From Toby Bochan,
Your Guide to Poker.
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Tired of plain old Texas Hold'em? Try this variation to the game, Pineapple Poker, or "Crazy Pineapple." Pineapple poker is almost identical to Hold'em so first make sure you know the rules to Texas Hold'em, because this game starts out different... but ends up the same.

How to Play

• Just as in Hold'em, the two players to the left post blinds before the deal.



• Now, the changes begin. In Pineapple Poker, instead of being dealt 2 hole cards as in Texas Hold'em, each player gets 3 hole cards to begin. After the 3 hole cards are dealt, there's a round of betting.



• After the betting is complete, the flop is dealt, and another round of betting begins



• Here's where it gets "Crazy" -- after the second round of betting is done, all players remaining in the hand choose 1 card from their 3 hole cards to discard. So everyone now only has the regular 2 hole cards just like in Texas Hold'em again.



• From here, the game is identical to Texas Hold'em. The turn is dealt, a round of betting happens, the river is dealt, another betting round, and then there's the showdown. Players can use any combination of the 2 hole cards in their hands and the 5 board or community cards on the table to make the best hand, and the best hand wins the pot.

Want to try this out yourself before introducing it to your home game? Try it out online at Ultimate Bet or Paradise Poker.