OFC Crash Course: Correctly Opening With Two Pairs

I’m Isabelle Mercier, and I’d like to welcome you to my personal blog on OFC Pineapple (Open Face Chinese Poker). We’ll go over the history of the game, basic rules and recommendations, anecdotes from the players, more advanced strategies, hand analysis, and etc. Stay tuned and enjoy the Fantasy-ride!

To become a strong OFC Poker player, openings can make or break your game. The way you will chose to place your initial 5 cards will be the foundation of your hand and it represents a key decision.

Remember that one of the ultimate goals in Chinese Poker is to reach Fantasyland, so starting with the most effective placement will greatly help you get there!

Let’s discuss a common situation in OFC poker: opening with two pairs.

Opening with Two Pairs in OFC Poker

Opening with two pairs in OFC poker already gets more complicated than opening with three of a kind. There are indeed more exceptions that can apply here, and we will look at these.

COMMON RULE:
In general, you will keep your two pairs together on the bottom line, even if these are two very small pairs.

The reason for this is because you will complete that line to make a boat in a lot of hands, and this placement covers your middle row, making it ready for draws such as a pair of Aces or a pair of Kings in the middle. When you open with such a placement, you always place the 5^th card in the middle, unless it’s a King or a Queen, in which case you place it on top.

We say, in general, because there are a few exceptions. Here they are:

Exception #1: When one of the two pairs is AA along with JJ to 22

In this case, you always place your pair of Aces in the middle and the other pair in the back. This placement allows you to be in direct position to access Fantasyland. As for the remaining card, it goes in the middle with the Aces, unless it’s a King or a Queen, then it goes on top. This is explained by the fact that you want to keep your back open for a live card to go along with your pair. Running pairs play much easier than trying to create one from thin air by placing a card on your bottom line in opening, in the dark, first to speak.

Exception #2: When one of the two pairs is AA along KK or QQ

In this situation, the rule is plain and simple: AA goes in the middle, and your pair of Kings or Queens goes on top. The remaining card will go in the back in 100% of the cases. You have no information about live cards, but as opposed to Exception #1 stated above, you do want here to have some foundation, at least one card, hoping to catch cards that connects, hoping to catch anything that starts looking like a back line. It’s already problematic opening with only one card in the back, don’t even think about opening with zero card there when you’re first to act.

Exception #3: When the two pairs are KK and QQ

The same rule as above applies here. You would place KK in the middle and QQ on top, just as you would for AA in the middle and KK or QQ on top, along with the remaining card in the back.

Let’s continue on these exceptions in next week’s blog post!

Be aware of the reasons why you make every single decision in OFC. That’s how you will become a winning player!

Exception #4: When one of the two pairs is KK or QQ and the 5^th card is an Ace

It’s a long title! But you’ll see that it’s not that complicated. We specify in this title that the 5^th card must be an Ace or a King along with QQ / KK; that’s because if it’s not, we go back to the very first line of that chapter that says:

In general, you will keep your two pairs together and place these cards on the bottom line, even if these are two very small pairs.

As such, you will do it “a fortiori” if these are two big pairs! So, hands like KK88 in the back with a 7 in the middle will play really well on the long run. Similarly, hands like QQ66 in the back with a 9 in the middle will play well. These are strong backs as opponents will often place their King or Queen high card on top. Opening with placements such as 88 in the back, 7 in the middle and KK on top is more or less a suicide mission, so you are better keeping your KK88 in the back, even if it feels counter-intuitive at first.

But, and this is the issue with this exception, if you open with a draw such as AKK88:

• You do not want to place your Ace on top, as it will be really difficult to complete a middle that would cover a top row now easily transformable into two Aces;
• You do not want to place your Ace in the middle, as accessing Fantasyland would be nearly impossible with only the Queens left, or a miracle running Aces or running Kings (that did not arrive in two separate draw, preventing you from placing one in the back to make a full house, unless you made it already with one of the remaining 8). Bottom line, this placement would represent a very long shot at accessing Fantasyland.

As a result, you will open with the smallest pair on the bottom, the Ace in the middle, and the KK on top. This will be the fastest and easiest way to Fantasyland!

Exception #5: When one of the two pairs is QQ along with A or K

This is the exact same replica as Exception #4, and for the exact same reasons, you don’t want to end up opening blind with a board such as QQ88 with an Ace in the middle or on top. The correct play will be 88 on the bottom, Ace or King in the middle, and QQ on top.

Be aware of the reasons why you make every single decision in OFC. That’s how you will become a winning player!

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