The Card Games Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport issued the Competitive Guandan Competition Rules (Trial) at the end of 2022, according to a Workers' Daily article republished by The Paper1. The rules mark what the article describes as Guandan's initial transformation from a folk game into a formal sports competition event1.
Guandan is a poker game that combines elements of "Eighty Points," Dou Dizhu and Pao De Kuai, played with two decks of 108 cards1. In the local dialect of Huai'an in Jiangsu, its birthplace, "guan" means to throw or smash, referring to the motion of slamming a "bomb" onto the table1. Players form teams of two1.
The game's reach is large. According to incomplete statistics cited in the article, more than 20 million people regularly take part in Guandan activities in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces alone, and the number of enthusiasts nationwide has reached 140 million1. Guandan was named "Game of the Year" in the 2023 China Annual Cutting-Edge List1.
"《竞技掼蛋竞赛规则（试行）》（国家体育总局棋牌运动管理中心制定）的出台，掼蛋初步完成从民间游戏向正式体育比赛项目的华丽转身"
The article also records earlier milestones. In June 2014, Huai'an Guandan was approved as a Huai'an municipal intangible cultural heritage item1. In 2023, Guandan was listed as a demonstration event at the Fifth National Mind Sports Games, alongside traditional events such as chess, bridge and Gomoku1.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| June 2014 | Huai'an Guandan approved as Huai'an municipal intangible cultural heritage1 |
| End of 2022 | Competitive Guandan Competition Rules (Trial) issued by the General Administration of Sport's Card Games Sports Management Center1 |
| 2023 | Guandan listed as a demonstration event at the Fifth National Mind Sports Games1 |
| 2023 | Guandan named "Game of the Year" in the 2023 China Annual Cutting-Edge List1 |
Competition activity has spread. The article says that in the month before publication, the 2023 National Guandan Open Finals, a 2024 Lunar New Year elite invitational and a national seniors Guandan tournament were held in quick succession, and that the first Guandan Culture Forum took place in Sanya, Hainan, the previous month1. It also notes that Dongfang Caifu chairman Qi Shi, described as having a net worth of 40 billion yuan, became president of the Shanghai Guandan Association, a development that briefly trended on social media1. Separately, the Tianwen Education Group in Yichang, Hubei assigned students a winter holiday task of learning to play Guandan and made it a school-based course for the new semester, printing 108-card two-deck sets as New Year gifts for teachers and students1.
What it means for players
Guandan is a card game, not a betting game, and the trial rules concern competition format rather than wagering. The article frames it as a mass intellectual sport that is easy for ordinary people to pick up, unlike bridge, which it describes as more complex1. It also notes that as a game, participation by ordinary people needs to be in moderation to avoid addiction1. For visitors to China, the practical change is that Guandan now has a formal competitive rulebook and appears at organized events, including the National Mind Sports Games program1. No information on prize money, entry requirements or betting markets appears in the reporting.
What happens next
The article does not set out dated next steps. It reports that competitions were being held across the country at the time of publication, including the events listed above1.
Sources1 sources
- 从“游戏牌”到“体育牌”“文化牌”，掼蛋为什么这样香？_舆论场_澎湃新闻-The Paper, thepaper.cn
