NoMercy OFC Crash Course: Be Intelligent in Your Placements

Hello everyone! Welcome to my personal blog on OFC Pineapple (Open Face Chinese Poker). Week after week, I’ll go over the history of the game, some basic rules and recommendations, anecdotes from the players, and finally, some more advanced strategies.  Stay tune and enjoy the Fantasy Ride!

Now that we went over the history of this fantastic game, let’s focus for a while on general advices and basic strategies. We already went over a list of elements that will help you maximise your profits in OFC: remember all the royalties, know your opponents, take your time before you act, and be observant of your live cards.

This next tip will reunite three of these concepts: remember all the royalties, take your time, and be observant.

Let’s take a look at this real play situation that occurred recently on CoinPoker:

I was playing heads up and my opponent was in Fantasyland, so I had no access to live or dead cards, other than my own board. Placing the 5 in the back to complete my full house is a quick reflex that most players should have, which is perfect. However, most players will also place the 6 in the middle, since it is a bigger card than the 4:

Can you see what is the problem with this choice, as opposed to placing the 4 in the middle instead of the 6?

One might claim that making two pairs 6s and 2s in the middle is a higher hand than making two pairs 4s and 2s in the middle. That’s absolutely right, I cannot argue with that.

However, in this particular case, since I have three of the four 5s of the deck, it will be impossible for my opponent to make two pairs 5s high in the middle of his board, so the fact that I make two pairs 4s high or 6s high has no real incidence.

What does have a major incidence is that I can make a full house in the middle for a huge royalty of 12 points.

But if I hit two more 6s, it will be impossible to complete that boat as 6s full is higher than my 5s full in the back. Therefore, by placing my 4 in the middle instead of the 6, I leave my door open to catching two running 4s and make that boat in the middle!

By taking your time and being observant, you will reach the optimum result of being intelligent in your placements, which translate into maximum profits. Remember that every little detail is crucial in this sophisticated game.

Meet me at the OFC tables on CoinPoker to practice your skills and enjoy the action. Welcome to Fantasyland!

Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier

OFC “Progressive” World Champion