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Zhao started playing poker on a team growing up in Troy. She began playing high-stakes games after pursuing her degree at Northwestern University, and was known on the professional poker circuit. Susie Zhao, 33, a professional poker player also known as Susie Q., was found dead on July 23, 2020, in a parking lot in Lake Township, Mich. A 60-year-old man was taken into custody in relation. Triplet with an attached pair - a triplet with a pair added, like a full house in poker, the ranking being determined by the rank of the triplet - for example Q-Q-Q-6-6 beats 10-10-10-K-K. Sequence - at least five cards of consecutive rank, from 3 up to ace - for example 8-9-10-J-Q. Twos and jokers cannot be used.

Introduction

Fight the Landlord (Dou Di Zhu) is a climbing game primarily for three players, but also playable by four. In each hand one player, the 'landlord', plays alone and the others form a team. The landlord's aim is to be the first to play out all his cards in valid combinations, and the team wins if any one of them manages to play all their cards before the landlord. The game is said to have originated in Hubei province but is now popular all over China, and is also extensively played on line.

Players, Cards and Deal

The three-player game will be described first. The differences in the four-player game are explained near the end of the page.

This game uses a 54-card pack including two jokers, red and black. The cards rank from high to low:
red joker, black joker, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.
Suits are irrelevant.

As in most Chinese games the cards are not really dealt, but taken from the deck by the players.

One of the players shuffles the cards, gives them to the player to his left to cut, and stacks them face down in the middle of the playing surface. One card is turned face up and inserted somewhere near the middle of the stack - this will determine who starts the auction. The dealer then draws the top card from the deck, looking at it but not showing it to the other players. The player to his right does the same, then the third player, then the dealer and so on counter-clockwise around the table until each player has 17 cards. The last three cards are left face down on the table until after the auction. It saves time if you look at your cards and sort them as you pick them up.

Auction

There is an auction to determine which player will be the landlord, and play alone against the other two. The possible bids are 1, 2 and 3. The player who drew the face up card in the 'deal' is the first to bid. Each player in turn may either pass or bid higher than the highest bid so far. If everyone passes the hand is thrown in and there is a new deal. If there is a bid, the bidding continues counter-clockwise, each player passing or bidding higher than the previous bidder, until two consecutive players pass or someone bids 3, which ends the auction since it is the highest possible bid. The final and highest bidder is the landlord. This player now picks up the three face-down cards from the middle, for a total of 20 cards.

Play

The landlord plays first, and may play a single card or any legal combination. Each subsequent player in anticlockwise order must either pass (play no card) or beat the previous play by playing a higher combination of the same number of cards and same type. There are just two exceptions to this: a rocket can beat any combination, and a bomb can beat any combination except a higher bomb or rocket - see definitions below. The play continues around the table for as many circuits as necessary until two consecutive players pass. The played cards are then turned face down and put aside, and the person who played the last card(s) begins again, leading any card or legal combination.

In this game, there are thirteen types of combination that can be played:

1. Single card - ranking from three (low) up to red joker (high) as explained above
2. Pair - two cards of the same rank, from three (low) up to two (high)
3. Triplet - three cards of the same rank
4. Triplet with an attached card - a triplet with any single card added, for example 6-6-6-8. These rank according to the rank of the triplet - so for example 9-9-9-3 beats 8-8-8-A.
5. Triplet with an attached pair - a triplet with a pair added, like a full house in poker, the ranking being determined by the rank of the triplet - for example Q-Q-Q-6-6 beats 10-10-10-K-K.
6. Sequence - at least five cards of consecutive rank, from 3 up to ace - for example 8-9-10-J-Q. Twos and jokers cannot be used.
7. Sequence of pairs - at least three pairs of consecutive ranks, from 3 up to ace. Twos and jokers cannot be used. For example 10-10-J-J-Q-Q-K-K.
8. Sequence of triplets - at least two triplets of consecutive ranks from three up to ace. For example 4-4-4-5-5-5.
9. Sequence of triplets with attached cards - an extra card is added to each triplet. For example 7-7-7-8-8-8-3-6. The attached cards must be different from all the triplets and from each other. Although triplets of twos cannot be included, a two or a joker or one of each can be attached, but not both jokers.
10. Sequence of triplets with attached pairs - an extra pair is attached to each triplet. Only the triplets have to be in sequence - for example 8-8-8-9-9-9-4-4-J-J. The pairs must be different in rank from each other and from all the triplets. Although triplets of twos cannot be included, twos can be attached. Note that attached single cards and attached pairs cannot be mixed - for example 3-3-3-4-4-4-6-7-7 is not valid.
11. Bomb - four cards of the same rank. A bomb can beat everything except a rocket, and a higher ranked bomb can beat a lower ranked one.
12. Rocket - a pair of jokers. It is the highest combination and beats everything else, including bombs.
13. Quadplex set - there are two types: a quad with two single cards of different ranks attached, such as 6-6-6-6-8-9, or a quad with two pairs of different ranks attached, such as J-J-J-J-9-9-Q-Q. Twos and jokers can be attached, but you cannot use both jokers in one quadplex set. Quadplex sets are ranked according to the rank of the quad. Note that a quadplex set can only beat a lower quadplex set of the same type, and cannot beat any other type of combination. Also a quadplex set can be beaten by a bomb made of lower ranked cards.

