2-7 Pineapple OFC Poker

OFC/P 2-7 is a variant of Pineapple Open Face Chinese. In OFC/P 2-7, the middle 5-card hand is set as a 2-7 lowball hand.

2-7 Pineapple OFC Poker Gameplay

OFC/P 2-7 can be played by 2 or 3 players. During the course of the hand, players will arrange their hole cards on the layout in rows to make 3 poker hands, arranged in order of ascending rank. These hands are called the top, middle, and bottom:

• Top hand: A 3-card poker hand, which may only rank as a high card, a pair, or three of a kind. Straights and flushes do not count. It must rank lower than the bottom hand.
• Middle hand: A 5-card 2-7 lowball poker hand. It must rank Ten-low or better (T-9-8-7-5 or lower; straights and flushes count against the hand).
• Bottom hand: A standard 5-card poker hand. It must rank the highest of the 3 hands.

An OFC/P 2-7 hand that breaks these rules (by having a top hand stronger than the bottom hand, or a middle hand higher than Ten-low) is a fouled hand and automatically loses.

At the start of a hand, each player is dealt 5 face-down hole cards. Clockwise from the dealer, players in turn set and confirm the positions of these 5 cards on the layout, face-up. Once confirmed, the cards become visible to all players and cannot be changed or moved.

For the rest of the hand, each player is dealt 3 face-down cards at once in turn, and must place 2 of the cards into available positions on the layout while discarding the third.

Once positioning is confirmed, the cards become visible to all players and cannot be changed or moved to a different row.

The remaining cards are dealt in this manner, three at a time, until all players have completed their layouts of 13 cards. Hands are then compared and scored.

Scoring

At showdown, players hands are compared and points are exchanged based on hand strength. Two players’ individual hands are first compared to each other for scoring, row to row (top against top, middle against middle, and bottom against bottom), with the better hand winning each comparison.

Meaning: If you win one of those three hands, one point. For each of the hands won. Unless you win all three hands, then it is three points. So a six point total.

Royalties

Additional bonus points called royalties are then awarded for certain strong hands:

The awarded points and royalties for both players are then recorded. If more than 2 players are playing, each remaining exchange is scored until all players have exchanged points with all other players in the hand.

After a round of hands completes, players settle the final total of points won or lost, by exchanging chips with the other players in turn.

Players are not allowed to sit out or leave the table during a round of hands, and must wait until the round is complete.

Fantasyland

The Fantasyland bonus requirement in OFC/P 2-7 is KK+ (a pair of Kings or better as top), or a perfect low (7-5-4-3-2 low as middle). A player enters Fantasyland by making a hand which meets one or both of these requirements and does not foul.

The button does not advance during a Fantasyland bonus hand. In the bonus hand, the player in Fantasyland receives 14 or 15 cards face-down at the start of the hand, and sets a complete 13-card hand face-down on the first turn, discarding the extra cards.

• A pair of Kings or better on top awards a normal 14-card Fantasyland.
• 7-5-4-3-2 perfect as middle awards a normal 14-card Fantasyland.
• Both a pair of Kings or better on top and 7-5-4-3-2 perfect as middle awards a 15-card Fantasyland.

All players not in Fantasyland receive 5 starting cards as normal, and must draw and set their hands face-up in turn. The hand is then scored normally.

The middle hand in Fantasyland must continue to be a qualifying lowball hand. For this reason, it is possible (although unlikely) that a player may be forced to foul in Fantasyland.

A player in Fantasyland may repeat Fantasyland and play another bonus hand by making one of the following strong hands while in Fantasyland:

• Three of a Kind or better (top)
• Four of a Kind or better (bottom)

Players who repeat Fantasyland will only receive the normal Fantasyland of 14 cards on each repeat.

OFC/P 2-7 is played for table stakes. The amount a player has at the table determines the maximum win or loss possible in one round of bitcoin poker.