Big two

The game has many names, including big deuce and top dog. In Cantonese, it is 鋤大弟 (chor dai di, Jyutping: co⁴ daai⁶ di²). In Hokkien, it is 十三 (cap sa, Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cha̍p-saⁿ, lit. 'thirteen'), a name which is also commonly used in Indonesia. In Malta, it is often referred to as ciniza ("Chinese") or giappuniza ("Japanese"). A variant of the game is called pusoy dos in Filipino and chikicha in other Philippine languages.

One by one, the entire 52-card deck is dealt out equally to all players. Any leftover cards are put aside. Joker cards are not used.

At the beginning of each round, the player with the 3♦ (or the 3♣ if no one has the 3♦) starts by playing it singly or as part of a combination (see § Combinations). Each subsequent player must play a higher-ranked card or combination than the one before, with the same number of cards. Players may pass their turn, meaning they choose not to play or they do not have the cards to make a play. (If a player has passed their turn, they can still play on their next turn.)

Once all players pass, a round is over and cards that were played remain in a waste-pile. A new round is started with all players, initiated by the player who played the last hand.

A match ends when one player has played all of the cards in their hand; this player wins the match. Scores can be tabulated according to the method laid out in § Scoring.

Combinations

Cards can be played as singles or in groups of 2, 3, or 5.

The value of a card is first determined by its rank, in the following order, from highest to lowest: 2, Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.

The suit functions as a tie-breaker. The order of suits, from highest to lowest, is:

• ♠ Spades
• ♥ Hearts
• ♣ Clubs
• ♦ Diamonds

Thus, the highest-ranked card is 2♠, and the lowest-ranked card is 3♦.

The following are the valid trick combinations. The ranking of a combination is based on its highest ranking card, unless stated.

• Singles: Any individual card.
• Pairs: Two cards of the same rank.
• Triples: Three cards of the same rank.
• Five-card combinations, ranked lowest to highest:
  • Straight: Any five consecutive cards, but not all of the same suit. Note that the highest ranking straight is A-K-Q-J-10, and the lowest ranking straight is 5-4-3-2-A.
  • Flush: Any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence. Unlike all other hands, ranking is based on suit.
  • Full house: Three cards of the same rank and two cards of another matching rank. Ranking is based on the highest ranking card of the triple.
  • Four-of-a-kind: Four cards of the same rank, plus one additional card. Ranking is based on the highest ranking card of the four-of-a-kind.
  • Straight flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit.

Scoring

The player to play all of their cards in their hand is the winner. Scores can be used to pay the winner if played as a gambling game.

For the players with cards, each card gives the player 1 point, unless they have 10 or more cards, in which case each card gives 2 points. Usually, more matches are played until a player receives 50 points in total, at which point the player with the lowest score wins the game.