How to Build a Python Card Game: Simulating ‘ZhaJinHua’ for Five Players

Hello, I am a Python enthusiast.

Preface

"ZhaJinHua" (also known as Three‑Card Brag) is a widely‑played Chinese card game where each player receives three cards and the hands are compared according to a specific hierarchy. A fan in a Python group posted a challenge to implement this game in Python.

1. Idea

The solution requires constructing a standard 52‑card deck (excluding jokers), dealing three cards to each of five players, determining each hand’s type, assigning scores based on the hierarchy Leopard > Straight Flush > Straight > Pair > High Card , and finally ranking the players.

2. Solution

Below is the original implementation that follows the described steps.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import random

puke = []  # store the deck
num_list = ['2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','10','J','Q','K','A']
hua_list = ['梅花','红桃','黑桃','方块']
sort_dic = {'2':0,'3':1,'4':2,'5':3,'6':4,'7':5,'8':6,'9':7,'10':8,'J':9,'Q':10,'K':11,'A':12,
           '对子':15,'顺子':30,'顺金':60,'豹子':100}
count_new_list = []
count_dic = {}
# build deck
for hua in hua_list:
    for num in num_list:
        puke.append(hua+num)
player_dic = {'玩家1':[],'玩家2':[],'玩家3':[],'玩家4':[],'玩家5':[]}
# deal cards
for key in player_dic:
    plate = random.sample(puke,3)
    player_dic[key] = plate
    for i in plate:
        puke.remove(i)
print(player_dic)

def paixing(list1):
    num=[]; huase=[]
    for i in list1:
        a=i[2:]; b=i[:2]
        num.append(a); huase.append(b)
    return num,huase

def sort(num):
    new_num=[sort_dic[i] for i in num]
    new_num=sorted(new_num)
    sort_list2=[]
    for new in new_num:
        sort_list2.append([k for k,v in sort_dic.items() if v==new])
    list1=[]
    for m in sort_list2:
        for n in m:
            list1.append(n)
    return list1

def count(num,huase):
    a=0
    base_count=sort_dic[num[0]]+sort_dic[num[1]]+sort_dic[num[2]]
    if num[0]==num[1]==num[2]:
        a=base_count+sort_dic['豹子']
    elif (sort_dic[num[0]]+1==sort_dic[num[1]] and sort_dic[num[2]]-1==sort_dic[num[1]]) and (huase[0]==huase[1] and huase[1]==huase[2]):
        a=base_count+sort_dic['顺金']
    elif (sort_dic[num[0]]+1==sort_dic[num[1]] and sort_dic[num[2]]-1==sort_dic[num[1]]) and (huase[0]!=huase[1] or huase[1]!=huase[2]):
        a=base_count+sort_dic['顺子']
    elif (num[0]==num[1] and num[1]!=num[2]) or (num[1]==num[2] and num[0]!=num[1]) or (num[0]==num[2] and num[1]!=num[0]):
        a=base_count+sort_dic['对子']
    else:
        a=base_count
    return a

def compare(count_dic):
    d=list(zip(count_dic.values(),count_dic.keys()))
    return sorted(d,reverse=True)

for key,value in player_dic.items():
    num,huase=paixing(value)
    num=sort(num)
    count1=count(num,huase)
    count_dic[key]=count1
    print(key+"的牌为："+str(value))
    count_new_list=compare(count_dic)
print('最终排名：' + "\t" + count_new_list[0][1] + "第一名" + "\t" + count_new_list[1][1] + "第二名" + "\t" + count_new_list[2][1] + "第三名" + "\t" + count_new_list[3][1] + "第四名" + "\t" + count_new_list[4][1] + "第五名")

Running the program produces an output similar to the screenshot below.

An improved version removes redundant code, uses clearer variable names, and simplifies the logic.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import random

puke = []
num_list = ['2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','10','J','Q','K','A']
hua_list = ['梅花','红桃','黑桃','方块']
sort_dic = {'2':0,'3':1,'4':2,'5':3,'6':4,'7':5,'8':6,'9':7,'10':8,'J':9,'Q':10,'K':11,'A':12,
           '对子':15,'顺子':30,'顺金':60,'豹子':100}
count_new_list = []
count_dic = {}
for hua in hua_list:
    for num in num_list:
        puke.append(hua+num)
player_dic = {'玩家1':[],'玩家2':[],'玩家3':[],'玩家4':[],'玩家5':[]}
print(len(puke))
for key in player_dic:
    for _ in range(3):
        plate = random.sample(puke,3)
        player_dic[key] = plate
        for i in plate:
            puke.remove(i)
print(player_dic)

def paixing(list1):
    num=[]; huase=[]
    for data in list1:
        huase_type=data[:2]
        pai_number=data[2:]
        num.append(pai_number)
        huase.append(huase_type)
    return num,huase

def get_score(num,huase):
    base_count=sort_dic[num[0]]+sort_dic[num[1]]+sort_dic[num[2]]
    if num[0]==num[1]==num[2]:
        score=base_count+sort_dic['豹子']
    elif (sort_dic[num[0]]+1==sort_dic[num[1]] and sort_dic[num[2]]-1==sort_dic[num[1]]) and (huase[0]==huase[1] and huase[1]==huase[2]):
        score=base_count+sort_dic['顺金']
    elif (sort_dic[num[0]]+1==sort_dic[num[1]] and sort_dic[num[2]]-1==sort_dic[num[1]]) and (huase[0]!=huase[1] or huase[1]!=huase[2]):
        score=base_count+sort_dic['顺子']
    elif (num[0]==num[1] and num[1]!=num[2]) or (num[1]==num[2] and num[0]!=num[1]) or (num[0]==num[2] and num[1]!=num[0]):
        score=base_count+sort_dic['对子']
    else:
        score=base_count
    return score

if __name__=='__main__':
    for key,value in player_dic.items():
        num,huase=paixing(value)
        num=sorted(num)
        score=get_score(num,huase)
        count_dic[key]=score
        print(key+"的牌为："+str(value))
        count_new_list=sorted(zip(count_dic.values(),count_dic.keys()),reverse=True)
    print("最终排名：")
    for i in range(len(count_new_list)):
        print(count_new_list[i][1]+'\t',end='')

3. Conclusion

The script demonstrates how basic Python constructs—lists, dictionaries, functions, and the random module—can be combined to model a complete card‑game workflow, from deck generation to hand evaluation and final ranking.