Pineapple Poker is a Texas Hold’Em variant where each player starts with three hole cards, then discards one and plays the hand out with the usual flop, turn, and river. Standard Pineapple forces the discard before preflop action; Crazy Pineapple shifts that discard to after the flop.
Either way, starting-hand strength shows up more often. Any pocket pair appears 5.88% of the time in Hold’Em, while three-card Pineapple produces at least one pair option 17.18% of the time.
What Is Pineapple Hold’Em and Why Does It Play Differently?
Pineapple Hold’Em, often shortened to Pineapple Hold’em or called Pineapple Texas Hold ’em, keeps the same table setup as Hold’Em: a dealer button, blinds, and four betting rounds. The twist happens immediately after the deal. Each player receives three private cards instead of two, then reduces that hand to two by discarding one card.
That single decision changes the texture of the game. Hold’Em deals a suited starting hand 23.53% of the time; three-card Pineapple offers at least one suited two-card option about 60.24% of the time, which increases how often ranges connect with boards.
Rule sets usually keep the same hand rankings and the same five-card goal: make the best five-card poker hand using community cards plus the two hole cards kept after the discard.
Pineapple Poker: Core Rules and the Mandatory Discard
Standard Pineapple runs like Hold’Em with one extra preflop step. Players take three hole cards, discard one face down, then play the hand with the familiar street sequence and betting structure.
Pineapple poker rules in practical terms:
- Deal: Each player gets 3 hole cards.
- Discard: Each player discards 1 card face down before preflop betting begins.
- Preflop betting: Action starts as it does in Hold’Em, with blinds already posted.
- Flop, turn, river: The board comes out in 3-1-1 order with a betting round after each street.
- Showdown: Players make the best 5-card hand using community cards and the 2 hole cards they kept.
Crazy Pineapple uses the same framework but changes one timing detail: players keep all three hole cards through the flop, then discard one before turn action. That creates wider flop ranges and more “two-way” holdings that can improve on later streets.
Availability varies across cardrooms and online poker sites. When the variant is offered, the house usually posts the discard timing clearly, since “Pineapple” and “Crazy Pineapple” get used interchangeably in casual talk even though they play differently.
How to Play Pineapple Poker, Step by Step
Learning how to play pineapple poker feels familiar to anyone who knows Hold’Em, since the betting streets and hand rankings stay the same. The only added decision happens early, then the hand flows normally.
- Preflop deal: Each player receives three private cards.
- Discard: One card is discarded face down; only two cards stay live for the rest of the hand.
- Preflop betting: Action follows the blinds, just like Texas Hold’Em.
- Community cards: The flop shows three cards, then the turn and river add one each, with a betting round after every street.
- Showdown: Players use the board plus their two kept hole cards to form the best five-card hand.
Discard example (Standard vs Crazy): A
K Q
.
Standard Pineapple usually keeps A K to preserve nut-flush potential.
Crazy Pineapple can wait for context. On J T
2, keeping K Q preserves the open-ender; on 9 4 2, keeping A K keeps the nut-flush draw with overcards.
Pineapple Poker Variants and Where They’re Actually Used
Several Pineapple formats circulate, though only two appear with any regularity. Standard Pineapple requires the discard before preflop action, which tightens ranges earlier. Crazy Pineapple delays the discard until after the flop, leaving three live hole cards in play for the first betting round.
Crazy Pineapple shows up most often as a mixed-game option or a short-run event. Recent public schedules show it as a side-format, including Hendon Mob festival listings such as the Crazy Pineapple Winter Championship and Crazy Pineapple Spring Championship.
Lazy Pineapple, where the discard waits until after the turn, exists mostly in private games and rarely appears on public schedules. Cardrooms stick to versions that keep action moving and rules easy to explain before the first hand is dealt.
Pineapple Card Game vs Open-Face Chinese Pineapple
Pineapple Hold’Em uses community cards and standard hand rankings. Open-Face Chinese Pineapple, often shortened to OFC Pineapple, drops the board entirely and switches to a placement system.
In regulated California cardrooms, “Face-Up Pineapple Chinese Poker” is defined in a California Department of Justice rules PDF as a face-up, three-hand placement game with no community board.
