OFC Pineapple

Pokerbet is one of the few poker-rooms that provides players with rare varieties of online-poker.

Type: game with not full information.

Number of players: from 2 to 3.

Deck: 52 cards from 2 to Ace.

Game description

In the process of the game, players must place three combinations into the boxes (the top one - 3 cards, the middle one - 5 cards, the lower one - 5 cards). Combinations in the boxes must be arranged in such way that the upper box is weaker than the middle one, the middle box is weaker than the lower one. Equivalence is allowed.

The moves of players in Chinese poker ”Pineapple“ are held in turn. The first player receives 5 cards and places them at his discretion in three boxes. After the end of his turn, the next player gets his 5 cards and so on, until the first street is completed. Starting from the second street and until all the players put into the boxes for 13 cards. Players receive three cards, two of which they must be placed in boxes, and one fold. The game has 5 streets, during which players must place in the boxes 13 cards (5 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2).

Players can not transfer cards after the end of the street. Opponents can see only the cards that are placed in the boxes. The discarded cards remain closed.

”Dead hand“

If a player can not collect combinations according to the rules of Chinese poker (for example, the combination in the upper box is older than the combination on average), then his hand is declared ”Dead“, and all his combinations are considered weaker than the combination of opponents when calculating scores. Bonuses in this case, the player does not receive.

”Fantasy“

Chinese poker "Pineapple" includes a "Fantasy" mode. If a player made a combination of QQ (pair of queens) or higher in the upper box, and their hand is not "dead", then the game goes into the "Fantasy" mode.

— The game continues for one hand.
— The dealer's button moves every hand, regardless of whether there's a fantasy or not.
— In "Fantasy" mode, player receives 14 cards at once, 13 of which they use to make combinations in three boxes, and one is discarded. At the 3-max tables, "Fantasy" is played last (after the opponents' cards are played). If the game is played at tables with "Progressive Fantasy", players can be dealt "Fantasy" from 14 to 17 cards, depending on the strength of the combination in the top box.
— If all players at the table except one have switched to the "Fantasy" mode, then all players at the table begin to form their hands simultaneously.
— A player who is not in the "Fantasy" mode also lays out their cards "blindly", but gets them in the regular mode.
— In open Chinese poker, the Fantasy replay is provided if one of the following conditions is met: in the Fantasy mode, players need to collect four of a kind or stronger on the lower box or a set on the upper box. The replay hand must not be "dead".
— When replaying a "Fantasy", player always receives 14 cards, regardless of the strength of the combination they collected. The number of replays of "Fantasy" is not limited.

Game verification

When the minimum number of players to start the game (from two) is gathered at the table, each player must confirm his willingness to play. The game will not start until all the players have confirmed their readiness for the game. Confirmation of readiness for the beginning of the game is expressed by a dialog box directly behind the table, where the player needs to click on the button ”Deposit“ or ”Play“. By clicking on this button, you agree that you contribute the required amount of the game to the table and start playing.

Course of the game

You confirm your participation in one round (match).

One round consists of three hands in case of three participants and two hands in case of two participants. The number of hands can be higher if players get the right to collect "Fantasy" ("Fantasy" is a continuation of the previous hand).

The round ends if all hands and their continuations ("Fantasies") are played, or if one of the players wins all points at the table. Nobody can leave or join the table during the round.

There is a version of Chinese Poker, One Hand OFC. In this game, the round will last for one hand (in case of "Fantasy" the round is prolonged).

The dealer's position moves clockwise from one player to another, even if it's a continuation of the previous hand ("Fantasy").

Time for move

Each player in the round is given the same amount of time to unfold the cards in all the streets - two minutes. Starting from the first street, there is a countdown. If the player has run out of time for the turn, he will be given extra time ”time bank“ - three minutes. If the player has spent all of his time on the move and the entire ”time bank“, but has not completed the course, his cards will be placed automatically as follows:

• cards are placed in the order of receipt first in the lower box, then in the middle and upper;
• starting with the second street, first the first two cards are placed, the third is discarded.

If the player has broken communication with the server, the ”time bank“ is also activated - three minutes. If the player has spent the entire ”time bank“ and the connection has not recovered, his hand will be decomposed automatically and counted, and the player will be given the status ”sit out“ and he will not continue the game unless the opponent has the right to decompose ”fantasy“. According to the rules of Chinese poker, ”fantasy“ is considered a continuation of the current distribution, so it will be played, and only after that the player will be transferred to the ”sit out“ mode. The time bank is restored when the player moves to another table.

