Dou Dizhu

How to play Dou Dizhu

1. 1Three players and one deck with both jokers. Everyone gets seventeen cards, and three more wait face down for whoever becomes the landlord.
2. 2Bidding goes around once, opening with a different player each deal. Bid 1, 2 or 3 (more than the last bid) or pass; a 3 ends the bidding at once. The top bidder becomes the landlord, turns the three waiting cards face up for all to see and adds them to their hand. The other two play together as farmers. If nobody bids, the cards are thrown in and dealt again.
3. 3Cards rank from 3 (low) through K, A and 2, then the black joker and the red joker on top. Suits never matter.
4. 4Plays: a single, a pair, three of a kind (alone, with one extra card, or with a pair), a run of five or more ranks, three or more pairs in a row, two or more threes of a kind in a row (alone, or each with one extra card or with one pair), and four of a kind with two extra cards or two pairs. Nothing in a row may include a 2 or a joker.
5. 5The landlord leads. In turn, beat the last play with the same kind of play and the same number of cards, only higher, or pass. Passing doesn’t keep you out. Once the other two pass in a row, whoever played last leads anything.
6. 6Four of a kind on its own is a bomb: it beats any other play except a higher bomb. Both jokers together make the rocket, which beats everything.
7. 7The first to empty their hand wins the deal for their side. The stake is the winning bid, doubled for every bomb or rocket played, and doubled again if the losing side was shut out (the farmers never played, or the landlord made only the opening lead). The landlord wins or loses twice the stake and each farmer wins or loses the stake. After six deals, the highest score wins.

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