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 Getting to FL in Pineapple
I've been thinking about the ways the people I play with have found to get to fantasyland creatively. I recently played a 36 hand session with WAZZUP (table 1539 if you want to look at the whole thing) in which I got to FL on 5 consecutive deals when not in FL (not from within FL). Many of these hands wouldn't have looked like FL opportunities a few months ago. I thought I'd post them and guide you through how I was thinking about the hand. I'm pretty lazy, so I'm not going to bother making WAZZUP's hand, but when out considerations are important, I'll let you know what he had.
Hand 24
     
      
        
Discards Th Jh 2c 7d
Early in my Pineapple life, I hated these kinds of hands, but now I see them as opportunities. Notice that by setting 2455 in the mid I have 6 outs to 2 pair and 2 outs to trips with many draws to come. Mostly, my goal is to make 2 pair or better in the bottom, complete 2 pair in the mid, and make an FL pair on top.
The first draw brings QQ5, but it's an easy decision to put the QQ up. Going to FL is the whole point of this play, and I'd probably be happier making 2 small pair in the mid instead of trips, which are so much harder to beat.
The next draw is nearly perfect 926, two pair in the mid is made and I have a pair to build from below. Since I have three open slots on the bottom, I am begging to draw a pair, but. . .
I brick the next draw J82, set the Jack up top, put the 8--the livest card I have since WAZZUP is showing a J--on bottom, and muck the 2.
But it's all good when the last draw brings 337, and I make the land.
Yes, this was a lucky hand, but it shows that with these seemingly garbage starts, you often can have a clear plan to get to FL: two small pair in the mid, two bigger pair or trips below, and FL pair on top.
Hand 26
  
   
    
5s 6s 5c 2d
Okay, I'm going to get real lucky again, but the basic starting block is what I'm trying to focus on. 664 in the mid is another small 2-pair draw, and the 9T on the bottom gives me lots of possibilities. The first draw brings K25, a first FL card for the top, another live baby for the mid and a brick to toss. The next draw is K46, nearly perfect. FL pair made on top, 2 pair made in the middle, now just need to make something happen below. A75 is not so great, but there's only one A in WAZZUP's hand, so I set the A low and the brick up.
Gold on the river again TT2, and back to the land.
Hand 29 (after 2 FL hands)
 
 
 
Discards As Qh Js 2d
With trips low to start, I am loaded for bear and I have a feisty T8 in the mid. The first draw brings KKA, not too shabby.
The FL pair for the top is made. The next draw is T9Q. The T pairs my mid and the 9 is live. The next draw is 9AJ, I complete the 2 pair in the mid and my FL is guaranteed, freerolling for boat or quads in the bottom. It doesn't come as the last draw is 3 bricks, but still in the land.
Hand 31
  
discards 2d Qs Kc 5c
QQ to start is going up top nearly 100% of the time, the rest of the set is in line with the 2 pair / 2 pair / FL pair theme, with remote flush/flush or flush/straight chances. 1st draw brings 5A2, not really what I wanted, but the 5 is live and it's a spade, so it goes low, the A goes in the middle (hoping to catch another A and make the mid), and the 2 is eminently muckworthy. 2nd draw is A9Q. Having no desire to commit suicide, I muck the Q, make Aces in the mid and set the 3rd spade low. 3rd draw comes a miracle: T5K. My bottom is made with 2 pair and all I need to do is draw at least 2 bricks to guarantee the land, and the 4th draw obliges with A85.
Hand 34 (after another double FL)
discards Td 2d Jc 7d
This set is a slight variation on the theme with 2 small pair made in mid, 8 on top. Most often, the 8 would have gone low, but WAZZUP set first and played an 8. The first draw is A3T. The point of this set up is getting to the land with a big pair on top, and they don't get any bigger than Aces, so up it goes, the 3 is more live than the T, so it finds a home on the bottom. Draw 2 is A32, FL pair made on top, one pair made on the bottom--I like my chances. Draw 3 comes KQJ, no immediate help, but WAZZUP is showing no queens and only one king, so I presume 5 outs for the river. And it comes K57, and it's back to the land again.
5 straight trips to the land and only one hand (Hand 31) that would have looked like an FL set to me when I started playing pineapple. I also would have been happy with hands 29 and 34, but I wouldn't have had a clear FL plan for them. I would have set 6622 on the bottom back then with Hand 34, a line that seems less profitable to me now.
Always visualize what hand you are trying to make and always look for ways to make 2 pair / 2 pair / FL pair with hands that don't look like "good starting hands" to beginners.
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