Short Deck
Table Of Contents
This is the game where flushes beat full houses, you flop loads of sets, and say goodbye to pocket 3’s. It’s Short Deck Poker. This format is a favorite of both recreational players and high rollers alike. Arguably the most exciting variant of poker available, it’s proven to be a hit amongst the players who love thrilling games of chance. Short Deck Overview Short Deck is an increasingly popular variation of poker which uses just 36 cards. The game plays similarly to Texas Hold’em, however the reduced deck opens up a whole new level of strategy! Jan 05, 2021 Short Deck Hold’em – also known as Six Plus (6+) Hold’em – is No-Limit Hold’em played with a stripped-down deck. All of the deuces to fives are removed to make the total deck just 36 cards. That means some pretty big changes to the poker hand rankings, game dynamics and to standard Texas Holdem strategy.
What is Short Deck Poker?
Short-deck poker (also known as six-plus hold'em) is a new variation of traditional Texas hold'em that mostly follows the same rules albeit with a significant difference.
Short-deck poker uses a smaller 36-card deck rather than the full 52-card deck.
Most first heard of short-deck poker after it was introduced among the mix in the high-stakes cash games in Macau.
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'>Short-Deck Poker Rules
Before we discover how to play short-deck poker, let's see how to get to the 36-card deck needed to play a game of 6+ hold'em.
The 36-card deck in use in poker short deck is created by removing the 2xs, 3xs, 4xs, and 5xs from the deck (16 cards).
That leaves the 6xs up through the Kxs as well as the Axs.
What about the Aces?
As in regular hold'em, in short-deck poker the aces still count as high or low when making straights.
The lowest possible straight in a game of short-deck poker is Ax9x8x7x6x (think of the ace as essentially replacing the missing 5x).
Poker short-deck is played similarly to regular hold'em.
Each player receive two hole cards and use them in combination with five community cards to create the best possible hand.
A game of short-deck poker features four streets of betting:
- Pre-flop
- Flop
- Turn
- River
However, there are some differences in the poker short-deck poker that you should know about before playing.
Short-Deck Poker Hand Rankings
Short-deck poker can be played according to the exact same rules as regular Texas Hold'em.
The betting can be fixed-limit or no-limit (although most often the game is played no-limit), and the same hand rankings can be used as follows:
| Hand Ranking | Hand Name | Poker Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest | High card | Kx6x9x8xQx |
| One pair | K♦K♠5x8xQx | |
| Two pair | K♦K♠6♥6♦Qx | |
| Three-of-a-kind | K♦K♠K♥6♦Qx | |
| Straight | A♠6♣7♥8♥9♦ | |
| Flush | K♦J♦10♦6♦9x | |
| Full house | K♦K♠K♥6♦6♠ | |
| Four-of-a-kind | K♦K♠K♥K♦6x | |
| Straight flush | 6♦7♦8♦9♦ | |
| Highest | Royal flush | 10♦J♦Q♦K♦A♦ |
For more info about the hand rankings in poker and which hand wins, visit our guide to poker hands.
Alternative Short-Deck Hand Rankings
Short-deck poker is played often employing a different hand ranking system. Here are the alternate hand rankings for short-deck poker (note the differences in bold):
| Hand Ranking | Hand Name | Poker Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest | High card | Kx6x9x8xQx |
| One pair | K♦K♠5x8xQx | |
| Two pair | K♦K♠6♥6♦Qx | |
| Straight | A♠6♣7♥8♥9♦ | |
| Three of a kind | K♦K♠K♥6♦Qx | |
| Full house | K♦K♠K♥6♦6♠ | |
| Flush | K♦J♦10♦6♦9x | |
| Four of a kind | K♦K♠K♥K♦6x | |
| Straight flush | 6♦7♦8♦9♦ | |
| Highest | Royal flush | 10♦J♦Q♦K♦A♦ |
As you can see, following these alternate poker short deck hand rankings a three-of-a-kind beats a straight (instead of vice-versa), and a flush beats a full house (instead of vice-versa).
Why a Different Hand Rankings?
These changes were introduced the because the removal of cards from the standard deck alter the probabilities of making certain hands.
For example, with only nine suited cards (instead of 13), a flush is harder to make in shord-deck poker than in regular hold'em.
Six-Plus Hold'em Variation — The Deal (Fifth Street)
One other popular variation often introduced in six-plus hold'em has to do with the way the river is dealt.
The game can be played according to the same procedure followed in regular hold'em, with the community cards coming in the same way — flop (three cards), turn (one card), and river (one card) — and betting rounds after each street.
More often, though, instead of a river card being dealt to complete a five-card board, players are each dealt a third hole card instead.
Players then make their five-cardpoker hands by using exactly two of their three hole cards and three of the four community cards.
The building of hands resembles the procedure followed in Omaha poker where players must use two of their four hole cards plus three board cards to make a five-card poker hand.
Short-Deck Poker Basic Strategy
As you might imagine, the removal of low cards and use of the 36-card deck makes it more likely to make higher value hands, a change that tends to introduce more action.
You should adjust your thinking about relative hand values from what they are used to in regular hold'em.
The smaller deck makes it easier to make two-pair hands, which means a hand like top pair-top kicker is no longer as strong in six-plus hold'em as it is in regular hold'em.
Straights and full houses are also easier to make in six-plus hold'em than in the regular version of the game (a reason for the alternate hand rankings).
