The Winning Room
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It’s Texas Holdem, with a twist. At least that’s the way you would see Pineapple Poker described on a drinks menu.

Pineapple poker is a tasty version of Texas holdem in which players each receive three hole cards instead of two. This obviously increases the chances that a player could land a high quality starting hand. So, you can expect to see more players in each pot. The average winning hands are stronger in Pineapple than they are in Texas Holdem.

In Pineapple Poker, players do not keep all three of their hole cards during the entire hand. Instead, they discard one of their hole cards at a designated point in the hand.

After receiving their cards, players engage in a round of betting. Now comes a choice. Many players play the game using this point in the hand to decide which hole card to discard. Discarding your extra hole card before the flop is how to play the more basic version of the game of Pineapple.

But, since you are spicing things up by playing something other than Holdem in the first place, you can decide to play the more popular version of Pineapple Poker called Crazy Pineapple. In this version, which is dealt at several of the online poker rooms, players keep their extra hole card until after the flop is dealt.

Once the flop is dealt and the following betting round is completed, Crazy Pineapple players discard their extra hole card.

For both the basic and the crazy versions of Pineapple Poker, the rest of the hand is played exactly like Texas Holdem.

This derivative of Texas Holdem offers more action, with the familiar gameplay. Players can use any number of hole cards, including none, to make a hand. The betting rules are the same, and if you play Texas Holdem, you already know most of the strategy involved in Pineapple Poker.

But wait, there’s more! Unlike Texas Holdem, there is a popular hi-lo (often called 8 or better) version of the game as well. In hi-lo games, players have a chance to win half of the pot by presenting the best qualifying low hand at the table.

What’s a qualifying low hand? It’s one with five cards with different ranks, all below eight (hence the name 8 or better). The lowest qualifying low hand wins half of the pot. So, players have nearly double the chances of winning.

Low hand ties are broken by reading the cards as one five digit number, with the highest digits first. Lowest number wins. For example, a hand of A,2,4,5,7 would be read as 75,421. A hand of A,3,4,5,6 would be read as 65,431, and would win in a tie-breaker.

Crazy Pineapple 8 or Better is not just some exotic homegame variety of poker, it is also dealt at several of the online poker rooms.

If you want to liven up your home games, consider adding a couple of hands of Crazy Pineapple to the mix. It’s a break from the same ol’ same ol’, but since it’s holdem-based players don’t need to learn many new rules and strategies to enjoy it.

Mongoose has been adding new card games to his mix of social activities. He is responsible for this page on Crazy Pineapple Rules, and also points out there is a guide to finding out where to play pineapple poker online already.

Pyramid Solitaire is a fun solitaire game, with a very distinctive opening tableau in the shape of a pyramid. There is a large element of luck involved, but there are certain strategies that can be used to dramatically increase your chances of winning.

The aim of pyramid solitaire is to remove all the cards from the tableau and the talon. Cards are removed in pairs, when their combined total is 13. The exception to this is with Kings, which are removed on their own.

Cards can only be removed when they are completely exposed (ie: When the whole card is visible, with no cards above them)

The combinations of cards you can remove are:

• Ace and Queen
• 2 and Jack
• 3 and 10
• 4 and 9
• 5 and 8
• 6 and 7
• King

Whilst the rules for pyramid solitaire are quite easy to understand, the game itself offers come interesting complexities. You have to plan out which cards to remove to maximize potential options later in the game. Sometimes you must leave a card for later in the game, or you will create an impasse. And sometimes you have to carefully remember the order of the cards in the talon, or you will have cards left over at the end.

At the start of the game, scan the first four rows, looking for any situations that will make the game impossible to complete. This happens when all the cards that can be combined with a card occur in the triangle below it.

This occurs because a card cannot be selected until all the cards in the triangle below it are removed first.

