QIUQIU

OBJECT OF QIUQIU: The object of QiuQiu is to win bets by making the best hand with your dominoes.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 6 players

MATERIALS: A deck of 28 Indonesian dominoes/cards, chips or money for betting, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Betting Domino/Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adults

OVERVIEW OF QIUQIU

QiuQiu is a betting style game for 2 to 6 players. The goal is to win bets by making the best hand with the dominoes dealt to you.

While a game for 2 to 6 it is best to play with a full group. Also, to note that traditional Indonesian dominoes are not tile but just thick card stock. As with any betting game minimum and maximum bids and antes should always be set before the game is started, and you should always play responsibly.

SETUP AND BETTING

The first dealer is chosen at random and passes to the left for each new deal. Before the cards are shuffled any player wanting to participate in the round must pay an ante into the pot.

The dealer will shuffle the deck and any other player who wishes to shuffle may as well. The dealer will then deal each player a hand of 3 dominoes facedown to start.

Players will view their hands and then there will be a round of betting. The dealer will start. Before a bet is made players will have the option to check or bet. After a bet is made players then have the option to fold, call, or raise. The betting is done when only one player has not folded, or when all remaining players have had a turn to bet and all remaining players have the same amount in the pot.

Once the betting has finished and if more than one player remains the game begins. If only a single player remains unfolded, then they collect the full pot and a new round may begin.

Dominoes and Hand Rankings

The dominoes are set up that there are two sides each containing a number 0 through 6 dots. There is a single combination containing every variation of these two side combinations from 0/0 to 6/6.

The way hands are ranked depends on how a player pairs their dominoes. Each player’s hand will consist of 4 dominoes, and players can pair them to have the best possible hand.

Each hand will consist of two pairs and each pair will have a value. The values are determined by taking the one’s place value of the total between the tiles numbers totals. For example, if you have the 6/6 and the 2/4 as your first pair your total would be (6+6) + (2+4) which equals 18 making your pair value 8.

Your final hand will consist of two values and, when finding ranking, are compared by your best value first. Values can be any number between 0(lowest) and 9(highest). So, the best ordinary hand is 9,9.

SPECIAL HANDS

There are 4 special hands that beat any ordinary hand and they are ranked Enam Dewa (High), Empat Balak, Murni Besar, Murni Kecil (low).

Enam Dewa, also known as six gods, is a full hand of tiles whose values are 6. These tiles are the 3/3, 4/2, 5/1, and 6/0. This is the best possible hand.

Empat Balak, also known as four doubles, is a hand of four double tiles. An example would be 1/1, 3/3, 5/5, and 0/0.

Murni Besar, also known as Pure Big, is a hand that has a total value of 39 or more. An example would be 6/6, 6/5, 6/4, 6/3. This hand has a value of 42.

The final special hand is Murni Kecil, also known as pure small, this is a hand that has a value of 9 or less. An example would be 0/0, 0/1, 0/2, and 0/3. This hand has a value of 6.

GAMEPLAY

Once players have finished the betting round and more than one player remains the game is started. The dealer will deal clockwise to each remaining player another dominoes. From here there will be a second round of bidding.

As above if only one player remains after they take the pot, but if multiple players remain then hands are finalized and shown.  The player with the highest specialty hand wins the pot, or if no specialty hands are present then the player with the highest-ranked ordinary hand wins. If there is a tie, both players split the pot evenly.

END OF GAME

The game ends when a player no longer wishes to play and drops out.   

Amber Crook
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