| Origin | Chinese |
|---|---|
| Type | Gambling |
| Players | 3 |
| Cards | 54, 17 for 2 players and 20 for the Cop |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Play | Counterclockwise |
| Playing time | 20 min. |
| Random chance | Easy |
| Related games | |
| President | |
Dou Di Zhu, (simplified Chinese: 斗地主; traditional Chinese: 鬥地主; pinyin: Dòu Dìzhǔ; literally "Struggle Against the Landlord") is a card game in the genre of shedding and gambling. It is one of the most popular card games 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 cards, 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.
Contents |
The class struggle 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, (simplified Chinese: 斗地主; traditional Chinese: 鬥地主; pinyin: Doù Dìzhǔ; literally "Fight Landlord"). 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[1] and Anhui.[2] Dou Di Zhu's popularity spread to Shanghai and Chengdu, which are among the four directly controlled municipalities.
Dou Di Zhu is played among three people with one pack of cards, including the two jokers. The game starts with players bidding for the Landlord (Chinese: 地主; pinyin: Dìzhǔ; literally "Landlord") position. Those who lose the bid enter the game as the Peasant (simplified Chinese: 农民; traditional Chinese: 農民; pinyin: Nóngmín; literally "Peasant") team competing against the Cop. The objective of the game is to be the first player to have no cards left.
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.
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 poker, and Big Two, often prejudice the rules.
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 Joker | Colored Joker + B&W 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. |
The game uses the concept of hands, similar to the hands in poker, except there are more variations and not necessarily consisted of only five cards.
| Category | Description | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primal | with (/w) Kicker | Chain | Lowest rank and/or Shortest Chain |
Highest rank and/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 |
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: |
Only one of the Jokers can be used as a Kicker card in a Single or Dual Solo Kicker. |
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.
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.
The four-player version of Dou Di Zhu is played mainly in Zhejiang 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 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, 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.
Dou Di Zhu was once just a provincial game in China. 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[4] and 17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while Dou Di Zhu leading the core place in 2005.[5] There are almost 1 million concurrent Dou Di Zhu players on the Tencent QQ game platform alone.[6] It is more popular than other Chinese poker games like Chinese poker and Big Two.
| 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 |