Dou dizhu 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 dizhu playing 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. (資料來源 )
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 apprise 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. (資料來源 )