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Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:34 pm
by RSLancastr
I am not able to see any of the pics other than the boxes in the first post. everything else is coming up red x's (file not found).
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:48 pm
by alvinhy
RSLancastr wrote:I am not able to see any of the pics other than the boxes in the first post. everything else is coming up red x's (file not found).
Thats really weird, hmmm you can see the most updated pics on my facebook if you follow me
And regarding kickstarter, Im not sure when the new date is =S Still finishing off the designs.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:40 pm
by RSLancastr
Alvin, I just saw the photos in your FB album - nice!
I'm not yet on Kickstarter so can't help you there, but I wish you the best of luck with this deck!
It's nice to see a deck with a Chinese theme which looks (to my Western eyes, anyway) authentic, and not like another faux-Chinese design of Western origin, like the art on a menu at a fast-food "Chinese" restaurant, if you know what I mean.
In case that wasn't clear, it was a compliment.
-RSL
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:09 pm
by alvinhy
RSLancastr wrote:Alvin, I just saw the photos in your FB album - nice!
I'm not yet on Kickstarter so can't help you there, but I wish you the best of luck with this deck!
It's nice to see a deck with a Chinese theme which looks (to my Western eyes, anyway) authentic, and not like another faux-Chinese design of Western origin, like the art on a menu at a fast-food "Chinese" restaurant, if you know what I mean.
In case that wasn't clear, it was a compliment.
-RSL
haha thanks for that

ill keep you guys updated on facebook.
As for it being authentic, its hard not to be because im chinese myself.
it wwould be hard to fake other cultures for me too

Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:18 pm
by RSLancastr
Hey, Alvin!
Since you are Chinese, perhaps you can answer something for me:
I have seen decks of playing cards made in China (to be sold in America) which have the word "PUKE" printed on the front of the box.
This startled me the first time I saw it (in English, the word "puke" is slang for "vomit"), but after I saw it many times I thought perhaps "PUKE" was an approximation of how a speaker of Chinese would pronounce the English word "poker".
Do you know if that is what it is?
Sorry to derail your thread/topic.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:21 pm
by volantangel
RSLancastr wrote:Hey, Alvin!
Since you are Chinese, perhaps you can answer something for me:
I have seen decks of playing cards made in China (to be sold in America) which have the word "PUKE" printed on the front of the box.
This startled me the first time I saw it (in English, the word "puke" is slang for "vomit"), but after I saw it many times I thought perhaps "PUKE" was an approximation of how a speaker of Chinese would pronounce the English word "poker".
Do you know if that is what it is?
Sorry to derail your thread/topic.
Hey Bob,
I believe that its spelt as Pu Ke, which is kind of a direct translation of poker ( poker => Pu Ke, pronounced as puu ker)
hahah not really puke(vomit), kind of a bad coincidence

Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:35 pm
by RSLancastr
Thanks, volant!
The first time I saw it was on a box that was on a seller's table at a swapmeet. Intrigued because the box looked to be the right size to hold a deck of cards, I asked the seller "How much for the little box of puke"?
He (not very politely) said "it's a box of playing cards!!"
I opened it and found it was yet another cheaply-printed standard deck.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:23 pm
by volantangel
Haha funny lil story, your welcome bob

Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:04 pm
by alvinhy
haha thats hilarious and volentangel is correct. Pu Ke is the mandarin pinyin (dialect) that they use for poker cards. The full world is Pu Ke Pai ( poker playing cards)
Interesting but funny lol
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 12:54 am
by RSLancastr
alvinhy wrote:Pu Ke is the mandarin pinyin (dialect) that they use for poker cards. The full world is Pu Ke Pai ( poker playing cards)
Thanks, Alvin!
"Pai" as in "Pai Gao" (I think that is how it is spelled), the gambling game which uses domino-like tiles instead of playing cards)?
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 3:54 am
by alvinhy
RSLancastr wrote:alvinhy wrote:Pu Ke is the mandarin pinyin (dialect) that they use for poker cards. The full world is Pu Ke Pai ( poker playing cards)
Thanks, Alvin!
"Pai" as in "Pai Gao" (I think that is how it is spelled), the gambling game which uses domino-like tiles instead of playing cards)?
You are correct, the correct pin yin for that is "Pai Gou".
However if you want the cantonese dialect which is used in Hong Kong it is pronounced as "Pai Gau"
I never get how to play that game

Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:38 am
by RSLancastr
I never even tried to play it. The people playing it in Vegas tend to be serious, "high roller" players, and would likely not have much patience with a "newbie" holding up the game.
But I enjoyed watching the dealer shuffle and deal the tiles. a thing of beauty when done well.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:25 am
by badpete69
I play it all the time in Vegas or other places. Simple poker...You get 2 hands one of 5 cards and one of 2 cards. You make the best hands possible with your 7 cards and both your 5 cards hand and 2 cards hand have to beat the dealer for you to win. If only one of your hands beat the dealer it is a push which is percentage wise what usually happens. Your 2 cards hand cannot be higher than your 5 card hand meaning if you get a pair of aces and kings in your 7 cards, you cannot use the Aces as your 2 card hand
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:04 am
by Strag
badpete69 wrote:I play it all the time in Vegas or other places. Simple poker...You get 2 hands one of 5 cards and one of 2 cards. You make the best hands possible with your 7 cards and both your 5 cards hand and 2 cards hand have to beat the dealer for you to win. If only one of your hands beat the dealer it is a push which is percentage wise what usually happens. Your 2 cards hand cannot be higher than your 5 card hand meaning if you get a pair of aces and kings in your 7 cards, you cannot use the Aces as your 2 card hand
That's PaiGow poker. The game Bob is referring to is the version played with tiles. You get 4 tiles with which to make two hands. He's also right in that watching it dealt (and played) can be very entertaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pai_gow" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:11 am
by badpete69
The basics of the games are the same when played with tiles To quote Wiki The key element of pai gow strategy is to present the optimal front hand and rear hand given four tiles dealt to the player. There are three ways to arrange four tiles into two hands, though practically some combinations may be the same.
Anyway I think we have derailed this thread enough hehehehe...back to Sishou
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:56 am
by RSLancastr
This "approximating words from another language" (there's probably a technical term for it) works both ways.
For example, I have the Bicycle "Gong XI FA CAI" playing cards ("Gong XI FA CAI" being an English approximation of a phrase in Chinese).
I also have an older deck (I forget the maker) titled "Gong Hee Fot Choy" (an older approximation of - apparently - the same phrase, using more of a "laymen's spelling").
ETA:
Thanks to our friend Google, here is a page about the "Gong Hee Fot Choy" deck (or one like it):
http://www.guntheranderson.com/cards/feb97/gong.htm
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 11:13 am
by Strag
badpete69 wrote:The basics of the games are the same when played with tiles To quote Wiki The key element of pai gow strategy is to present the optimal front hand and rear hand given four tiles dealt to the player. There are three ways to arrange four tiles into two hands, though practically some combinations may be the same.
Anyway I think we have derailed this thread enough hehehehe...back to Sishou
Well one more slight derail if I can. I actually wrote a Windows application called PaiGow Poker back in the 90s and released it as shareware as the first ever Windows version of PaiGow Poker. It was cool when people actually voluntarily sent me money because they liked my game. The hardest part was teaching the computer how to correctly set a hand, especially with a joker. Ultimately wound up licensing it to a company that then sold it in Wal-Mart for $9.99 (I got $0.50 per copy). Unfortunately never sold enough (according to them) to earn out my advance. It was fun to see it in a store though!
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 11:54 am
by RSLancastr
Strag, I'll PM you rather than derail the derail further.
So, Alvin: Any more Sishou pics?
You said that there are four legendary beasts in China.
Obviously, there are more than that.
What exactly connects the four you have chosen for this deck?
Is "Sishou" the name for the four beasts as well as the name of the deck?
(Sorry if you have already answered these questions above).
And, most important:
ANY MORE PICS??
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 2:19 am
by alvinhy
RSLancastr wrote:Strag, I'll PM you rather than derail the derail further.
So, Alvin: Any more Sishou pics?
You said that there are four legendary beasts in China.
Obviously, there are more than that.
What exactly connects the four you have chosen for this deck?
Is "Sishou" the name for the four beasts as well as the name of the deck?
(Sorry if you have already answered these questions above).
And, most important:
ANY MORE PICS??
The four legendary beasts are most famous. The dragon phoenix tiger and tortoise. Si Shou means four beast and each beast will have their own suit. If you look at the pictures, hearts is phoenix, Spades is dagon etcc....
Ill show u one of the latest king of spades picture =D

Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:58 am
by RSLancastr
Once again Alvin, all I'm seeing is a "not found" Red X

Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:36 am
by volantangel
Hey why not make it into a 4 colour deck then ? Since the 4 beasts usually have a colour associated with them, white tiger, green dragon, red phoenix, can't rmb what tortoise is, black?? Haha but it's hard to do something w white pips, maybe just an outline of the pips ? Just a suggestion lol
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:49 am
by alvinhy
RSLancastr wrote:Once again Alvin, all I'm seeing is a "not found" Red X

thats really weird its hosted on photobucket. Go to my facebook page see if you can see the images there.
http://facebook.com/alvincheunghy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
heres the hard link tot he photo.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/ ... ddf7e2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
volantangel wrote:Hey why not make it into a 4 colour deck then ? Since the 4 beasts usually have a colour associated with them, white tiger, green dragon, red phoenix, can't rmb what tortoise is, black?? Haha but it's hard to do something w white pips, maybe just an outline of the pips ? Just a suggestion lol
Ill probably just stick with 2 colours first then see what other editions will I produce. I am already thinking of a second edition =P
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 5:07 am
by RSLancastr
Yes, I had tried that hard link manually. both it and the link you supplied brought up a window containing...a Red X.
perhaps it is an authority issue?
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 5:28 am
by alvinhy
RSLancastr wrote:Yes, I had tried that hard link manually. both it and the link you supplied brought up a window containing...a Red X.
perhaps it is an authority issue?
maybe your internet provider is blocking photobucket weird
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 5:41 am
by RSLancastr
alvinhy wrote:maybe your internet provider is blocking photobucket weird
Nope.
I use Photobucket extensively here and have had no problem viewing my img pics, nor thos of anyone else other than yours.
I tried cutting/pasting the link into my browser window, leaving off the file name at the end, hoping it would bring up your entire Photobucket album, but it asked me for a password, so I am thinking this is an authority/rights issue.
Is anyone else having problems seeing Alvin's pics here?
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:26 am
by alvinhy
Used another host see if it works
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:45 am
by MagikFingerz
I see all the pics just fine.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:06 am
by RSLancastr
I see that last one just fine, alvin.
"imagebam"? First I've heard of it.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:11 pm
by RSLancastr
RSLancastr wrote:This "approximating words from another language" (there's probably a technical term for it)
Yes, the word for it, in general, is "transliteration".
More specific to this discussion, the transliteration of Chinese (or any language which uses a non-Roman character set natively) to the Western/Roman alphabet is called "Romanization".
PinYin, which Alvin has mentioned, is the official system of Romanization used in China.
Apparently then, "Gong Xi Fa Cai" uses PinYin Romanization, whereas "Gong Hee Fot Choy" uses an older, now-nonstandard, method.
Re: Sishou Deck Design
Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:49 pm
by alvinhy
6 more court cards, 2 jokers, 2 gaffs and the deck is ready....for more improvements and development!
lol. Any more valuable feedback to improve the deck?