Note that passing does not prevent you from playing on a future turn.

Example Player A (the landlord) leads 3-3-3-9 to get rid of some low cards, player B passes, player C plays 5-5-5-7, player A plays K-K-K-J and player B plays A-A-A-3. C and A pass, so B can start again with anything. He leads a single 4.
Note B could have played his aces on his the first turn, but preferred to pass to give his partner a chance to get rid of some cards. After B has passed, C should play if possible, so as not to give the landlord (A) a free chance to lead again. Having beaten A's second play, B leads a low card to give C the choice of playing another unwanted card or putting the landlord under pressure by playing a high card.

Scoring

If the landlord runs out of cards first he has won, and each opponent pays him the amount of the bid - 1, 2 or 3 units - provided that no bomb or rocket was played. If one of the other two players runs out before the landlord, the landlord loses and must pay the amount of the bid to each opponent. For each occasion when any player played a bomb or rocket, the payment for the hand is doubled. So for example in a hand in which two bombs and a rocket were played, a player who bid 3 will win 24 points from each opponent for going out first, or pay 24 to each opponent if another player goes out first.

Note that since the opponents of the landlord stand to win or lose equally, they form a temporary partnership. When playing against the landlord it is just as profitable to help your partner to run out of cards first as to win yourself. Because of this the partners will usually not beat each other’s cards, and the weaker partner will play to help the stronger partner.

Four-Player Game

The four-player form of Fight the Landlord 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:

• Single card attachments are not permitted - i.e. combination types 4 and 9 are exluded.
• There are no quadplex sets - combination type 13 is excluded.
• A bomb (type 11) can consist of four or more cards of equal rank, and a bomb with more cards beats a bomb with fewer cards irrespective of the ranks of the cards.
• For a rocket (type 12) you need all four jokers.

You cannot play a red and a black joker together as a pair, but you can use a pair of red jokers or a pair of black jokers either as a pair by itself or to attach to a triplet.

The payment for a hand is doubled for each bomb of 6 or more cards and for each rocket, but bombs of 4 or 5 cards do not affect the payment.

Other Dou Dizhu Web Pages

The Wikipedia page on Dou Dizhu includes rules and some information on the history and popularity of the game.

Dou dizhu (simplified Chinese: 斗地主; traditional Chinese: 鬥地主; pinyin: dòu dìzhǔ; Jyutping: dau³ dei⁶ zyu²; lit. 'fighting 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 dizhu is described as easy to learn but hard to master, requiring mathematical and strategic thinking as well as carefully planned execution. Suits are irrelevant in playing dou dizhu. Players can easily play the game with a set of dou dizhuplaying cards, without the suits printed on the cards. Less popular variations of the game do exist in China, such as four-player and five-player dou dizhu played with two packs of cards.

History[edit]

The class struggle during the land reform in the 1950s after the Chinese Communist Party took over China encouraged peasants to take up arms against the landlords, hence the name dou dizhu. China's Generation Y, who are among the most enthusiastic player groups, has no personal experience of this specific overt class struggle (compare with the covert contemporary property bubble). Nowadays, the name of the game carries no negative connotation. The actual place of origin for the game is in Hubei Province.

Objective[edit]

Dou dizhu is played among three people with one pack of cards, including the two differentiated jokers. The game starts with players bidding for the 'landlord' (地主) position. Those who lose the bid or do not bid enter the game as the 'peasants' (农民) team competing against the landlord. The objective of the game is to be the first player to have no cards left.

Game play[edit]

A shuffled pack of 54 cards is dealt to three players. Each player is dealt 17 cards, with the last three leftover cards detained on the playing desk, face down.

