Donkey Pineapple starts you with six cards and makes you throw four away over the hand, face up, for everyone to see. You end the hand with two cards, like Hold'em, but along the way the whole table learns a lot about what everyone kept.
How a hand plays
- Blinds. Small and big blind, as in Hold'em.
- Six cards each. Everyone gets 6 cards face down. Round of betting.
- The flop. Three board cards. Everyone still in throws away 2 cards face up. Round of betting.
- The turn. One board card. Everyone throws away 1 more card face up. Round of betting.
- The river. The last board card. Everyone throws away 1 more card face up, leaving 2. Final round of betting.
- Showdown. Best five from your two and the board, as in Hold'em.
Everyone chooses their discards at the same time. Nobody sees what anyone threw until all the players have chosen, then all the thrown cards are shown together.
The game takes 2 to 7 players, because six cards each uses a lot of the deck.
The thrown cards tell a story
Every discard is information. When a player throws away two hearts on a flop with two hearts, they probably aren't going for the flush. When they throw away a king on a king high board, they probably kept something better.
It works both ways. Your discards tell everyone about you. Sometimes the best play is to throw the cards that make your hand look weaker than it is.
Discards are also dead cards. If three players between them have thrown away four spades, your spade draw has far fewer outs than it looks.
Choosing what to keep
With six cards you often have several good hands in one. Say you hold A♠ A♦ K♠ Q♠ 7♣ 2♥ and the flop is J♠ 10♦ 4♠.
You have a pair of aces, the nut flush draw (A♠ K♠ or A♠ Q♠) and a straight draw (K Q with J 10). You must throw two now and keep four. Throwing the 7♣ and 2♥ keeps every option open. Next street, the choice gets harder.
Tips
- Keep flexible cards early. You have three more chances to discard, so don't commit to one hand on the flop if you don't need to.
- Count the dead cards. Before calling with a draw, check how many of your outs are already face up in the discards.
- Expect strong hands at showdown. Everyone picked their best two out of six with the full board in view. A single pair rarely wins.
Play it
Play Donkey Pineapple on Bink with friends in your browser, for chips. The table shows every thrown card, so you can read the discards as you play.