Dou Dizhu · Rules

1. The goal: one landlord against two farmers

Three players race to empty their hands. Bidding chooses one landlord for this hand; the other two become farmers and play as a team against the landlord. Roles are chosen again next hand.

If the landlord goes out first, the landlord wins alone. If either farmer goes out first, both farmers win. You do not collect point cards, and you do not wait for everyone to finish.

2. The deal and the three-card kitty

Use one 54-card deck, including the small and big jokers. Deal 17 cards to each player and leave 3 in the kitty. Nobody receives the kitty during bidding; after bidding, the landlord adds all three to their hand.

Play therefore starts with 20 cards for the landlord and 17 for each farmer. No cards are buried again. There are no trumps, level cards, wild cards, tribute or kitty-capture points: do not import Tractor or Guandan rules.

3. Bidding 1, 2 or 3

A random seat bids first; each player gets one turn in seat order. Choose No bid, or 1, 2 or 3, strictly above the current highest bid. After a bid of 2, the only choices are 3 or No bid.

A bid of 3 ends bidding immediately. Otherwise the highest bidder becomes landlord after all three turns. For example: you bid 1, the next player passes, the last bids 2; the last player is landlord. If everyone declines, shuffle and redeal rather than appointing a random landlord. The winning bid is the scoring base, not a target number of captured points.

4. Card order, suits and the special role of 2

Singles rank low to high: 3 < 4 < 5 < 6 < 7 < 8 < 9 < 10 < J < Q < K < A < 2 < small joker < big joker. Suits never break a tie: a spade ace and a heart ace are equal and cannot beat each other.

You may play 2 as a single, pair, triple or attachment, but not inside the consecutive body of a straight, pair run or airplane. A follows K only; it cannot wrap around to 2 and 3. No card can change rank as a wild card.

5. All ordinary combinations at a glance

These are the ordinary combinations. A plus sign means the cards are submitted together, not on separate turns.

• Single: A; pair: AA; triple: AAA.
• Triple with single: 333 + 8; triple with pair: 333 + 88.
• Straight: 34567, at least five consecutive singles.
• Pair run: 334455, at least three consecutive pairs.
• Bare airplane: 333 + 444, at least two consecutive triples.
• Airplane with singles: 333 + 444 + 5 + 8; with pairs: 333 + 444 + 55 + 88.
• Four with two singles: 6666 + 3 + 9; four with two pairs: 6666 + 33 + 99.

Different ordinary shapes cannot beat each other. A straight cannot beat a single, and a triple with pair cannot beat a straight, even with the same card count. Bombs and the rocket are separate special combinations.

6. Singles, pairs and triples

A single is one card. A pair is two equal ranks, such as KK; a triple is three equal ranks, such as 777. Compare rank only: A beats K, KK beats QQ, and 888 beats 777. Equal is not higher.

A pair does not need matching suits: equal ranks in one deck have different suits. The two jokers together are a rocket, not a pair; played separately, the big joker beats the small one. A triple may be played without attachments.

7. Triple with single or pair: compare the triple

A triple with single has three equal cards plus one other rank, four cards total: 777 + A. A triple with pair has a triple plus a pair of another rank, five total: 777 + AA. Attachments cannot share the triple rank.

Only the triple decides strength: 888 + 3 beats 777 + A, and 888 + 33 beats 777 + AA. The four-card shape cannot beat the five-card shape, and a bare triple cannot beat an attached triple. A 2 may be an attachment; either joker may be the single attachment.

8. Straights: five or more with no gaps

A straight contains at least five consecutive ranks, one card of each rank: 34567, 456789, or 10 J Q K A. Suits can be mixed. A same-suit straight has no extra strength here.

No 2 or joker is allowed, and no rank may be skipped: A2345, JQKA2 and 8 9 10 J K are invalid. To beat a straight, use the same number of cards and a higher top card. Thus 45678 beats 34567, but the six-card 456789 cannot answer the five-card 34567.

9. Pair runs: at least three consecutive pairs

A pair run needs at least three pairs, six cards total: 334455, 778899, or 10 10 J J Q Q K K A A. Each rank occurs exactly twice. Two pairs such as 3344 are not enough.

No 2 or joker may appear. Match the number of pairs, then compare the highest pair: 445566 beats 334455, but the four-pair 33445566 cannot beat the three-pair 334455. Unlike Guandan, this game allows runs longer than three pairs.

10. Airplanes: a body of consecutive triples

An airplane body contains at least two consecutive triples, such as 333 + 444 or 777 + 888 + 999. The body excludes 2 and jokers. QQQ + KKK + AAA is valid; KKK + AAA + 222 is not.

Play it bare or add the wings described next. Bare airplanes must have the same number of triples; compare the highest triple. For example, 444 + 555 beats 333 + 444. The gap in 333 + 555 makes it invalid.

11. How many airplane wings?

For each triple, add one single OR one pair; do not mix the two styles. A two-triple body 333 + 444 has 6 cards bare, 8 with singles 5 + 8, or 10 with pairs 55 + 88. A three-triple body needs three singles or three pairs.

This site allows a pair to supply two single wings, for example 333 + 444 + 55. Pair wings must be pairs of distinct ranks. Wings may include 2, but may not reuse any body rank or contain both jokers together. Answers must match body size and wing style; only the body decides strength, never the wings.

12. Four with two: ordinary, not a bomb

Four with two singles means four equal cards plus two other cards, six total: 6666 + 3 + 9. Here those two cards may form a pair, as in 6666 + 99, but cannot be both jokers together.

