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.