Introduction

Big Two (also known as Dai Di in Cantonese) is a shedding card game. The game is very popular in East Asia and Southeast Asia, especially in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Best played among four players, the game's objective is to be the first to empty one's hand of all cards.

Basic Gameplay

A standard 52 card pack is used, the cards ranking from high to low: 2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3. (Hence the name, Big Two). There is also an ordering of suits - from high to low: spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds.

For each round, players will have to play one of the following three types of legal play: single cards, pairs, and five card groups. The type will be chosen by the player who makes the first turn in each round. (More on this later.)

The player who holds the three of diamonds begins the first round and must play this card, using one of the three types of legal play. Following a clockwise rotation, players continue to either "Play" or "Pass", the latter involving playing no cards.

This may continue for several circuits, until three players pass consecutively. When this happens, the player who put the last card(s) can begin a new round and play any card or legal combination of cards.

The game ends when one of the players has played all their cards.

The next three sections will focus on the three aforementioned types of legal play.

Single cards

These rank from two (high) down to three (low), and between cards of the same rank a higher suit beats a lower suit.

Pairs

A pair of equal ranked cards - twos are highest and threes are lowest.
Between equal ranked pairs, the one containing the highest suit is better - for example a 9 of spades and 9 of diamonds will beat the other pair of 9's.

Five card groups

There are five types of playable five-card combinations. In ascending order they are: Straight, Flush, Full House, Four Of A Kind, and Straight Flush.

1. A Straight consists of five cards of consecutive rank with mixed suits.
   When comparing straights, the set with the higher rank card is better, with suits of the highest rank card being used as a tie-breaker.
   In other words:
   3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < 2-3-4-5-6 < A-2-3-4-5, and
   3-4-5-6-7 with the 7 of spades will beat 3-4-5-6-7 with the 7 of hearts, regardless of the suits of the other 8 cards.


2. A Flush consists of any five cards of the same suit.
   A flush in a higher suit beats a flush in a lower suit. The highest rank card of each flush is used as a tie-breaker when both players play the same suit in their flushes.
   For example, 3-5-6-7-9, all in hearts, will beat 9-10-J-K-2, all in clubs, which beats 5-6-7-8-A, all in clubs.


3. A Full House consists of three cards of one rank and two of another rank
   Between two full houses, the one whose triple is of higher rank is better - so for example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-K-K.


4. A Four Of A Kind is made up of all four cards of one rank, plus any fifth card.
   Between two fours of a kind, the rank of the four cards determines which is higher.


5. A Straight Flush is five cards that are simultaneously a Straight and a Flush.