You will have to admire the way to play Four Colors cards of the masters in this card game community. Let’s explore the good playing methods through the article below!
What is Four Colors cards?
Many sources claim that Four Colors cards are types of playing cards originating from the neighboring country of China. Later, the card deck was imported into our country and attracted a large number of players.
This game is familiar to people in the central provinces down to the south, while it is less played in the north. Four Colors has a rather complex gameplay with its own rules, creating many intellectual challenges for players. Speaking of gameplay, To Tom is also a similar game that does not use the standard 52-card deck, which you can learn more about.
How to play Four Colors cards: Names of Four Colors cards
How many cards are there in Four Colors? Unlike the standard 52-card deck, Four Colors cards have a total of 112 cards. The special thing is that all these cards are in Chinese characters, not numbered 2, 3, 4,…
A Four Colors card deck is divided into 7 ranks (7 armies) including:
- General
- Advisor
- Elephant
- Chariot
- Cannon
- Horse
- Mouse.
Each rank is divided into 16 cards with 4 different colors:
- 4 Red cards
- 4 Yellow cards
- 4 Green cards
- 4 White cards
That is also the reason why this game is called Four Colors cards, meaning four colors.
How to arrange Four Colors cards: Valid Four Colors card groups
In addition to the regulation of 112 cards and the armies, Four Colors cards also have regulations about card groups to calculate valid points. Valid Four Colors card groups will include:
- General card: 1 unique general.
- Pair of cards that are the same in both rank and color: 1 pair.
- Set of 3 cards that are the same in rank and color.
- Set of 4 cards that are the same in both rank and color.
- A set of three cards: General, Advisor, and Elephant – of the same color.
- Set of 3 cards including: Chariot, Cannon, and Horse of the same color.
- A set of 3 or 4 Mouse cards but of different colors.
At the beginning of the game, each player will be dealt 20 cards (the first player will have 21 cards). These cards will be divided into 2 parts:
- One part is face up, called public cards. The public card part will not have many valid Four Colors groups.
- The remaining part is kept in hand, called personal cards. The personal part may have cards that do not belong to the Four Colors group.
The player’s task is to find a way to eliminate the cards that do not belong to this Four Colors group.
How to arrange Four Colors cards: Specially named card groups
The Four Colors card deck also has some card groups with special names that players must know to use. The card groups include:
- Quàn group: is a group of 4 identical cards when just drawn. Players can reveal the Quàn group for opponents to see.
- Khạp group: is a group of 3 identical cards. The person with the Khạp group must inform the other players how many Khạp groups they have.
- Khui group: is a group of waste cards that hit another person’s Khạp group. At this point, the opponent will take the card and form a group of 4 identical cards.
The decisive score of the game will be calculated based on the Quàn, Khạp, and Khui groups.Because of this, these card groups are extremely important.
Guide to Playing Four Color Cards Simply for Beginners
Four Color Cards have a quite unique way of playing, different from many types of cards today. How to Play Four Color Cards goes through the following stages:
Dealing Four Color Cards
Unlike the way to play Tiến Lên cards, each player in this game will be dealt 20 cards. The player who goes first will be dealt 21 cards. The remaining cards will be placed in the center as the draw pile.
Dealing cards consists of 2 main parts:
- One part is face down, only the receiver knows.
- The remaining part is dealt face up for everyone to see.
Each player will have 4 playing positions, with 5 cards in each position. The leftover cards will remain as they are. All players have the right to draw cards when it is their turn to play.
How to Win and Play Cards
The player with 21 cards will be the one to start playing. Usually, this card will be a junk card called Tỳ. At this point, the next player will play, with 2 cases:
- Case 1: If unable to win the Tùy card, the player must draw an additional card from the draw pile. If they still cannot win after drawing, they lose their turn.
- Case 2: If they win the Tỳ card, the player will take that card and continue to play another card from their hand.
This rule continues to occur in a cycle until the end. The goal is to eliminate junk cards from your hand. The first person to run out of junk cards will win. If no one wins and the draw pile has 7 cards left, everyone will tie.
Guide to Playing Four Color Cards: Complete Rules
The rules of this game are also very different from the popular card game rules today. New players will be very confused because there are many rules and they are quite difficult. Please read carefully.
a. Special Card Winning Rules
The special card winning rules prioritize special cases as follows:
- Winner: The player who can win the Tỳ card to complete their hand will win that round.
- Khạp Card Group: The Khạp group can never be broken to form a group with other cards. However, if the Tỳ card matches a card in the Khạp, the player with the Khạp must win the Tỳ to create a Khui.
- Priority for Pairs: When a player has a pair in hand, they must win the Tỳ card that matches this pair.
Additionally, this way of playing also has 2 exceptions:
- This rule does not apply to win the Tỳ card if it is a general card.
- Cannot win a pair if there are 2 junk cards that are different mice, 1 car – 1 horse, 1 car – 1 cannon, 1 cannon – 1 horse.
b. Compensation Rules in the Four Color Card Game
The compensation rule in the Four Color Card Game is applied when someone breaks the rules to cheat.
