Guandan Rules

Guandan originated in Huai'an, in China's Jiangsu province, in the 1960s. The name means throwing eggs. It is not a form of poker, but it uses combinations similar to poker hands.

Four players play in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite each other. Play proceeds anticlockwise.

The game uses two standard decks and all four jokers: 108 cards. Each player is dealt 27 cards.

Cards rank from low to high: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, black joker, red joker. Suits do not matter except for the wild cards (1.6) and straight flushes.

Each hand is played at a level, from 2 up to ace. The cards of the current level's rank are level cards. As single cards, pairs and sets, they rank above aces and below the jokers. In straights, they may also be used in their normal position.

The two level cards in hearts are wild. Each may stand for any card except a joker when forming a combination with other cards. Played alone, a heart level card is simply a level card.

Each team has its own level, and both start at 2. The team that had the first player out in the previous hand sets the level for the next.

A play must be beaten by a higher combination of the same type, or by a bomb.

Bombs beat any ordinary combination. From lowest to highest:

2.2(a) Four or five cards of the same rank; five of a rank beats any four.

2.2(b) A straight flush: five consecutive cards of one suit.

2.2(c) Six or more cards of the same rank; more cards beat fewer.

2.2(d) The joker bomb: all four jokers, the highest play in the game.

A bomb can be beaten only by a higher bomb. Bombs are compared first by type and number of cards, then by rank.

In the first hand, the player who draws the last card of the deal leads. In later hands, the lead is set by the tribute (Article 5).

The leader may play any legal combination. In turn, each player must either beat it with a higher combination of the same type or a bomb, or pass.

A player who passes may still play later in the same trick if the turn comes round again.

When three players in a row pass, the trick ends. The player who made the last play leads any combination to start the next trick.

If the last player to play has just run out of cards and the other three pass, the lead passes to that player's partner.

The first player to run out of cards is the banker, the second the follower, the third the third and the last the dweller. When both members of a team finish third and fourth, the result is a double dweller.

The banker's team is promoted according to where the banker's partner finished:

A team that wins a hand after reaching level ace wins the game. According to the rules described on Wikipedia, a team cannot win in this way in a hand in which one of its partners is the dweller.

From the second hand onwards, the dweller of the previous hand pays tribute to the banker: the dweller gives the banker their highest card, not counting a heart level card.

The banker returns any one card of rank 10 or lower to the dweller.

After a double dweller, both losing players pay tribute. The banker takes the higher tribute card and the follower the lower. The player who paid the higher tribute leads the hand.

After a single tribute, the player who paid the tribute leads.

A dweller who holds both red jokers pays no tribute. In that case the banker leads.