compared, and points are exchanged based on hand strength. Two players’ individual hands are first compared to each other for scoring, row to row (top against top, middle against middle, and bottom against bottom), with the better hand winning each comparison.

Points	Awardee
1	Winner of each of the three hands
3	Bonus for the Winner if he wins all three hands

Meaning: If you win one of those three hands, one point. For each of the hands won. Unless you win all three hands, then it is three points. So a six-point total.

Royalties

Additional bonus points called royalties are then awarded for certain strong hands:

Bottom Royalties

• Royal Flush: 25 points
• Straight Flush: 15 points
• Four of a Kind: 10 points
• Full House: 6 points
• Flush: 4 points
• Straight: 2 points

Middle Royalties

• Royal Flush: 50 points
• Straight Flush: 30 points
• Four of a Kind: 20 points
• Full House: 12 points
• Flush: 8 points
• Straight: 4 points
• Three of a Kind: 2 points

Top Royalties

• AAA: 22 points
• KKK: 21 points
• QQQ: 20 points
• JJJ: 19 points
• TTT: 18 points
• 999: 17 points
• 888: 16 points
• 777: 15 points
• 666: 14 points
• 555: 13 points
• 444: 12 points
• 333: 11 points
• 222: 10 points
• AA: 9 points
• KK: 8 points
• QQ: 7 points
• JJ: 6 points
• TT: 5 points
• 99: 4 points
• 88: 3 points
• 77: 2 points
• 66: 1 point

The awarded points and royalties for both players are then recorded. If more than 2 players are playing, each remaining exchange is scored until all players have exchanged points with all other players in the hand.

After a round of hands is completed, players settle the final total of points won or lost by exchanging chips with the other players in turn.

Players are not allowed to sit out or leave the table during a round of hands, and must wait until the round is complete.

Fantasyland

The Fantasyland bonus requirement in Progressive OFC Poker is QQ+ (a pair of Queens or better as top). A player enters Fantasyland by making a hand that meets this requirement and does not foul.

The button does not advance during a Fantasyland bonus hand. In the bonus hand, the player in Fantasyland receives 14 or more cards face-down at the start of the hand, and sets a complete 13-card hand face-down on the first turn, discarding the extra cards.

The number of cards the player receives is based on the strength of his top hand:

• QQ on top awards a normal 14-card Fantasyland.
• KK on top awards a 15-card Fantasyland.
• AA on top awards a 16-card Fantasyland.
• Trips on top awards, a 17-card Fantasyland.

All players not in Fantasyland receive 5 starting cards as normal, and must draw and set their hands face-up in turn. The hand is then scored normally. A player in Fantasyland may repeat Fantasyland and play another bonus hand by making one of the following strong hands while in Fantasyland:

• Three of a Kind or better (top)
• Four of a Kind or better (bottom)

Players who repeat Fantasyland will only receive the normal Fantasyland of 14 cards on each repeat.

Key Points

Button: The button does NOT move if any of the players are in Fantasy.

Dealing: Cards are always dealt one at a time, both in the initial deal and in subsequent rounds. If there is more than one player in Fantasy, they will also be dealt one at a time.

Player Sit out: If a player is not seated when it is his turn, the hand will be played automatically. The first 5 cards will be placed at the bottom, and then in each round the first 2 cards will be placed in order, and the last one will be discarded. If a player appears in the middle of the hand, he can start playing from that moment.

13-card game: OFC Poker is a game where each player must lay down 13 cards (5-5-3). Therefore, the player MUST ALWAYS lay down all 13 cards, even if they have no added value.

If any player fails to lay down all 13 cards (quite common when playing Fantasy), the hand may be considered fouled.

Fantasyland: When one or more players are playing Fantasy, those not playing Fantasy must play normally.

The player playing Fantasy will be the last to place their cards and will be able to see their opponents’ cards. In case there are two or more players in Fantasy, the order of placement will be in the normal order. This rule applies to all players and is implemented to speed up the action at the tables and allow for more hands to be played.

If a table is set up for Fantasy (properly arranged and checked), players may leave the table to play Fantasy. Otherwise, players may NOT leave the table. The tournament director will have the final say.

Payments: The order of payment after a hand is: 

1. Player 1 (The player to the left of the button) vs Player 2.
2. Player 1 vs. Player 3 (player at the Button).
3. Player 2 vs. Player 3.

A player can only triple their stack at the start of a hand. That is, if they start the hand with 10,000 chips, they can only win 10,000 chips from each player. Chips from the first payout do not carry over to the second.

If a player does not have enough chips to make the first payout, they will be unable to collect or pay the second player and will be eliminated from the game.

Top hand placement: For better visibility of the opponent’s hand and greater security, the top cards should be placed horizontally.

Breaks: When the tournament reaches a break, players in Fantasy need to keep playing their hands until there is no Fantasy anymore. The break will start officially when the last fantasy hand ends. 

If you still need more information or have any other doubt, you can contact Vamos Poker Tour on WhatsApp +34 640 666 223 or Email info@vamospokertour.com.