When winning the Tỳ card, the player must lay down the worst junk card in their hand. If they do not comply, the player will be penalized and must compensate the entire table. How to calculate the win or loss?
c. Scoring Rules
At the end of each round, points will be calculated to determine the winner. The scoring method is as follows:
- Pair: No points received
- General: 1 point received
- 3 Khui cards: 1 point received
- 4 Khui cards: 6 points received
- Khạp in hand: 3 points received
- Quằn in hand: 8 points received
- Four different colored markers: 4 points received
- Reached: 3 points received
The total points must ultimately be an odd number.If the number of commands is even, it is certain that the rules have been played incorrectly and may likely result in a penalty. The penalty amount that the player must pay is calculated as (3 + number of commands) + 10. If the winner has Quàn or Khui, the amount will be (3 + number of commands)*2 + 10. If the winner has Quàn, Khui, or Khạp, they will receive money from the dealer and only pay for Quàn, Khui.
Discover 6 ways to play Tứ Sắc to win against the dealer
Tứ sắc is a folk game, but without mastering the following 6 elite ways to play Tứ Sắc, it will be difficult for you to achieve easy victories.
1/ Remember each card and the deck in Tứ Sắc
Not only in Tứ Sắc but in most gambling games, players should learn to remember their opponent’s cards. Specifically in the fastest way to remember Tiến Lên cards, Vaobo88 has also mentioned this issue.
This Tứ Sắc card-playing trick is not redundant since Tứ Sắc only has characters without images; if you are familiar, it is very easy to approach the game.
When you are not familiar, remembering the characteristics of each card, arranging them into even and odd sets to complete the hand is basic knowledge that must be read carefully, learned thoroughly, and memorized.
2/ Master the even-odd rules of Tứ Sắc
Quite similar to Phỏm when you have to make “even” 20 cards in hand, however, Tứ Sắc is quite difficult with stricter regulations. The “even” set in Tứ Sắc includes even, odd, tướng, and tốt.
Tướng and Tốt are quite easy to arrange into sets, but the concepts of Even & Odd are easy to understand, yet when playing, you must pay close attention; otherwise, you may easily be penalized:
- When taking a discarded card from the previous player, priority must be given: take it to create an even set first, then create an odd set.
- Even if you are sitting next to that discarded card, if you take it into an odd set while someone at the table can take the discarded card first to create an even set, that person will be prioritized.
- If you cannot create an even-odd set, you must reveal the cards on Tỳ.
This is just the basic rule, but it is quite tricky compared to Phỏm or other card types. If you are a newcomer, you should remember it well to avoid mistakes.
3/ Smartly complete your hand
Like in Phỏm, you will have to discard 1 card from your hand if you take 1 discarded card.
You must be very smart in how you arrange your cards, noting that in Tứ Sắc, completing your hand is winning, not having the largest cards.
Thus, you need to know which card to keep that opens up more opportunities to complete your hand, meaning it fits into both even and odd sets, only discarding cards that truly have no chance of completing your hand.
4/ Your mindset must be strong, focused, and quick in calculations
A round of Tứ Sắc happens very quickly; if you are not focused and do not calculate quickly, you may easily lose an important card.
Therefore, always be in a ready position, quickly calculate strategies, and anticipate the needed cards.
On the other hand, your mindset should be relaxed but always firm and steady when participating in this game.
5/ Remember the cards well
Like other card types, the discarded cards that have appeared on the table will reflect part of what the other players may be holding.
Remember the discarded cards that have appeared, each playing door’s choice to take or pass; this will be a basis for you to make the best overall judgment of the table, leading to the most reasonable discarded card.
6/ Do not participate in the Belly cards
In general, everyone wants to form a “pair,” but Tứ Sắc or any other gambling game has a significant impact from random variables.
Don’t be greedy for the Belly card and tear your single cards; be careful not to lose everything.
How to play Tứ Sắc online
The online Tứ Sắc card game also has cards and gameplay similar to traditional play.
With cards: even, mixed, odd, trash. This way of playing cards is not difficult:
- Find a reputable game portal that offers this game, ensuring payout rates.
- Register an account, deposit money according to the bookmaker’s regulations.
- Read the rules carefully, including the scoring system of the bookmaker you choose.
- Start the game.
Where to buy Tứ Sắc cards?
A standard deck of cards is made from thick cardboard, in a long rectangular shape. When playing, it feels quite sturdy in hand.
Vaobo88 does not sell this deck, only suggesting you look on major e-commerce sites in Vietnam like Shopee, Lazada,…
According to publicly available sources, a large Tứ Sắc deck with 112 round cards costs from 75,000,000 VND.
Finding and purchasing is very simple; just type it online, and you’ll find it right away.
If you are passionate about exploring gambling games originating from China, then the rules of playing Tiến Lên Trung Quốc, how to play Bull Bull also have quite interesting rules.
Conclusion
In summary, to learn how to play Tứ Sắc, players need to practice a lot to master the skills and accumulate more experience to win.
Hopefully, through this article, you can easily practice playing.
If you understand and grasp the effective money-making tips, you can visit reputable online casinos here to start registering and placing bets.
Thank you for your interest in following. Wishing you success!