Strategy with Kristy: Nikolai Yakovenko Discusses Open-Face Chinese Poker Strategy Part 1
Nikolai Yakovenko is a poker player, programmer, and creator of the ABC Chinese Poker app. This week, Yakovenko comes on the Strategy with Kristy podcast to discuss open-face Chinese poker strategy.
In part one of this interview, Yakovenko goes into depth on how to place your five-card starting hand. Here's a snippet from the interview:
"You're trying to make three hands at once, which sounds super complicated, but it's really not. From the beginning, you basically want to be in a position where you can take advantage of a good card if you get one. For example, that's why people tend to put a pair on the bottom if they are dealt one as their starting hand. If they get three of a kind, they can play it. Whereas that would be too strong of a hand to play in the middle.
"I would propose that when you get your five starting cards, you want to have a plan for what hand you want to make on the bottom. Whether you start with a pair which can turn into trips, two pair or a full house, or you're going for a straight or a flush. Then, you're pretty much going to stick with that. In the middle, you want to make a lesser hand. You want to make a pair, or maybe ace-high. On top, you basically want to get at least a face card."
Last week, Yakovenko debuted an article on PokerNews discussing the strategy of setting your first five cards in open-face Chinese poker. You can read that article by clicking here.
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