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 landlord 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 real life, players usually make up their own rules as to who gets to bid first. For example, some rules stipulate that the player who has the three of hearts is the first bidder. If the three of hearts is in the 'kitty' cards, the player who has the four of hearts is the first bidder, and so on.

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. The highest bidder takes the landlord position; the remaining players enter the Farmer team competing against the landlord. The three leftover wild cards are then revealed to all players before being dealt to the landlord.

The landlord wins if he or she has no cards left. The peasant team wins if either of the peasants have no cards left.

Features of the game[edit]

The rules are not complicated; basic knowledge of poker hand rankings helps players get started. However, many of Dou Dizhu's rules are different from Poker and Big Two.

There is an element of luck involved, but what counts is not only luck but also skill of playing and strategy. Poor players with great hands may be defeated by skillful players with poor cards.

Rules[edit]

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.

• Individual cards are ranked. Colored Joker > Black & White Joker > 2 > Ace (A) > King (K) > Queen (Q) > Jack (J) > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3.
• Suits are irrelevant. Players can play the game with all the suits erased from the cards.

The Rocket and the Bomb[edit]

Zu Zhou Poker Games

The Rocket and the Bomb are groups of cards that work differently in terms of game play.

Category of hands[edit]

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.

• Compare only the same Category. A player can only beat the prior hand using of the same Category but not the others. Note that this means that the ordering of the rows in the following table is not relevant to gameplay.
• Compare only the Chains with the same length. Beat the prior hand using the same number of cards is a basic doctrine which only the Rocket and the Bomb may violate. For example, although both 9-10-J-Q-K and 3-4-5-6-7-8-9 are Single Chains, 9-10-J-Q-K cannot beat 3-4-5-6-7-8-9, nor vice versa.
• Compare the rank in the Primal cards only. The Kicker's rank is irrelevant to the comparison unless a variation with 2+ decks is being played.
• Jokers and 2 are non-consecutive cards. Colored Joker, black-and-white Joker, and 2 cannot be used in any of the Primal cards of the Chains since they are not traditionally considered as the consecutive cards sequentially next to the Ace. Examples of illegal Chain: 2-3-4-5-6, 2-2-2-3-3-3 w/ A-A-7-7, K-A-2 + B&W Joker + Colored Joker

Chinese name literal translations[edit]

'Individual card'

单牌

'Hook'

钩 – the jack; the Chinese name is based on the shape of 'J'

'Circle'

圈 – the queen, named for the shape of 'Q'

'K'

The King

'Tip', 'spear' or 'pointy'

尖 or 枪, respectively – the ace, named for the shape of 'A'

'King', 'ruler'

王 – the joker, named for its dominant position in the game

'One pair'

一对 – two cards of the same rank

'Chain'

顺子 or 单顺 – five or more consecutively numbered cards

'Pairs chain'

连对 or 双顺 – three or more consecutive pairs

'Trio with single card'

三带一 – trio, with an individual card as kicker

'Trio with pair'

三带二 or 三带一对 – trio, with a pair as kicker

'Airplane'

飞机 or 三顺 – two or more consecutive trios

'Airplane with small wings'

飞机带小翼 – two or more consecutive trios, with additional cards with the same amount of trios as kicker

'Airplane with large wings'

飞机带大翼 – two or more consecutive trios, with pairs with the same amount of trios as kicker

'Four with two single cards'

四带二 – four-of-a-kind, with two individual cards as kicker

'Four with two pairs'

四带两对 – four-of-a-kind, with two pairs as kicker

'Space shuttle'

航天飞机 – two or more consecutive four-of-a-kind

'Space shuttle with small wings'

航天飞机带小翼 – two or more consecutive fours-of-a-kind, with additional cards including the same amount of fours-of-a-kind as kicker

'Space shuttle with large wings'

航天飞机带大翼 – two or more consecutive fours-of-a-kind, with pairs with the same amount of fours-of-a-kind as kicker^{[clarification needed]}

'Bomb'

炸弹 – four cards of the same rank

'Nuke', 'Rocket', 'King Bomb'

核弹, 火箭, 王炸, respectively – colored joker with black-and-white joker cards

Illegal play with the kicker[edit]

Beginners and players who are familiar with other card games with similar but different rules of hand formation and superiority often misinterpret some of the rules that involve the kicker, causing illegal play.

Scoring rules[edit]

The basic mechanism is a betting one; the winner (or winners) take(s) money (points, whatever) from the loser or losers. Moreover, the game may be seen as a pair of bets, each one between one of the peasants and the landlord. If the landlord wins, (s)he collects money from each of the peasants, and if the landlord loses, (s)he pays money to each of the peasants.

