Pinapple at UB, TIPS NEEDED

Posted this under internet gambling but got no response... I guess it didn't say anything about collusion or juiced boards... so didn't qualify. Can anyone give me any pointers?


Thanks

Kevin


Don't know if this should be posted in the other poker games section, buy UB has started with a pinapple game. It looks like a lot of fun with big pot potential. What are the fundamental differences to Holdem, starting hand requirements, etc. I would think that it is a nice mix between Holdem and Omaha. Trips stink obviously, but how do you play suited cards (3 of a suit takes the drawing odds down, etc.). should I expect to see 50% of flops versus 30% etc.


Thanks,

Kevin

I'm not going to claim enough experience at this game to give advice, but I do know that Gambler's Book Club has (or did have) a book on Pineapple so you might want to check out their website and see if they still have it if you are serious about the game. I haven't read the book.


Regards,


Paul Talbot

I have never player Pineaple in my life. But, as in any form of poker, I can't imagine that you could be a winning player if you played 50% of the flops.


You should look at your three cards like in Omaha, so you want 3 cards that work well together. Of course, if you get AA6, you know it's a solid hand. A nice hand would be like a pair with a suited connector, or 3 paint cards.


On the flop, you should favor the hands that are better depending on the number of players. If there are a large number of players in the hand, and you have the nut flush draw as well as 2 pair, I would go for the flush. Your hand is more likely to hold up. Against 2-3 opponents, I would favor the 2 pair.


This would be my first approach to the game.


Nicolas Fradet (The Prince)

There are different structures to Pineapple,

but when I played the game in a midwest riverboat

the game was high-only and you mucked one card

as you called or raised the blind.


After the card muck, the game is essentially

Hold Em. Because each player is selecting

two out of three cards to start with, starting

hands need to be better than HE. Also, memorize

the mucked card as it's suit and rank affect

odds when drawing for straights and flushes.

For example, if dealt AH, JH, and 3H, one would

muck the 3H and have a reduced chance of hitting

a nut flush.

I have played pineapple quite a lot (in the UK it's called "Irish", and is sometimes played with 3 cards, sometimes 4, but in either case you only keep 2 after the flop).


Basically, because it's Holdem after the flop, you want a hand that can hit the flop hard in the holdem sense. Forget Omaha-type hands like big wraps, because you'll only be able to keep 2 cards after the flop. You won't be able to hold all the drawing cards. E.g. KQ98 would really hit a JTx flop in Omaha (20 card wrap), but in pineapple all you could keep is an open end 8 card straight draw.


So what you want are cards that will give you a big set, or top two pairs, and also nut flush draws. One thing that's really different from holdem is that top pair-big kicker is much, much less likely to cut the mustard. So if you call with AKQ and the flop comes K82, your hand is very probably no good if there is much action.


The other thing to realise is that although you can only keep 2 cards, the ability to go 2 ways on the flop is very nice. E.g. you have AAx suited, raise and flop a flush draw, you can ditch the aces and draw to the flush if it becomes obvious that the aces are no good. This makes a big difference in big pots.


Upshot is: big cards and big pairs. Small/medium running cards are worth much, much less than in omaha.


Oh no!! Not again!

Evelyn - It isn't clear what game Kevin has in mind.


Pinapple has the discard before the flop.


Crazy pinapple has the discard after the flop.


Either may be played high or high/low. If played high/low, there may be an 8-or-better qualifier for low or not.


You wrote, "After the card muck, the game is essentially Hold Em."


If it is, it's more like playing hold 'em against opponents who each are dealt three hands and then have to discard two hands, because you can make three times as many two-card hands from three cards as you can from two cards.


Buzz

As far as I know, UB is hosting Crazy, which mean that you muck a card after the flop.

You may have to be more specific about what variation of pineapple you're playing. I've seen it played where you get four cards, with variations whereyou either muck two right away or after the flop There is, obviously,a huge difference.


One important thing to keep in mind is how much more common HUGE starting pairings are. For example, in the variation where you chuck two cards right away, consider the hand AA72 four suited.


Despite the fact that all of the pairings but one don't work, this hand is a monster. (Think of all the possible hold'em hands you could have with these four cards: only one of them is playable, and yet this is the best starting hand.)


This has some implications. For example, AA is going to be relatively much more common. (If you got the above four cards as hold 'em hands, you'd muck A2, A7, and 27 five times for every time you got AA.)

Kevin,


If you are asking about Crazy Pineapple High Low then check out the link below to an RGP post. This guy used to murder the games at the Bike.


Regards,


Rick