OFC Pineapple deals cards across multiple streets, with players building three separate poker hands in front of them. Scoring uses fixed royalty points rather than betting rounds. Skills do not transfer cleanly despite the shared name.
Pineapple Hold’Em vs OFC Pineapple
| Game Type | Hole Cards (Numeric) | Community Cards | Scoring Method |
| Pineapple Hold’Em | 3 | Yes | Best 5-card hand |
| Crazy Pineapple | 3 | Yes | Best 5-card hand |
| OFC Pineapple | 5 dealt | No | Three-hand placement |
| Standard Hold’Em | 2 | Yes | Best 5-card hand |
| OFC Classic | 5 dealt | No | Three-hand placement |
The table makes the split clear. Only Pineapple Hold’Em variants share mechanics with Texas Hold’Em; OFC Pineapple belongs to a separate branch of poker entirely.
Strategic Shifts Compared to Other Poker Formats
Pineapple changes decision pressure when compared with other poker formats, even though the board and betting order stay familiar. Starting with three cards means players see stronger combinations more often. Two high cards plus a suited connector, or a pocket pair with backup equity, show up far more frequently than in standard Hold’Em.
That extra flexibility tightens outcomes after the flop. Single-pair hands lose relative strength because opponents connect with boards at a higher rate. The math behind this shift is simple. Each player has C(3,2)=3 possible two-card holdings, so ranges reach the flop denser, especially in Crazy Pineapple, where the choice is postponed. That choice increases overlap across ranges once community cards hit.
| Three Cards | Standard Keep | Crazy Keep Trigger |
| A K Q |
A K |
Keep KQ on J-T flops; keep AK on spade flops |
| K K 7 |
KK | Keep KK unless flop heavily favors 7x lines |
| J T 4 |
J T |
Keep 3 cards to flop; discard after seeing pair+draw boards |
| A Q 9 |
A Q |
Discard 9 on dry flops; keep A9 on A-high paired boards |
Dealing, Etiquette, and Bonus Rules Players Ask About
Most Pineapple confusion happens before the first flop. Clear table agreement keeps hands moving and avoids disputes that slow the game down.
- Discard handling: Discards go directly to the muck and never re-enter play. Some home games allow shown discards; others require all discards to stay face down.
- Dealer procedure: The dealer should confirm the discard timing aloud before the first hand, especially in Crazy Pineapple.
- Dead cards: Any exposed discard is dead, even if it would have helped a player later in the hand.
- Bonus mechanics: When Pineapple appears in casinos or mixed rotations, any game bonuses tied to premium hands usually follow Hold’Em definitions, such as quads or straight flushes, and must be announced before play begins.
Each player discards one card per hand, no exceptions. That single rule accounts for most Pineapple disputes when it is not clarified early.
Comparison Table: Pineapple and Related Hold’Em Variants
The fastest way to understand Pineapple’s place is to line it up against other Hold’Em-style games and look only at what changes at the deal. Everything else, betting order, hand rankings, and showdown rules, stays constant.
| Variant | Hole Cards (Numeric) | Discard Timing | Common Setting |
| Texas Hold’Em | 2 | None | Cash, tournaments |
| Pineapple Hold’Em | 3 | Preflop | Home games, mixed sets |
| Crazy Pineapple | 3 | After flop | Side events, rotations |
| Lazy Pineapple | 3 | After turn | Private games |
| OFC Pineapple | 5 dealt | Placement | Specialty formats |
The numeric column shows why Pineapple changes hand frequency so quickly. One extra starting card creates more viable combinations before the flop, which carries through the entire hand. Crazy Pineapple pushes that effect further by delaying the discard, while Lazy Pineapple stretches it even more, though at the cost of simplicity.
A Clean Way to Add Action Without New Rules
Pineapple Poker is easiest to run when the table agrees on one point before the first hand: discard timing. Standard Pineapple locks choices preflop; Crazy Pineapple makes the flop the decision point, which widens early ranges. Thin one-pair lines lose value sooner than in Hold’Em, so hand selection should emphasize nut draws and higher-kicker top-pair candidates.
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