PLAYING TIPS for CRAZY PINEAPPLE POKER

HOW TO PLAY ​CRAZY PINEAPPLE POKER
Crazy Pineapple Poker is played like Texas Hold'Em with a twist:  Deal 3 cards down to each player instead of 2.   After the flop each player must discard 1 card leaving them with two cards.  Other than initially receiving 3 cards Crazy Pineapple is played with all the same rules and procedures as Hold 'Em.  And, as in Hold "Em players make their hand using any combination of their 2 hole cards and the 5 board cards. 
​May be played high, high-low split or high-low eight or better.

SUMMARY of ACTION
Deal 3 hole cards to each player. 
Bet
Deal 3 cards for flop.
Each player selects 1 card from their hand and discards (mucks) it. 
​Each player now has 2 cards.
Bet
Deal 1 card for turn.
Bet
Deal 1 card for river.
Bet
High only: Showdown
High-low split: Declare 
Bet
Showdown

As one might expect, Crazy Pineapple Poker strategy is very similar to Texas Hold’em strategy since, in both games you will end up with 2 hole ards.  There is an enormous amount of information to guide you in playing Texas Hold' Em.  That information is also very helpful in playing just about any version of Pineapple.  It is well worth your time to learn from those sources.   But, these playing tips are not going to get into any of that knowledge.  We will focus  on the one difference of Crazy Pineapple compared to Hold Em:  That players start with 3 hole cards instead of two and the impact that has.

PLAYING TIPS for CRAZY PINEAPPLE: THE IMPACT OF 3 CARDS 
The difference of Crazy Pineapple compared to Hold 'Em is that players are dealt 3 hole cards instead of 2.  While that's a minor  difference, that third card does impact the game:

1. Three cards yield three 2-card combos to choose from instead of just one.   The chances of having a hand that you will want to continue with increase.    Of course, this also holds true for your opponents.   Expect that more players will have cards they will want to see the flop with. There will be more multi-way pots and it will take a stronger final hand in order to win.  

2. You know of one additional card that is not be in play.  It can not appear on the board or be held by an opponent.  While it is only a tiny piece of information it can be very helpful and we explain that in more detail later.

3.  You can see the flop before you have to decide which card to throw away.  This means you can choose the 2-card combo that best connects with the flop.  This is a huge advantage in Crazy Pineapple compared to Pineapple.  This also another factor that leads to more players remaining in the hand post-flop.

​STARTING HAND SELECTION 
Strategy in the selection of starting hands in Crazy Pineapple is essentially the same as is used in Texas Hold’em.  Your 3 hole cards yield three 2-card combinations so you are looking for starting hands in which 2 or 3 of those combos are worth playing and give you multiple opportunities to hit the flop.
 
Favor starting hands that are:  Pairs (the bigger the better), suited aces, other suited and connected cards that could make strong hands like 3 of a kind or better.   Combining 2 of these types of hands, like a pair and 2 suited/connected cards, make the best starting hands.
The first thing to do is break down your 3 hole cards into their three 2-card combinations. 
                                          For example:   A♠ A♥ J♠ breaks down to:  A♠ A♥,   A♠ J♠,  A♥J♠

Reasonable Crazy Pineapple Poker strategy would then be to ask yourself this question: Would you play any of those combinations in Texas Hold’em?  In the example above, the answer is yes.  This is clearly a hand to play as it contains both a big pair and big suited connected cards which are premium Hold'Em starting hands.  It can hit the flop strongly with a set, 2 big pairs (both being full house draws), nut straight or nut flush (or draws to both).  You see how the flop hits each of these 2-card combos and pick the best one to play.

A hand like Q♣ 9♦d 5♦ breaks down to: Q♣ 9♦, Q♣ 5♦, 9♦ 5♦   For this example the answer is no.  None of the combos are hands you would want to play in Hold 'Em, so this is clearly a hand to fold . 

Some additional examples of hands with multiple opportunities are:
               J♣  J♥  T♣      (J♣ J♥;  J♣ Tc♣;  J ♥ T♣)   
               A♥  8♥  7♦    (A♥ 8 ♥,  8 ♥ 7♦,  A♥ 7 ♦)
    
Weak starting hands include monotone hole cards (all three cards of the same suit) as you are forced to throw away one of the cards needed to make a flush.  The same occurs with 3 connected cards.  Other poor hands are those that are not paired or connected and do not contain high ranked cards.  

