Binh Poker

This is a kind of card game to train thinking ability of finding the optimal result in limited resource condition.
"Binh" means military, troop.

Game is for a group from 2 to 4 players.

Each player has 13 cards and need arrange them into 3 branches. Then each pair of players compare their hand together to determine the winner.

This phone game is designed for the user to play against 3 machine opponents (AI).


PLAYING GUIDE

Strength of a card increases from 2 to A, not affected by its suit.

A tuple is a group of same rank cards.

A group of 5 cards is called:
- 4 of a kind: 1 4-tuple and a single card, example: 7-Heart, 7-Diamond, 7-Club, 7-Spade, K-Spade
- full house: 1 3-tuple and 1 pair (2-tuple), example: 7-Heart, 7-Diamond, 7-Club, K-Club, K-Spade
- flush: 5 same suit cards, example: 3-Heart, 7-Heart, 8-Heart, 10-Heart, K-Heart
- straight : 5 sequential cards (A2345 is a straight and it is second to 10JQKA only). Example:
3-Heart, 4-Club, 5-Heart, 6-Spade , 7-Diamond
- 3 of a kind: 1 3-tuple and 2 single cards, example: 7-Heart, 7-Diamond, 7-Club, 9-Club, K-Spade
- 2 pairs: 2 pairs and 1 single card, example: 7-Heart, 7-Diamond, K-Club, K-Spade, 9-Club
- 1 pair: 1 pair and 3 single cards, example: 7-Heart, 7-Diamond, 9-Club, 10-Spade, Q-Club
- high card: not in above types

A group of 3 cards is called:
- 3 of a kind: 1 3-tuple
- 1 pair: 1 pair and 1 single card
- high card: not in above types

Special hand:

13 cards are called a special hand when:
Type A:
- dragon flush: 13 cards are same suit
- dragon straight: 13 cards are sequential of rank from 2 to A
- one color: 13 cards are same color, red or black

Type B:
- straight flush: 5 cards are flush and also a straight
- 6 pair: has 6 pairs or 5 pairs and 1 3-tuple
- 4 of a kind: has a 4-tuple
- 3 full houses: has 2 full houses and 1 3-tuple
- 3 flushes: has 2 flushes and 3 remain cards are same suit
- 3 straights: has 2 straights and 3 remain cards are sequential of rank


2 special hands are draw.

A special hand wins all normal hands and the winner obtains 12 points for type A and 6 points for type B

Normal hand:
If 13 cards are not a special hand, they should be arranged into 3 branches with rule:
- 3 cards in the top
- 5 cards in the middle
- 5 cards in the bottom
- the higher branch is not stronger than the lower (like a tower, the higher the floor, the smaller the diameter)


Rule to compare 2 branches:
- strength of a branch decreases by its type: full house, flush, straight, 3 of a kind, 2 pairs, 1 pair, high card
- if two branches are same type , the stronger is the one:
+ full house: has the stronger 3-tuple
+ flush: has stronger cards
+ straight: has stronger cards
+ 3 of a kind: has the stronger 3-tuple
+ 2 pairs: has the stronger pair. If pairs are same then has the stronger single card
+ 1 pair: has the stronger pair. If pairs are same then has the stronger single cards
+ high card: has stronger cards


Rule to compare 2 normal hands: compare branch by branch top, middle, bottom correspondingly in two hands. The stronger branch has 1 point, the other has 0 point. The stronger hand is the one has bigger total points. Player has the stronger hand wins and scores.
Formula: score = winner hand total point - loser hand total point


Bad hand:
If a normal hand is arranged against the rule, the player lose 9 points, and the opponent wins that score.


SUGGESTION STRATEGY

These are some some best practice strategies I heard:

- try to have 3-branch win (complete win) because it is equal to 3 normal wins. Normally, full house/ straight/ A is good enough to have a complete win.
- full house/ any/ max (f1 - attack). So: full house/ pair/ A; full house / pair/ pair often seen
- flush or less/ max/ avg (f2 -defend). So: flush/ 2 pairs/ J often seen
- weak hand: avoid a complete defeat: any/ max/ avg (vs f1); any/ avg/ max (vs f2); so: any/ A/ A; pair/ pair/ pair often seen

Happy discovering your best strategy for each game set!
Good luck!