How to Play C-Pok: Rules, Combos & Scoring

C-Pok is a community Big Two variant — a fast shedding game where you climb with ever-higher combos and race to empty your hand. Here are the full rules.

What is C-Pok?

C-Pok is a community card game in the Big Two family — a climbing/shedding game where you race to empty your hand by playing ever-higher combinations. It keeps Big Two's core but uses its own community rules for suits, flushes and scoring. You can play it free online right here.

Objective

Be the first to empty your hand each round. The player with the lowest total score at the end of the game wins.

Card & suit ranking

Ranks (low to high): 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2.
Suits (low to high): Diamonds ♦, Clubs ♣, Hearts ♥, Spades ♠.
Same rank? The suit breaks the tie — e.g. K♠ beats K♥.

Setup

Each player gets 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck.
The player holding the 3♦ starts the first round (or, if nobody has it, the player with the lowest card overall).
The starting player must include that starting card in their first hand.

Gameplay

On your turn you must play a hand that beats the previous one on the pile, or pass.

You must play the same number of cards as the previous hand (a pair beats a pair, a 5-card hand beats a 5-card hand).
Your hand must be of a higher rank by the hand-type rankings below.
If you can't or won't play higher, you pass — but passing doesn't knock you out; you can re-enter on your next turn.

The pile is cleared and the last player to play starts a fresh trick when all others pass in a row, when the highest possible hand of a type is played, or when a player draws.

Drawing (optional rule): if the deck still has cards and you can't or won't play, you may draw the top card — which automatically clears the pile and ends your turn.

Valid hand types (low to high)

Single — one card (3♦ lowest, 2♠ highest).
Pair — two of a rank (highest card's suit breaks ties).
Three of a kind — three of a rank.
Straight — five in sequence; 10-J-Q-K-A is highest, A-2-3-4-5 lowest; Ace can be high or low; suit of the top card breaks ties.
Flush — five of one suit (not in sequence), ranked only by suit: ♠ > ♥ > ♣ > ♦.
Full house — trips + a pair, ranked by the trips.
Four of a kind + a single — ranked by the four-of-a-kind.
Straight flush — five in sequence, one suit (the top hand).

5-card hands can only be played on other 5-card hands.

Scoring & winning

A round ends the instant a player plays their last card. Everyone still holding cards scores penalty points: 1 point per card (1–9 cards left), 2 per card (10–12 left), or 3 per card (all 13). The game ends by points target, round count, or time limit — and the lowest total score wins.

Play now

Ready to play? Play C-Pok free online — right in your browser. If you enjoy it, try its cousins Big Two, Tien Len and President.