For example, bad starting hands would be:
               T♥ 6♦ 2♠  (combinations  T♥ 6♦  T♥ 2♠,  6♦ 2♠
              A♥ T♦ 5♠  (combinations  A♥ T♦,  A♥ 5 ♠, T♦ 5♠)
              
Trips as hole cards are nearly hopeless, since one of those cards must be folded and not to be seen again. It is impossible to make 4 of a kind and the probability of making a set is cut in half because there is only one card of that rank remaining in the deck. (In contrast, when you hold a pair and an odd card the chances of hitting a set on the flop are slightly better than in Texas Hold’em, due to the fact that one card is taken out of the game.  But, the difference is tiny; around 0.2%.)

PLAY BEFORE THE FLOP
With 3 hole cards players will be dealt a playable hand more often.   For example, the chances of being dealt a pocket pair are nearly tripled.  Likewise, there will be about twice as many suited hole cards as well as more connected cards.  It is important that you have cards  that have multiple opportunities to make strong hands.

But, don’t play too many hands in the hope that you hit something on the flop. When everybody has three cards to connect with the flop that extra card means players will on average get better hands more often than in Texas Hold’em.  Expect that multiple players will usually have a decent enough hand to see the flop.  Believing that any two cards can win is a losing  strategy. 

PLAY BEYOND THE FLOP
You get to see the flop before you have to decide which card to throw away.  This means you can choose the 2-card combo that best connects with the flop or easily fold if you did not flop a hand worth continuing with.  This is a huge advantage in Crazy Pineapple compared to Pineapple.  This also another factor that leads to more players remaining in the hand post-flop.

You also know of one additional card that will not be in play.  It can not appear on the board or be held by an opponent.  This is information that may help or hurt you.   For example, consider two flush draw situations in which the flop contains 2 suited cards to your flush.  If you held 3 of the same suit, the chance of making a flush are reduced as there is one fewer card of that suit remaining in the deck.   The chance of making a flush by the river go down from 35% to 31.5%.  On the other hand, if you held 2 suited and one odd card there is one fewer card in the deck that does not help you.  You would now have a very slightly better chance of making the flush. 

Single pair hands seldom win. In Texas Hold’em top pair, top kicker vs only 1 or 2 opponents is a fairly strong hand.  In Crazy Pineapple, versus multiple opponents, it is often an expensive hand because one pair will commonly be second best at showdown.   If betting won't get opponents to fold, then you should probably back off and try to keep the pot small.  If you face resistance the best strategy is often to fold.  Much more frequently two pair, trips, straights, flushes or full houses occur. 

When the flop is monotone it is almost certain that someone has completed a flush.  To continue you need at least a draw to a better flush.  And, play cautiously when you do not hold the nut flush.    

SOME PROBABILITIES
Approximate chances of being dealt these hands with 3 hole cards in Crazy Pineapple compared to 2 hole cards in Hold 'Em.

                                                                Pocket Pair:  17% for Crazy Pineapple vs. 5.9% for Hold 'Em.
                                                                  2-suited cards:  55% for Crazy Pineapple vs. 24% for Hold  'Em.   
                                                       3 suited cards:  5.2%    Outs decrease from 9 to 8 to make a flush by river.
                                               3 connected cards:   18.4%    Outs decrease from 8 to 7 to make a straight by river.                   

TIPS FOR PLAYING HIGH-LOW SPLIT
Playing High-Low Split poker typically stimulates participation.  Players will see a flop with the very lowest combinations like A2 and A3.  When suited these add a possible nut flush draw and are very strong starting hands that have the potential of scooping the entire pot.   A2 is the nuts from the start.  You just have to hope it is not counterfeited by the board.   A3 is one board card away from the nuts and has a shot at winning even without improvement, but can be difficult to play.   Even though 23 is also only one board card from the nuts it is considerably less desirable to play.  Without improvement it is only the third best starting low and it lacks nut flush potential. 

​Approximate percent probabilities of being dealt the following LOW hands as your 3 hole cards.
​In an eight handed game if you were not dealt A2 there is about a 20% chance someone else was.  

3 Hole Cards
2AX
3AX or 32X
32A
​42A or 43A or 432

Percent Probability
2.4%
4.8%
0.3%
​0.9%

Odds Probability
40:1
20:1
332:1
​110:1

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