Tight (Greek) Pineapple or Cuckoo-bird (1 Viewer)

[Coyote]

I 'm posting not just to advertise this variant (which plays only marginally higher than Texas Hold'em and its only boon to mankind is just to provide some variety, without the sanguinary volatility of PLO), but in order to also get some advice by @DrStrange
You could also call it severely crippled Omaha, as it begins as 3-card Omaha pre-flop and continues as 2-card Omaha (always high) post-flop. No need to play it PL or in stakes lower than in the rest of (NLHE) orbits. Its local name is the Cuckoo-bird hold'em.
You are dealt 3 hole cards pre-flop, and, upon seeing the flop you discard one, before betting. The remaining 2 hole cards are both obligatory to use.
Obviously, best starting hands are pairs with a suited connector to one of the paired cards.
Obviously, you should have something slightly better on the flop than in NLHE, 'cause the two following streets will help you less (having the caveat of two obligatory hole cards).
Would love to hear more from the experts, regarding different flops.

 

[Legend5555]

So, it's Crazy Pineapple, except you must use both cards?

 

[RichMahogany]

Lol 2 card omaha

 

[Coyote]

So, it's Crazy Pineapple, except you must use both cards?

Yes!

 

[FordPickup92]

@Ben8257

 

[Ben8257]

Very similar to crazy pineapple... which BTW at our house everything is pineapple almost never holdem! I like the obligatory 2 hole cards must be used... slight variation again on crazy pineapple but still interesting indeed!!

 

[DrStrange]

Tight is right. There are are 3x hold'em hands in play preflop than in a normal game. Lean towards nut peddling

Beware "danglers" Say or even worse . All three cards should somehow work together.

Over pairs are not nearly as powerful as in hold'em. Look for a reason to fold such hands facing action post flop. Same thing with "top pair" type hands.

Fear sets. A lot of players will open any three card hand with a pair. They shouldn't, but they will. Set over set is still uncommon. However you could almost assume someone has a set if the action gets hard.

Inferior draws are deadly. Players with an ace have almost twice the chance to have the nut flush draw etc. So an eight high flush draw is often getting action from better draws.

There are no wraps like in Omaha. But there will be more combo draws.

Expect people to misread their hands (including you). It will feel like Hold'em but you MUST play two cards. Double paired boards are going to be murder on the players' hand reading skills.

Only time will tell if this variant is going to be considered "fun" -=- DrStrange

 

[Ben8257]

Tight is right. There are are 3x hold'em hands in play preflop than in a normal game. Lean towards nut peddling

Beware "danglers" Say or even worse . All three cards should somehow work together.

Over pairs are not nearly as powerful as in hold'em. Look for a reason to fold such hands facing action post flop. Same thing with "top pair" type hands.

Fear sets. A lot of players will open any three card hand with a pair. They shouldn't, but they will. Set over set is still uncommon. However you could almost assume someone has a set if the action gets hard.

Inferior draws are deadly. Players with an ace have almost twice the chance to have the nut flush draw etc. So an eight high flush draw is often getting action from better draws.

There are no wraps like in Omaha. But there will be more combo draws.

Expect people to misread their hands (including you). It will feel like Hold'em but you MUST play two cards. Double paired boards are going to be murder on the players' hand reading skills.

Only time will tell if this variant is going to be considered "fun" -=- DrStrange

Very very well said!! Definitely a well though out response and very useful information there! Going have to try this one out!!

 

[Coyote]

Tight is right. There are are 3x hold'em hands in play preflop than in a normal game. Lean towards nut peddling

Beware "danglers" Say or even worse . All three cards should somehow work together.

Over pairs are not nearly as powerful as in hold'em. Look for a reason to fold such hands facing action post flop. Same thing with "top pair" type hands.

Fear sets. A lot of players will open any three card hand with a pair. They shouldn't, but they will. Set over set is still uncommon. However you could almost assume someone has a set if the action gets hard.

Inferior draws are deadly. Players with an ace have almost twice the chance to have the nut flush draw etc. So an eight high flush draw is often getting action from better draws.

There are no wraps like in Omaha. But there will be more combo draws.

Expect people to misread their hands (including you). It will feel like Hold'em but you MUST play two cards. Double paired boards are going to be murder on the players' hand reading skills.

Only time will tell if this variant is going to be considered "fun" -=- DrStrange

Many thanks Doctor!
I guess when you say "All three cards should somehow work together" you mean in pairs - a third one (whichever) will have to go.

 

[DrStrange]

All three cards working together might mean or or Just so you can find a reason to use the "extra" card somehow.

While is ok, is dubious since you are almost never going to keep the off-suit ace post flop. I'd rather play than play

Hero might play QQx just hoping to flop the set, but the price needs to be cheap.

 

[Coyote]

There can be a multitude of nice exercises on the flop for this game.
Say you hold and you open from MP for 3XBB and get called, pre-flop by an LP villain.
Flop comes
What do you do (and you don't have position on the caller villain)
Throw the red ace and go for the 13 outs or throw the deuce and be left with 2 outs (in case the villain called with a pair of Kings)?

 

[kirchhausen]

Fold pre and play 5 card PLO

 

[Coyote]

It seems that, historically, what Sir Doyle called "Greek or Tight Hold'em" (just 2 hole cards right from the start, both of them obligatory to use) evolved into "Omaha" for casino-profit gambling purposes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_hold_'em
Looks like the idea of 2 mandatory hole cards came to the US from Greece.