The bidding (one, two, or three) determines the initial stake, and gameplay can trigger two different categories of multiplier:

• Rocket and/or bomb. Each rocket and bomb dealt by each player doubles the score in a round.
• No deals played a.k.a. spring. If the peasants do not deal any card in a round, or the landlord only deal the card once with cards left in hand in a round, the final score will be double. In the former situation, the landlord wins score while the peasants lose, else the peasants win score.

Example[edit]

Consider a round involving players A, B, and C. A passes, B bids 1, C passes, A bids 2, and B and C pass. A is now the landlord, for a base stake of 2 units. Gameplay proceeds, and turns out to include one bomb and a rocket, but all players get to play multiple times. In the end, player C goes out first. The stake is therefore multiplied by 4 (two for each rocket or bomb), so the landlord A must pay 8 units to both of the peasants, B and C.

Basic strategy[edit]

• A player can deal with an unrelated or useless card by making it the kicker card.^[1]

• Rocket and bomb are the ultimate weapons in the game. If they either is in one's hand, one should make full use of it when time comes. If players do not possess high confidence in winning, they may think twice about dealing a rocket or bomb, because once the dealt, the risk stake of the round will be doubled (players will either win or lose double) with each rocket or bomb dealt.
• Peasants must co-operate to fight against the landlord. For example, since the two peasants come after one another, the first peasant might play a low single card if the second peasant has a sole card left.
• Bid high for landlord with the best hand. If a player has the best hand, bidding high for the position of landlord enables him to win a bigger pot.

Variations[edit]

Four-player[edit]

The four-player version of dou dizhu 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:

• Single card attachments are not permitted
• Nor are there four-with-a-kicker categories
• Bomb: four- or five-of-a-kind
• Rocket: six-of-a-kind
• Missile: seven-of-a-kind
• Sky explosion: eight-of-a-kind
• Nuke: four jokers (the greatest hand in four-player dou dizhu; can beat anything. If the landlord have the four jokers, he or she could claim for having them. Once claimed for the 4 jokers on hand, the 4 jokers could be used separately. By doing this, the landlord could also choose winning without playing. )

With wild cards[edit]

Zu Zhou Poker Club

Another variation of dou dizhu is the edition with wild cards. Like the original settings, after the determination of the landlord, four-of-a-kind will be randomly selected as wild cards. Those can be used to stand for any other cards, except jokers.

Some games even feature two sets of wild cards. The first set would be drawn before the bid for the landlord, then another one would then be drawn out.

Tournaments[edit]

In 2005, 117,931 people participated in the dou dizhu online tournament held by GICQ, an online game development and operation company in China.

Zu Zhou Poker Chips

In 2006, another dou dizhu online tournament, held by VNet.cn, attracted 200,000 players.

In September 2007, YunNanHong held a traditional, offline competition of dou dizhu in Kunming, Yunnan province, where over a hundred players competed for the first prize.

Dou dizhu tournaments are held in Chinese cities every year, the winners not only receive high prize but also become popular experts in dou dizhu.

Popularity[edit]

Zu Zhou Poker Game

Dou dizhu was once just a provincial game in China, originating in the Huangshan District^[2] and Anhui.^[3] Thanks to the debut of dou dizhu online, the game has become more widespread and is now a national game in China. its popularity increased substantially, with players on one system doubling in two years, from around 50,000 players in December 2002 to 100,000 in 2004^[4]and 17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while dou dizhu leading the core place in 2005.^{[5][clarification needed]}There are almost 1 million concurrent dou dizhu players on the Tencent QQ game platform alone.^[6]It is more popular than other Chinese card games like Chinese poker, winner, and big two.

References[edit]

1. ^AceNuke. 'Tutorial of AceNuke'. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
2. ^刘, 祥夫 (2003). 斗地主, 新型智力扑克牌游戏. 安徽人民出版社. p. 1. ISBN7-212-02183-0.
3. ^励, 锦明 (2003). 魔法精灵'斗地主'. 上海科学普及出版社. p. 1. ISBN7-5427-2303-0.
4. ^晶合时代. '联众'斗地主'同场竞技人数突破10万大关'. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved 2004-02-14.
5. ^iResearch. '1790万人疯狂，征途斗地主真相调查'. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
6. ^北京商报. 'QQ新联网斗地主玩家近万'. Archived from the original on 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2006-10-25.

External links[edit]

[Broken Link] *http://www.chinagames.net/mygames/cardgames/landlord/

• Rules of the game at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-11-27)