Hello all and welcome back to the No Mercy OFC Little Guide! In the previous chapters, we went over the history of the game, its basic rules, and some primary recommendations to elevate your game. We also analysed some complete OFC hands to cover different points at once. It is now time to focus on a very specific subject, which is the supreme goal of this game: Getting a ride to Fantasyland and placing our cards the best way possible!
Fantasyland Example #1
Here is an interesting Fantasyland hand that I got this week on TonyBetPoker while playing in Pineapple format.
​There are multiple options in this hand, and after being asked, most amateurs players told me that they would quickly go for Quads in the back, allowing them to remain in Fantasyland. They would also place a Full House in the middle, AAA66, with the remaining pocket 7s on top, which is, I admit, a great Fantasyland overall. Looking closer at the bonuses, this particular hand is worth 10 points for the Quads in the back, 12 points for the Full House in the middle, and 2 points for pocket 7s on top, for a total of 24 points, which is not so bad at all! Not to mention the fact that you will most likely win bottom and middle row, with a fair chance to scoop if your opponents ended up with no pair on top.
Even better though, you could place your straight flush in the back (A2345 in diamonds), Full House in the middle (555AA) with the pair of 7s on top, for an extra 5 points compared to the previous placement, as the straight flush is worth 15 and your Quads only 10. Your total score would then be 29 points instead of 24, and maybe more if you win at least two lines or scoop your opponents.
However, there might be an even better way to place those cards, and whenever I give an OFC coaching, I constantly tell my students that when they see trips in their hand, they should always, always, always try to put them on the top line. Why? Because it is almost always a better play, as Quads on the back is worth 10 points, and Trip Deuces on top is also worth 10 points. That means that all the other sets superior to Deuces will always be worth more than any Quads in the back. Incidentally, your set on top will also allow you to remain in Fantasyland.
So, what can we do here in this particular case?
There is an easy straight to do, and I will never hesitate to split Quads in order to place a set on top. Therefore, we could do a Full House in the back (55577) and place a straight in the middle (23456), with a set of Aces on top! Even more, and by looking closer, you see that you can actually make a Flush in the middle with 23458 of diamonds, keeping a Full House in the back, and placing the same set of Aces on top. Placing the pair of 6s or 7s in the back for the Full House has no relevance, since no other player will be able to make the same Full House. The final result would look like this:
​Now, let’s see the difference on the bonuses score with this placement compared to the previous two options we examined. Here, we make 6 points bonus in the back for the Full House, 8 points bonus in the middle for the Flush, and an unbelievable 22 points bonus on top for our set of Aces! This is the biggest Bonus you can get in OFC Pineapple after Royal and Straight Flushes. Right here right now, that’s a total of 36 points in bonuses only, not to mention the fact that we have an immense probability of scooping our opponents, especially if they are not in Fantasyland themselves.
Note that there is yet another possible option by placing Straight Flush in the back (A2345 in diamonds for 15 points), a Full House in the middle (55566 or 55577 for 12 points), and a pair of Aces on top for 9 points. The total here would be exactly the same with 36 points, but I personally prefer to place the Set of Aces on top as I am absolutely guaranteed to win that line. However, our Full House in the back is quite low with the 5s, so those things are to considered especially if you are playing against opponents that are in Fantasyland already!
In real life, this was the turnout of this hand:
​I scooped both of my opponents on all lines, for a total of 12 points for the lines, plus my total bonuses of 36 points per player, so 72 points, for a big total of 84 points. My opponents also made some bonuses; the player on the left made 4 points for his pocket 9s on top, and the player on the right made 4 points for his Flush in the back, 4 points for his straight in the middle, and 3 points for his pocket 8s on top, all this for a total of 15 points in bonuses for my opponents. Overall, I made 84 points, minus 15, for a total of 69 points coming my way!! That’s a huge score for one single hand in Pineapple, not to mention that I am the only player going back in Fantasyland in this spot.
Without looking attentively and going with the easy first two scenarios, you can quickly see that this final score would have been much lower! Indeed, in both cases, we would have lost the top line with our pair of 7s beaten by both of our opponents. Placing Quads and Full House with pocket 7s would have given us 24 points in Bonuses, plus one point for the lines on each opponent, minus their 15 points Bonuses, for a total of 35 points… Placing Straight Flush and Full House with pocket 7s would have given us 29 points in Bonuses, plus one point for the lines on each opponent, minus their 15 points Bonuses, for a total of 45 points… So, what do you prefer? A small 35 points, a medium 45 points, or a huge 69 points?
In conclusion, always take time to evaluate all your possibilities when you get to Fantasyland, and do not hesitate to split Quads or a Straight Flush if this will allow you to place a Set on top!
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French