Each player receives 13 cards in Chinese Poker. The hand must be arranged with 3 cards in front, 5 cards in the middle and 5 cards in back. The back hand has to beat or equal the middle 5 cards in poker ranking and the middle 5 cards have to beat the front 3 cards.

Each player's back hand must rank higher than their middle and front hands, their middle hand must rank higher than the front hand but lower than the back hand, and the front hand must rank lower than the back and middle hands. Chinese Poker is played with one standard 52-card deck which does not include a joker.