Crazy Pineapple Strategy

So how do you become a success at Crazy Pineapple?
It's basically like a cross between Omaha and Texas Hold'Em, and should be played that way.
You should play less hands, even though the temptation is to play more hands as there seems to be more chance hitting. This, like in Omaha is a silly move and will just end up costing you money.

First of all, look at your hand and decide if you would play any of the available hands in Hold Em. For example if you had a K96 you have to decide if you would play a K9 or a K6 or even a 96 in Hold'Em. Most of us would say no, so this is a hand that you should ditch without a second thought.

You are looking for hands which offer many different variants. You want a straight draw, flush draw and a pair all in the same hand. I love hands like JJ10 where the J and 10 are suited. Be careful if your flush comes off with a hand like this though as you might end up losing to a higher flush. Use your poker radar to sense trouble and see what state your Jack high flush is in.

Post flop you have to discard one card. I don't know how many times I have to ditch a good hand because I knew it wasn't good enough.

For example. you hold Ah Ks 9h . The flop comes Kh 10h Qd . Now which card do you get rid of? You have the top pair, with an ace kicker. I have been in this situation a lot. I look at the betting first. If its going crazy, I would assume that someone had two pair, or maybe the same as me. Now I am in a quandry. I could take a chance and stick with my pair, but one pair rarely wins. Someone is likely to have at least a straight, or worse flush draw.

I would be very tempted to drop my King here. I have an inside straight draw and a flush draw. I could end up with the nuts and this game is, like Omaha, all about having the nuts. I might keep the King if I though no-one had anything, or there was only one player left in the betting, but in any other circumstance, it would be goodbye King, and I'd be left waiting for the cards to help me out again.

So to sum up, the route to success at Pineapple is
1) Wait for good, combination hands that offer at least two from straights, pairs and flushes. Options are good.

2) Be prepared to ditch pairs if you have a nut straight or flush draw.

3) Look out for the nuts when post flop betting. Chances are if you don't have it. Someone else will.