For example, suppose part of the deal was like this (Taken from Classic Solitaire deal 20064)

   2

  J 9

 Q J 8

6 J 4 J

All of the Jacks occur in the triangle below the top 2. So to expose the top 2, all the Jacks will have to be removed first… But that’s impossible, because the Jacks can only be removed in combination with the 2’s. We will be able to remove three of the Jacks, but we cant ever remove the top Jack, because the 2 it needs is above it.

So if the four combination cards appear in a cards underneath triangle, then the game cannot be finished, and you may as well redeal.

If only three of the combination cards appear in the underneath triangle, then you have discovered a potential impasse later on. Wherever that fourth combination card is, it MUST be combined with the top card. So, if the fourth combination card is in the talon, you must remember this, and be careful not to use it on any card other than the top one.

Another impasse to check for at the beginning, is to see if all the combination cards appear in the triangle above a card.

For example, suppose the deal was like this (Taken from Classic Solitaire deal 3841)

      7

     8 J

    4 2 4

   A 6 8 2

  8 5 9 Q 2

 7 8 9 7 K 4

K A 5 3 Q 6 10

All the 8’s occur in the triangle above the bottom 5, so the game cannot be finished.

This last case doesn’t occur very often though, so it isn’t worth spending too much time checking for it. Just a cursory glance at the middle 3 cards on the bottom row is normally enough.

So to summarize, before we have even started playing, we check to see if the game is winnable (Make sure there are no cases where the four combination cards occur in the triangle below or above a card). We also check for times when three of the combination cards appear below… as these will need special attention, to make sure we don’t waste the fourth card and create an impasse.

So what about general play?

Well, to start with, always remove Kings whenever you can. There is absolutely no reason not to remove the Kings, because they aren’t used in combination with any other cards, so you gain nothing by waiting.

Another thing to consider is that often there is no need to rush. You can cycle through the talon three times, so often it will be better to wait and see what cards are remaining, rather than jump in and remove a combination as soon as you can.

Finally, try and remove cards evenly between the talon and the tableau. Ideally, you want to finish removing cards from the tableau at the same time as the talon is used up.

You still wont be able to win every game of pyramid solitaire with the above strategy, but you should find your probability of winning has greatly increased.

Dan Fletcher is a developer at dogMelon.com.au – They make Classic Solitaire, and have a website featuring Card Game Rules, including Pyramid Solitaire

Rakeback

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Pai Gow Poker can be intimidating to the rank novice but it is relatively simple to play once you understand the basic rules of the game. This article takes a look at some of those rules and will help your understanding of this variation of poker.

Pai Gow can be an extremely slow game at times and may frustrate those used to a fast and frantic game of Texas Hold’em. There are a number of “pushes” which makes for a annoying game for new players. If you can understand the rules, as with any game, you can appreciate the way Pai Gow is played.

To start, place your wager. After everyone places their bets, all players receive seven cards. Usually a random generated number will determine which player takes the first set of cards. Players then try to arrange the best five-card and two-card hand. The five card hand is ranked just like any other poker hand.

The dealer or banker will then arrange the banker hand according to the pre-set rules known as the “house way”. The player’s five card hand is compared to the dealer’s five cards and then the two-card hands are compared.

During the comparison, the highest hand wins. If there is a match in both hands, it’s called a copy and the tie becomes a default banker win. If the player beats the dealer with both hands, he or she is very lucky because they get paid even money and then gets to pay the house or bank a 5% commission. If a player wins one hand and loses the other, then the hand is a push. The entire bet is lost if the player has 2 losing hands.

Here’s where it gets tricky. When setting the hands the two card hand can’t be higher than the five-card hand. If it is then it is an automatic loser. The joker can be used to complete a straight, a flush, or a straight flush, otherwise anything else the joker plays as an ace.

Keep in mind, the player can elect to be the banker on their appropriate turn. There are several advantages to the player being the banker which can vary by rules of the casino. The bank is supposed to rotate with everyone getting the chance to be the banker, co-banking is an option for those who perhaps don’t want to or can’t carry the financial responsibility for the hand.

David Walker runs free bets and UK poker websites. A free email course: “Seven Days to Better Betting” is available at both of these websites.