More on Big 2

Big Two is very popular in East Asia, especially in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It can be played both casually and in casinos. It is normally played with three or four players. The object of the game is to get rid of all cards.

Either the entire deck or a maximum of 13 cards per player are dealt. A standard 52-card deck, with thirteen cards in four suits is used. Twos are the highest cards. The rest of the cards are ranked normally. Suits serve as a tie-breaker. Spades beats all suits, hearts beats clubs and diamonds, clubs beats diamonds, and diamonds is the lowest suit.

The player who starts the trick plays a certain combination of 1 to 5 cards and other players have either to beat it with a higher combination that contains the same number of cards or pass. When all but one player have passed, the one who did not wins the trick and starts a new one.

Combinations in Big Two are very much like poker hands with the difference of two being the high card, suit breaking ties and a possibility to play a single card. 1, 2 and 3 card combinations can only be beaten by the same combination. 5 cards can also be beaten by a higher ranked combination. Two equal combinations (except Flush) are compared by the highest card or, if the highest cards are equal, by the suit of the highest card.

Big 2 Rankings:

The Big Two combinations are ranked as follows:

• Single Card: any single card.
• Pair: two cards of the same rank.
• Three of a Kind: three cards of the same rank.
• Straight: five cards in sequence. Twos are not high in straights (for example, 2-3-4-5-6 is a legal straight, while J-Q-K-A-2 is not). Straight is the lowest 5-card combination.
• Flush: five cards of the same suit. Flush is different from other combinations because it is ranked by suit, when the highest card is a tie-breaker(for example, 2-5-7-9-10 of spades beats 8-10-J-K-A of hearts, but is beaten by 8-10-J-K-A of spades). Flush beats a straight regardless of the cards it consists of.
• Full House: Three of a Kid plus a Pair. Two Full Houses are compared by the highest card in the Three of a Kind combination, while the Pair does not have any influence.
• Four of a Kind: four cards of the same rank with any fifth card, which does not affect the combination. Four of a Kind beats Full House, Flush and Straight.
• Straight Flush: five cards of the same suit in sequence. Straight Flush follows the rules of Straight, where twos are low. Straight Flash beats Four of a Kind and lower 5-card combinations.
• Royal Flush: A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. Royal Flush is the highest combination and can not be beaten.

How are the Cards Dealt?

The cards in Big Two are dealt and played in a counter-clockwise direction, as far as all players have an equal number of cards. When the number of cards left in the kitty is lower than the number of players, the player who holds the diamond three (the lowest card) receives the leftover cards and starts playing with a combination that contains the diamond three. If the lowest card is not dealt, the player who holds the next card (diamond four and so on) receives the remaining cards. The first player who runs out of cards wins the game.