Chinese Poker

Basic Play
Four players are each dealt 13 cards. The idea is then to arrange those cards into two 5-card poker hands and a single 3-card poker hand. For the 3-card hand, straights and flushes aren't possible - the best hand is 3 of a kind, then a pair and then no pair.

The cards are arrayed in three rows in front of the player. The two 5-card hands and then the 3-card hand. The row closest to the player must be a better poker hand than the middle row and the middle row must be a better hand than the front row (the 3-card row)

Once all players have arranged their hands, they are turned over and compared in turn to determine the winner. First all back rows are compared and the winner gets points from the losing players. Then the middle row is compared and points awarded. Finally the front row is compared and points awarded.

Scoring
For purposes of scoring, assume the following imaginary reveal:

The hands, of course, are as follows:

Each player now compares all three hands against each other player's three hands. So, if they're playing for $1 a point, each player ends up winning or losing money as follows: Alex: -$5 ($1 to Bob, $1 to Carol, $3 to Debbie) Bob: -$3 ($1 from Alex, $1 to Carol, $3 to Debbie) Carol: +$1 ($1 from Alex, $1 from Bob, $1 to Debbie) Debbie: +$7 ($3 from Alex, $3 from Bob, $1 from Carol)

Discussions
Chinese Poker - 2+2 discussion on this game, including an external link to a book and training program.