Skip to content | 0 days left until our Members Area opens...
Welcome to Pokerppl.com. We bring you exclusive online poker deals, poker rules, a free poker guide, and much, much more. To post YOUR opinions AND qualify for exclusive members-only tournaments and competitions, sign up on Friday 30th May.
Home > Poker Rules > Crazy Pineapple Rules
Crazy Pineapple Rules: Overview
Crazy Pineapple is best described as a weird amalgam of Texas Hold 'em and Omaha. The rules remain the same as those variations, ie it is a flop game and the best hand wins the pot, but there are two big differences. The first is that players are dealt THREE hole cards, and the second is that one of those hole cards must be discarded.
Crazy Pineapple is a simple game to understand once the rudiments are picked up. The fact that players are dealt three hole cards means that there are many more chances of creating a good hand than in Texas Hold 'em, and yet there are some tricky decisions to make when it comes to choosing a card to drop from your hand. That decision must be made after the first round of betting: ie after the flop has been dealt, and so it is quite common to make a good hand on the flop with one of your cards (trips, for example), while the other two hole cards look to be good drawing cards. Such a scenario, of course, is where experience comes into play - but no knowledge of pot odds or relative value will help if you lose the trips and finish up drawing dead to the river... Such is the beauty (or beastliness) of Crazy Pineapple.
In Omaha the ruling is that players must use two and only two of their hole cards to 'make' their hand. Lots of beginners tend to mistakenly believe that they are holding a boat (full house) when in fact their hand only makes up into a set, or three of a kind. Here is an example of this pitfall:
Your Omaha hand is 3d-7c-As-9c-Kd. The board cards are: 3c-3h-10d-10d-4s. In this case it is easy to believe you've landed the boat 3-3-3-10-10, whereas in fact you've only made 3-3-3 ace high. This is because you MUST play two cards from your hand (3-A) and three from the board (3-3-10).
This is not the case in Crazy Pineapple. Pineapple has the same rules as Texas Hold 'em in this instance, and as in Hold 'em, if you were holding a 3 you would have made your boat on the turn.
Pre Flop: The dealer deals each player three cards face down. Only the player can see his/her pocket cards. After the cards are dealt, the action lies with the player after the big blind. This player must decide whether to call, raise or fold the big blind. Each player in turn is given these options, until all bets are called and the big blind checks. Don't forget, in a Fixed Limit game, any raises are limited to the lower stake amount and in a Pot Limit game, the bet can't exceed the pot amount.
The Flop: Now the dealer turns over the first three community cards, called 'the flop'. All betting rounds start with the player directly to the dealer's left. For Fixed Limit games, this round of betting still uses the lower stake, using our example $5/$10 game, any bets or raises must be $5. The Pot Limit and No Limit rules don't change. This is when the decision must be made as to which of your three hole cards to discard.
The Turn (AKA Fourth Street): The fourth community card is dealt and a new betting round begins. The bet amount for Fixed Limit games increases to the upper stake. Betting continues until all bets are called.
The River: The fifth and final community card is dealt and a new betting round begins. Once all the bets have been called, it's time to show the cards. The last player to bet or raise during the final round of betting will show his/her hand first. If all players checked through (nobody bet), the player to the left of the dealer will show first. The remaining players' hands will be automatically revealed moving clockwise, unless a hand is weaker than the winning hand shown. In this case, you'll have the option to show, or muck (fold without showing) your cards. The best five card hand takes the pot.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Pokerppl.com. All rights reserved.