Pineapple Poker (OFC) is a game that is very popular among poker players. It has grown in popularity and is very popular during the World Series Of Poker (WSOP) that takes place annually.
How to play:
- The objective of the game is to make the best possible poker hands using 13 cards.
- Pineapple can be played with two to three players.
- The hand rankings in OFC are the same as in standard poker, with royal flush being the highest ranking hand.
- Like hold’em games, OFC is played with a dealer button. The player to the left of the button goes first and action moves clockwise, with the button moving after every hand.
- There is a strict rule that the bottom hand must be at least as good as the middle hand, and that the middle hand must be at least as good as the top hand. But, as a player is arranging their cards one at a time, this isn’t always possible.
- Eg: If a player has a pair of queens in middle, and has a straight draw on the bottom using cards all lower than a queen, he or she must complete the straight. This is because if you can’t make a qualifying hand, the entire hand is “foul.”
- If you have a foul hand, as long as your opponent makes a qualifying hand, he or she will beat your top, middle, and bottom.
Objective:
- Each player is dealt five cards to start with to place in the top, middle or bottom row – which have three, five and five cards respectively.
- After this, the “crazy pineapple” part kicks in and players take turns receiving three cards at a time.
- Two cards are placed in the desired row of their choosing, discarding one card before the next round is dealt.
- This is repeated until players have completed their 13-card hands.
- Players will often purposely discard cards that their opponent(s) need to make their hands, as discarded cards aren’t shuffled back into the deck.
Scoring:
- The basics of scoring are simple, but there are a number of detailed cases to account for.
- You can start playing the game without knowing all of the scoring details right away and learn as you go.
- OFC is played per point, so scoring of the final hands (after all 13 cards are placed) is done on a point basis.
- Each row, (top, middle, and bottom), is worth one point to the winner. So if you have a pair of queens in the middle, and your opponent has king high, then you win one point in the middle.
- The most common OFC scoring bonus is the “scoop bonus.” If you beat an opponent’s top, middle, and bottom, you win an additional three points.
- If you beat your opponent on two out of three rows, you win one point overall.
- If you scoop them, it’s worth six points overall. To encourage players to take chances for big hands, OFC rewards good hands in every row with different point bonuses.
- These bonuses are given as long as a player makes a qualifying hand, regardless of whether the hand wins or loses. Please find the bonus points scoring below.
Royalties for Bottom Hand:
| Straight | +2 units |
| Flush | +4 units |
| Full House | +6 units |
| Quads | +10 units |
| Straight Flush | +15 units |
| Royal Flush | +25 units |
Royalties for Middle Hand:
| Set/three of a kind | +2 units |
| Straight | +4 units |
| Flush | +8 units |
| Full House | +12 units |
| Quads | +20 units |
| Straight Flush | +30 units |
| Royal Flush | +50 units |
Royalties for Top Hand:
| Sixes | +1 unit |
| Sevens | +2 units |
| Eights | +3 units |
| Nines | +4 units |
| Tens | +5 units |
| Jacks | +6 units |
| Queens | +7 units |
| Kings | +8 units |
| Aces | +9 units |
| Trip Deuces | +10 units |
| Trip Threes | +11 units |
| Trip Fours | +12 units |
| Trip Fives | +13 units |
| Trip Sixes | +14 units |
| Trip Sevens | +15 units |
| Trip Eights | +16 units |
| Trip Nines | +17 units |
| Trip Tens | +18 units |
| Trip Jacks | +19 units |
| Trip Queens | +20 units |
| Trip Kings | +21 units |
| Trip Aces | +22 units |
Bonuses are paid during comparison. As an example, aces on the top in a three-handed game would net the holder nine units from each player.
Please note that bonuses are paid regardless of whether a player wins that row. Also, bonuses negate each other in OFC. For example, should two players hit quads on the bottom, no bonus would be paid.
Each unit won will be converted to a real money amount. For example:
- Player A has a flush on the bottom row, a pair of Aces on the middle row (A,A) with a pair of Queens on the top row (Q,Q) Player B only has two pair on the bottom, ace high on the middle row and King high on the top row.
- Player A has won each row vs Player B with bonus points. Player A wins 1 unit for winning the bottom row and an extra 4 units for having a flush. They also win 1 unit for having a pair of Aces in the middle row compared to just ace high but no bonus points. Finally Player A wins the top row with a pair of Queens (Q,Q) so that’s another 1 unit plus an extra 7 units as a bonus for having Q,Q at the top. This combines to a total 14 units plus as we have learnt a scoop bonus for winning all rows of 3 units.
- Player A this hand wins a total of 17 units and will be in ‘Fantasyland’ for the next hand. Maverick Poker will offer different stakes for players to choose what they are most comfortable with. If this example of a hand was played at a $0.50 cent stake Player A would win $8.50. If the hand had been played at a $1 stake Player A would have won $17.
AMAZING POKER FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW
Now to the most enjoyable part of the game.
Fantasyland
This rule is simple: If you make a qualifying hand with A pair of queens or better on the top, then your next hand will be “in Fantasyland.”
Fantasyland is treated as a bonus round of OFC. It’s common for the button not to move, and a player is not allowed to quit or get dealt out of the hand during his opponent’s Fantasyland round.
The player in Fantasyland has a big advantage because they are dealt all 14 cards at once, instead of the starting five and then three at a time. The player then sets the cards as they desire and discards one card at the end that is not needed, then your opponent plays their hand face up. Once your opponent has finished setting up their hand the fantasyland hand is revealed and the scoring continues as any regular hand. The ‘dream’ being in fantasy is that you get such a strong hand that it will keep you in fantasyland for the next hand. If you manage to get four of a kind (AKA Quads) or better on the bottom row or three of a kind (AKA Trips) on the top row you stay in fantasyland.
In Pineapple (OFC) Maverick Poker will take a very small % of the pot which is known as ‘Rake’. Maverick Poker strives to be the most competitive in the industry.
| Players In Hand | Stake | Rake % | Capped Rake |
| 2-3 | $0.25 | 3% | $0.25 |
| 2-3 | $0.50 | 3% | $0.50 |
| 2-3 | $1 | 3% | $1 |
| 2-3 | $2 | 3% | $2 |
| 2-3 | $3 | 3% | $3 |
| 2-3 | $5 | 3% | $5 |
| 2-3 | $8 | 3% | $5 |
| 2-3 | $10 | 3% | $5 |
| 2-3 | $25 | 3% | $8 |
Register to play online
It’s easy to register for an account at Maverick Poker. Just click the ‘JOIN US’ button at the top of the page, and enter the personal information requested on our registration page. Then click to confirm, add your deposit, and you’re ready to play your first hand.
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