How to play Pineapple OFC poker

Open-Face Chinese poker, or OFC, has no betting at all. Everyone builds three poker hands out of 13 cards, face up, one decision at a time, and the hands are compared row by row for points. Pineapple is the version almost everyone plays today: you see three cards per turn, keep two and throw one away. (If you want the original game, where all 13 cards are dealt at once and set face down, see Chinese Poker rules.)

The board: three rows, one rule

Each player sets their cards in front of them in three rows:

• Bottom row: 5 cards. Your strongest hand.
• Middle row: 5 cards. Must be no stronger than the bottom.
• Top row: 3 cards. Your weakest hand. With only three cards it can be a high card, a pair or three of a kind; straights and flushes don't count up here.

That gives the one rule of OFC: when all 13 cards are down, bottom must beat or tie the middle, and the middle must beat or tie the top. Hands are ranked with the normal poker hand rankings. A board that breaks the order is fouled, and a fouled board is expensive (see below).

How a hand of Pineapple is dealt

Two or three players take turns, starting left of the button. Every turn is dealt privately to the player whose turn it is, then placed for everyone to see.

1. Round 1: you get 5 cards and place all five, anywhere you like, as long as no row overflows.
2. Rounds 2 to 5: you get 3 cards each turn. Place two of them and discard the third face down.

After five rounds you have placed 5 + 4 × 2 = 13 cards and thrown away four. Once a card is placed it stays where it is, so every placement is a commitment. Your opponents' placed cards are public, which matters: every card on their boards is a card you cannot draw. Discards stay hidden from everyone else.

Scoring: points per row

At the end of the hand every board is compared with every other board, one pair of players at a time.

• 1 point per row. Compare bottom with bottom, middle with middle, top with top. The better hand wins a point from the other player. A tie scores nothing.
• Scoop bonus. Win all three rows against one opponent and you take 3 extra points, 6 in total.
• Royalties. Strong hands in a row earn bonus points on top of the row points. Each player's royalties are added up, and the difference changes hands.

A worked example, head to head. Anna's bottom is a flush, her middle a straight and her top a pair of eights. Ben has a full house on the bottom, two pair in the middle and a king high on top. Anna wins the middle and the top, Ben wins the bottom: Anna +1 on rows. Royalties: Anna has 4 (flush on the bottom) + 4 (straight in the middle) + 3 (eights on top) = 11, Ben has 6 (full house on the bottom). Anna collects 1 + 11 − 6 = 6 points.

In a three-player game each player plays this against both opponents, and their two results are added together. Points turn into chips at the table's point value: at 20 chips a point, Anna's 6 points are 120 chips.

Royalties table

Royalties are paid only on a board that is not fouled.

The middle pays double the bottom because making a big hand there without fouling means the bottom has to be even bigger.

Fouls: the one mistake that costs the most

If your finished board breaks the order, say a pair of jacks on top over a pair of tens in the middle, the board is fouled. A fouled board loses all three rows and the scoop to every opponent who did not foul, and its royalties are cancelled. You pay each of those opponents 6 points plus whatever royalties they made. If two players both foul, they pay each other nothing.

Comparisons inside a row use kickers, so the order can be broken by a single card: a top row of 8-8-A beats a middle row of 8-8-K-Q-J, and that board fouls.

Fantasyland

Fantasyland is the reward that makes OFC addictive. Finish a hand with a pair of queens or better in the top row and no foul, and on the next hand you play in Fantasyland:

• You get 14 cards at once, set 13 of them into your three rows and discard one.
• You set your board privately while the others play their normal rounds. Nobody sees it until the showdown.
• Seeing all your cards at once makes big royalties and a clean board far more likely.

You stay in Fantasyland for another hand if your Fantasyland board has three of a kind on top, or four of a kind or better on the bottom, without fouling. On PokerClub you get 60 seconds to set a Fantasyland hand in Free Play, plus your time bank; club owners choose their own Fantasyland timer. You lose Fantasyland if you are not dealt into the next hand at that table.

Tips for your first sessions

• Build from the bottom up. Early cards that make pairs or suits belong low. A board with a strong bottom has room for everything else.
• Keep the top row honest. A high pair on top in round 1 looks great and fouls often. Put it there only when the rows below can realistically beat it.
• Count your outs from the table. Before chasing a flush, count the cards of that suit on the other boards. With three players, most of the deck is face up by the last round.
• Chase Fantasyland, but not at any price. Queens on top is worth a lot, but a foul costs 6 points plus your opponents' royalties. When the middle can't get past the top, give it up.
• Remember your discards. Nobody else sees the cards you throw away, but they are dead for you too. Count them along with the other boards when you work out what is left.
• Leave room late. In the last two rounds, keep an open slot in each row you still need to fill, so one bad card doesn't force a foul.

Play OFC privately with friends on PokerClub

PokerClub runs Pineapple OFC in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, with the same private clubs you use for Hold'em and Omaha.

• In your own club. The owner opens an OFC table and picks the point value, the buy-in in points, two or three seats, the turn time and the Fantasyland timer. Only approved members can sit down, so it is a private OFC game for your group.
• In Free Play. Two OFC tables are always open: Jade at 5 chips a point and Coral at 20 chips a point, three seats each, with bots taking the empty seats so you can practise any time. Buy in for 50 to 200 points from the 2,500 free virtual chips you get when you first sign in.
• A fair deal you can check. The deck order is committed before the first card is dealt, and every card that is revealed comes with a proof you can check, the same way it works at our Hold'em tables.

Chips are virtual only. They have no cash value and can never be cashed out, sold or exchanged for money or prizes.

OFC questions

How many people can play OFC?

Two or three. Every player is scored against every other player, so a three-handed game is three head-to-head matchups settled at once.

What is the difference between OFC and Pineapple OFC?

In classic OFC you get one card at a time after the first five and must place every card. In Pineapple you get three cards at a time, keep two and throw one away face down. You see more cards, so boards get stronger and Fantasyland comes more often.

What happens if I foul?

A fouled board loses every row to each opponent who did not foul, including the scoop bonus, and earns no royalties. You pay each of them 6 points plus their royalties. If both players foul, nothing changes hands between them.

How do I get into Fantasyland?

Finish a hand with a pair of queens or better in the top row without fouling. Next hand you get 14 cards at once and set all 13 of your placed cards in one go. You stay for another hand with trips on top or quads or better on the bottom.

Is OFC on PokerClub played for money?

No. PokerClub uses virtual chips only. Points turn into virtual chips at the table, and those chips have no cash value and can never be cashed out, sold or exchanged for money or prizes.

More guides: Pot-Limit Omaha for beginners, how to play Texas Hold'em and a poker night with friends online.