Where to Play Open Face Chinese Poker in 2021

Times have changed dramatically in the last few years. We, as a people, have changed the most, largely due to the ever-evolving progression of modern technology. When it comes to leisure activities, what we do, and how we do it, undergoes drastic transformations with each passing generation. For poker fans, Texas Hold’em and Omaha remains the most common variants played, but 7 Card Stud and mixed games like Razz and H.O.R.S.E. aren’t the only intriguing alternatives drawing pros to the side tables anymore.

Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC for short) has been around for quite a few years now, but it’s really picking up the pace in 2021. You’ll find the game highlighted at casinos throughout the eastern hemisphere. More and more, we’re seeing it played in gambling halls in the west. What’s not so easy to find, unfortunately, are online OFC games.

Where to Play Open Face Chinese Poker in 2021

For years, it was always the same old websites that offered real money OFC poker. Now, those websites are all gone. I won’t even mention their names, because it’s irrelevant at this point – gone is gone. What we will talk about – what you came here to learn – is where to play OFC online in 2021 and beyond.

It took a great deal of digging, but I’ve come up with three websites that offer Open Face Chinese for real money. They are:

• Poker Saint
• Apuesta Total
• J88 Poker

We’ll talk a bit more about each of these and the services they offer below.

Poker Saint OFC Poker for Players in India

Poker Saint is the top OFC gaming site on our list, due to its high level of integrity. However, it’s only available to players physically located in India, with a valid PAN for registration. If you don’t know what a PAN is, odds are you don’t qualify to play there.

Assuming you are a resident of India (but not the iGaming “restricted states” of Assam, Odisha, Nagaland, Andra Pradesh, Gujrat, Tamil Nadu or Telangana), Poker Saint is probably the best OFC poker site for you. Here’s some of its main features.

Apuesta Total – OFC Poker in Latin America

Apuesta Total (Eng. Total Bet) is an online sportsbook and casino headquartered and regulated in Peru. The website accepts Peruvians, as well as players from most Latin American countries. According to the website, anyone with a valid DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad, or Spanish National ID Card) who resides in a jurisdiction where online gambling is not illegal, is welcome to join. It also helps if you know how to read/speak Spanish, since that’s the only supported language.

The website and its operators are extremely reputable, having followed all of the proper paths of a fully compliant, strictly regulated business. Even with the Curacao eGaming license, their reputation for best business practices goes above and beyond that of most Latin American iGaming operations. To ensure player trust, Apuesta Total employs a UK-licensed payment processing firm; UK being the cream of the crop where iGaming regulation is concerned.

What really stands about about Apuesta Total is the range of gaming options available. First and foremost, it’s a sportsbook, offering single bets, combination bets, and a plethora of live betting options. It’s also a massive online casino, employing a variety of top-rated software brands to deliver hundreds of online slot machines, RNG and live dealer table games, video poker games and other specialities, including Chinese Poker.

Restricted Countries & Territories

Apuesta Total Bookmaker restricts bettors from the following locations: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Belgium, China, Cuba, Denmark, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Norfolk Island, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal. Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, United Kingdom, United States, American Samoa , Guam, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Apuesta Total games of chance (i.e. casino, live casino, etc.) are restricted in the following locations: Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Uruguay, Russia Federal Law. United States of America: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont.

OCF Poker at J88Poker, Serving “Asia and Beyond”

J88Poker was launched in 2017 as a mobile poker room for players from “Asia and beyond”. They’ve succeeded in capturing a large number of Chinese players – evident by the mass of tables during China’s evening hours – as well as modest group of international card players from the rest of the world.

J88 offers an interesting collection of poker games that focus on Asian favorites like Open Face Chinese, Badugi and Badeucy, as well as global favorites like Hold’em and Omaha, plus a few less common titles like 5-Card Omaha, Big Ante Hold’em, and Big O. A vast tournament schedule offers everything from SNGs and Dailies, to Freerolls, KO Bounties and the Super Sonic and 88TRAIN series. Daily Main events guarantee over 400k, with a pair of Sunday Main tournaments that offer prize pools of 200k and 300k each week.

As good as all this sounds, there are some notable negatives to J88Poker. First and foremost, the operation is not licensed or regulated by any governing authority. If something goes wrong, you have no one to turn to for help. Second, it’s not a traditional deposit-and-withdrawal gambling site. Instead of depositing cash to play poker with, you’re using cash to “buy items”. Those items are ‘Crystals’, which can be used to buy into cash games and tournaments. Crystals can also be transferred to/from other players, and sold back to the poker room for withdrawable cash.

The obvious assumption is that playing for digital crystals, instead of actual money, will protect the Asian poker room from the letter of the law. It’s worked for Asian “pachinko” slot machine parlors for years. Why not online casino and poker games?

The website has been around for enough years that its reputation for actually paying out withdrawals is admirable. The biggest problem is that, without regulation, anything below-bar, such as super-user accounts and collusion, could be going on. Since operation is not regulated, it’s not legally bound to protect players from such issues. If it’s happening, you may not know it, and if you suspect it, there’s nothing to be done about it. I suppose the real question is – how badly do you want to play Open Face Chinese Poker online for real money?