Last spring, Run It Up Reno introduced its first-ever Taiwanese Poker tournament. It drew 81 entries and RIU’s own Director of Operations, Andre Hengchua (pictured), took it down in a three-way chop for $1,767.
It was the first tournament of its kind and its gaining popularity among many RIU warriors. This time around at the Peppermill, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to get their feet wet in this new variant of poker.
The scoring system is similar to Chinese Poker. So if you have experience with that game, you’ll have very few hiccups transitioning to Taiwanese.
Here’s how the game works.
Each player is dealt seven cards and they will break it into three separate hands – a one-card hand up top, a two-card hold’em hand in the middle, and a four-card Omaha hand in the back. Then a flop, turn, and river are dealt out across the middle of the table, as in any other flop game where players are all in.
Then you score your hands against each other. You play your one-card hand against everybody else’s one-card hand, your hold’em hand against their hold’em hand, and your Omaha hand against everybody’s Omaha hand.
Winning the one-card hand is worth one point, winning the hold’em hand is worth two points and winning the Omaha hand is worth three points, but the scoring doesn’t stop there. If you scoop an opponent and win all three hands, you get an extra three points as a bonus. There are also bonus points, known as royalties to veterans of Chinese Poker, for specific hand rankings in different spots.
The graphic below details the entire scoring system.
Hengchua may have won the first-ever RIU trophy in, but there will be multiple opportunities for you to take home the next Taiwanese RIU trophy.
There is a $125 Taiwanese poker event with a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool on Monday, October 22 at 5 p.m. and a $125 double board Taiwanese poker event on the final day of the series, Monday, October 29 at 5 p.m. There is also a rake-free Taiwanese cash game hangout tomorrow, Sunday October 21 at 8 p.m., which is a perfect time for you to learn the game and get your feet wet in this popular new variant that will be at future Run It Up Reno stops.