Points

In Chinese poker ”Pineapple“ the game is played on points. To participate in the game you need to make the minimum amount of the kush, which is determined for this table. For example, if the minimum amount of the points is 50, and the cost of one point is 1 UAH. Then the minimum payment is 50 UAH. During the game, you can not control the size of the win or loss in Chinese poker (the difference in points will be known only after the end of the hand). However, according to the rules, it is impossible to win (or lose) more points than an opponent has or you have at the moment of comparison (the count of points).

Example 1. Player 1 has 10 points, and Player 2 has 50 points. If Player 2 wins with a difference of +25 points, then his winnings will be only 10 points (the maximum available amount of the opponent's pile in the game). If the Player 1 won with a difference of +25 points, then he will also be credited with only 10 points (because at the time of distribution there was exactly that amount of points).

Example 2. The process of comparison in a cash game for three players.
A winner (Player 1) has 0.75 UAH at the start of a hand. When the hand is done, Player 1 is first compared with Player 2 and wins the biggest amount possible from them — 0.75 UAH. Player 1 already has 1.5 UAH in stack (their 0.75 plus the 0.75 UAH they won from Player 2). After that, they are compared to player 3 and win 1.5 UAH from them as in the moment of comparison they already had 1.5 UAH in their stack (because it is the biggest sum possible of what they could win).

Example 3. During the tournament, the comparison goes the following way (see screenshot). Player 1 won 8 points from Player 2, as according to the rules they are first compared to them. Then they win 16 points from Player 3 because at the moment of comparison with Player 3, Player 1 already had not 8 points (as at the start) but 16 stacks already.

Calculating of points and bonuses

At the end of each distribution of Chinese poker, scoring is carried out. Points are awarded when pairing the hands of each player with others. In each pair, a comparison is made in the respective boxes: the lower one with the lower one, the middle one with the middle one and the upper one with the upper one. In the case of an equivalent combination on one of the lines (for example, for two players the flash in the lower box is equivalent), no player will receive points for this hand.

The points calculating rules

There are two methods for calculating scores in Chinese poker ”Pineapple“:

1st method: 2-4 (2-4 scoring). The player receives 1 point for each winning line. Additionally, 1 player gets a point if he has won 2 of 3 hands or all 3 hands. In the case of a draw on one of the lines (for example, if at the same time two players make an equivalent flush in the bottom box), no player gets points for this line, but if the player wins on two other lines, he will immediately get three points - one at a time for each of the two lines and one additional score.

2nd method: 1-6 (1-6 scoring). The player receives one point for each winning line. Additionally gets three points if he won all three lines.

The sequence of hands comparison

Comparing of the hands between players is following:

- Player 1 (this is the position of the first player from the dealer (button) clockwise) with Player 2 (this is the player's next position clockwise);
- Player 1 with Player 3 (position of the player on the button);
- Player 2 with Player 3.

This sequence is always observed when there are chips from the players. For example, if Player 1, when compared to Player 2, loses all of its chips, then Player 1 will not be compared with Player 3.

Bonuses (Royalties)

In addition to the points for a win, players are awarded with royalties for the combinations, regardless the results of distribution. Bonuses are an optional attribute of the game. Bonuses are not awarded if the player has made a ”dead hand“.

Number of bonus points for combinations on each line

Box	Combination	Number of points
Back	Straight	2
	Flush	4
	Full-House	6
	Quads	10
	Straight-Flush	15
	Royal Flush	25
Middle	Set	2
	Straight	4
	Flush	8
	Full-House	12
	Quads	20
	Straight -Flush	30
	Royal Flush	50
Front	66	1
	77	2
	88	3
	99	4
	TT	5
	JJ	6
	QQ	7
	KK	8
	AA	9
	222	10
	333	11
	444	12
	555	13
	666	14
	777	15
	888	16
	999	17
	TTT	18
	JJJ	19
	QQQ	20
	KKK	21
	AAA	22

Determining the order of places in the tournament

When distributing places in a tournament, the system takes into account the following:

- When a player is eliminated. The later a player is eliminated, the higher their place in the tournament.

- The number of chips the player has at the beginning of the current hand (in Chinese poker—at the beginning of the round). If several players are eliminated in the same hand or in a Hand-for-Hand situation, the player who had more chips in their stack at the time of the distribution will be ranked higher.

According to the rules of Chinese poker, "Fantasy" is considered a continuation of the current hand, therefore it will be played first, and only then the places of the eliminated players will be determined.

- Player's position relative to the dealer. Player to the left of the dealer (and so on clockwise) is ranked higher.

- Registration time. The player who registered earlier is ranked higher.

Rules for OFC knockout reward

The bounty is collected by pairwise comparison of points at the end of the match (round) if the player who loses in comparison is knocked out. Thus, the player who won the last points comparison with the knocked out player receives the bounty.