Four with two pairs has eight cards: a four-of-a-kind plus two pairs of distinct ranks, such as 6666 + 33 + 99. The selection 6666 + 7777 is not valid. Match the exact four-with-two shape and compare only the four-card body. With attachments this is an ordinary combination: it neither acts as a bomb nor doubles the score.

13. Bombs and the rocket

A bomb is exactly four equal ranks played alone, such as 3333 or KKKK. Any bomb beats any ordinary combination regardless of card count. Among bombs, higher rank wins: KKKK beats QQQQ.

The big and small jokers played together form the rocket. It beats every bomb and ordinary combination, and nothing can beat it. Merely holding four equal cards does not make every selection a bomb: playing three of them, or adding attachments, is different. Separate joker singles are not a rocket.

14. The beating checklist: shape, count, then body

Look at the last successful play. Except for bombs and the rocket, answer with the same shape, same card count and higher body. Attached triples, airplanes and four-with-two compare bodies only. Straights and pair runs compare their highest rank. A tie cannot beat a play.

999 + 33 beats 888 + AA. A five-card straight 9 10 J Q K cannot beat the five-card 333 + 44; AA cannot beat a single K. You cannot bundle unrelated combinations into one play. You may split combinations in your hand, provided the cards actually selected form a legal, winning answer.

15. Leading, passing and starting a fresh round

The landlord leads first with any legal combination; there is no requirement to include the diamond 3. Turns then follow seat order. When following, play a stronger legal answer or Pass, even if you could beat it. A player with a free lead cannot pass.

After a successful play, if both other players pass in succession, that round ends and the last player to play leads freely. If you play KK and both pass, you may next lead a single 3; it need not beat KK. Passing once does not exclude you for the whole hand: you may answer on a later turn if the round is still active.

16. Farmer cooperation and the exact end of a hand

The two farmers share victory. Letting a partner stay on top is often useful, but beating a partner is legal when you want control. Cooperation is strategy, not a rule forbidding an overtake. The landlord has no partner and makes no hidden-partner call.

The hand ends immediately when someone empties their hand. A landlord finish wins alone; either farmer finishing wins for both, however many cards the other farmer still holds. Nobody gets a chance to beat that final play, and there is no continued race for second or third place.

17. Scoring: calculate P, then distribute points

Scores are virtual points, not cash and not the face-value points of 5, 10 or K. Let B be the winning bid, 1, 2 or 3, and N the number of doublings. Then P = B × 2 to the power N. Without any doubling, P equals B.

• Landlord wins: landlord +2P; each farmer −P.
• Farmers win: landlord −2P; each farmer +P.

With a bid of 2 and no doubling, a landlord win pays +4, −2, −2; a farmer win reverses the signs. The three changes sum to zero and are added to cumulative scores. There is no level-to-A progression in Dou Dizhu.

18. What doubles the score?

Each bomb or rocket actually played multiplies the whole hand by 2. A spring or reverse spring adds one further doubling. This affects everyone's settlement, not only the player whose cards were beaten.

With a bid of 1, one bomb and one rocket, and no spring, P = 1 × 2 × 2 = 4. Four-with-two, straights and unused bombs do not double anything. This version adds no separate reveal-hand multiplier, rebidding multiplier or penalty based on cards left.

19. Spring and reverse spring count successful plays

Spring: the landlord wins and neither farmer has successfully played even once. If either farmer has played a combination, there is no landlord spring. Passing is not a successful play.

Reverse spring: the farmers win and the landlord made exactly one successful play, the opening play. Count plays, not cards: a five-card straight on the opening counts once. A second successful landlord play removes reverse spring. Either kind of spring adds exactly one doubling.

20. A worked hand, from bid to score

You bid 2 and both others decline. As landlord, take the kitty and lead 34567. Farmer A beats it with 45678; farmer B passes, then you pass. Farmer A now leads freely and may switch to a pair. Later you play one bomb and eventually go out first.

Farmer A has played, so there is no spring. B = 2; one bomb makes P = 2 × 2 = 4. You gain 8 and each farmer loses 4. If a farmer instead goes out and the landlord has played more than once, there is no reverse spring: you lose 8 and each farmer gains 4.

21. Controls, suggestions, automatic play and saves

Click a card to select it, click again to deselect, then press Play. Sort rearranges your hand. An invalid shape or an answer that is too small is rejected without removing the cards; read the message and adjust. You need not select cards to Pass.

Suggestion selects a recommended action and explains why; it does not submit it or guarantee a win. Auto play can act for you, with an adjustable interval and an off switch. The browser saves unfinished progress for Continue. Play again after settlement keeps cumulative scores. New game abandons the current hand and deals again; an unfinished hand adds no score.

22. Common mistakes and the four-line reminder

Check the cards actually selected. Frequent errors include an extra or missing card, a 2 inside a straight, only two pairs in a pair run, missing airplane wings, or trying to beat one ordinary shape with another.

Remember: ordinary answers match shape and count; bombs cross shapes; two passes give the last player a free lead; either farmer going out wins for both. These chapters describe this site's single-deck, three-player version, including the attachment choices stated above, not every regional variant or Guandan rule.

23. The match: first to 30 individual net points

All three players start at zero. Add each hand's signed result to each person's cumulative score, including losses. This is not a total of wins only, nor a combined farmer-team score. After a hand settles, anyone at or above 30 wins the match, which ends immediately.

A player on 24 who gains 8 reaches 32 and wins; exactly 30 is not required. If both farmers reach the target in the same hand, they are joint winners. Before the target, Play again keeps totals and Continue restores both hand and scores. The final result shows hand and cumulative points. Start new match resets all three players to zero.