The odds of hitting certain draws change, too, in short-deck pokr.
Just to highlight one example, filling an open-ended straight draw becomes more likely in poker short-deck.
While you're still looking for the same eight outs there are fewer total cards in the deck, thus increasing the percentage you'll make your straight.
The smaller deck also affects the likelihood of being dealt certain hands. [∫]You're more than twice as likely to get pocket aces[/B] in short-deck poker than you are in regular hold'em!
Finally, players being dealt a third hole card instead of there being a fifth community card obviously affects hand values as well, making it even more likely that players improve their hands — yet another factor that has to be taken into account when calculating odds and considering your final-round betting strategy.
Conclusion
Short Deck
Short-deck poker / 6+ hold'em introduces several exciting twists to traditional Texas hold'em, creating an action-filled alternative that many players are finding especially enjoyable to play.
The changes from regular hold'em aren't terribly complicated, making it easy to new players to learn and play right away.
Short-Deck Poker FAQ
A game of short-deck poker follows the same rules and gameplay as Texas hold'em poker.
The players receive two hole cards and they need to combine them with five community cards to create the best possible five-card hand.
Short-deck poker, however:
- Uses a 36-card deck rather than the full 52-card deck
- Ranks the hands differently compared to Texas hold'em
All the details to know before playing a game of short-deck poker are in this article.
The game of short-deck poker, os six-plus hold'em became famous at the high-stakes games in Macau. Due to the smaller deck, the game makes it more probably for players to hit high-value combinations.
You can play short-deck poker live at most poker festivals. If you are looking for games of short-deck poker online, check out the pokes sites listed on this page.
The removal of some low-value cards from the deck changes the game's basic strategy and the value of different poker hands.
To understand ranges and odds in short-deck poker, have a look at this article.
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One of the games that have seen a flurry of interest over the last few months is Six Plus Hold’em, also referred to as Short Deck Poker.
Six Plus Hold’em is an exciting and fun poker variant based on Texas Hold’em where the game is played with a deck of 36 cards as opposed to the usual 52 cards in traditional hold’em. Deuces through fives are removed from the deck giving the game its name Six Plus Hold’em/6+ or Short Deck Poker.
Aces are played both low and high, making both a low-end straight A6789 and the high JQKTA. Also, with a shortened deck, the game changes a bit in terms of hand rankings and rules. A Flush beats a Full House and in most places where Six Plus is offered, a Set or a Three-of-a-Kind beats a Straight.
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Because the low cards are removed, there are more playable hands compared with traditional Hold’em, and so it is more of an action-orientated game. Not only are the hand rankings modified but so are the mathematics and odds/probabilities of the majority of hands.
Before we talk about the odds and probabilities of some of the hands, let’s have a look at the hand rankings offered in Six Plus Hold’em (ranked from the highest hand to the lowest):
Six Plus Hold’em Hand Rankings Comparison
Short Deck Hand Rankings
| Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Plus Hold’em (Trips beat Straight) | 6+ Plus Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | Royal Flush | Royal Flush |
| Straight Flush | Straight Flush | Straight Flush |
| Four of a Kind | Four of a Kind | Four of a Kind |
| Full House | Flush | Flush |
| Flush | Full House | Full House |
| Straight | Three-of-a-Kind | Straight |
| Three-of-a-Kind | Straight | Three-of-a-Kind |
| Two Pair | Two Pair | Two Pair |
| One Pair | One Pair | One Pair |
| High Card | High Card | High Card |
One may wonder why a Flush is ranked higher than a Full House or why Three-of-a-Kind is ranked above a Straight. That’s because in Six Plus Hold’em, a Flush is harder to make since there are only nine cards in each suit instead of thirteen. Similarly, the stripped-deck also means that the remaining 36 cards are much closer in rank and so there will be smaller gaps between the cards in the hand and those on the board. This increases the probability of a hand becoming a Straight and hence Straights are ranked higher than a Three-of-a-Kind.
However, it is worth noting that the rules vary from game to game. For example, in the Short Deck variant offered in the Triton Poker Series, a Straight is ranked higher than a Three-of-a-Kind like in traditional hold’em even though mathematically a player would hit a Straight more.
One of the reasons why an operator would rank a Straight higher than Three-of-a-Kind is because it would generate more action. If Trips were ranked higher, a player with a Straight draw would have no reason to continue the hand as he or she would be drawing dead.
Let’s take a look at the odds/probabilities of hitting some of the hands:
Six Plus Hold’em vs Traditional Hold’em (Odds and Probabilities comparison)
| Traditional Hold’em | Six Plus Hold’em/Short Deck Poker | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting Dealt Aces | 1 in 221 (0.45%) | 1 in 105 (0.95%) |
| Aces Win % vs a Random Hand | 85% | 77% |
| Getting Dealt any Pocket Pair | 5.90% | 8.60% |
| Hitting a Set with a Pocket Pair | 11.80% | 18% |
| Hitting an Open-Ended Straight by the River | 31.50% | 48% |
| Possible Starting Hands | 1326 | 630 |
As you can see in the table above, the odds of being dealt pocket Aces are doubled as you now get the powerful starting hand dealt once in every 105 hands, as opposed to once in every 221 hands with a full 52-card deck. However, the probability of winning a hand with aces vs a random hand decreases from 85% in traditional hold’em to 77% in Six Plus Hold’em.
The probability of hitting a Set with pocket pairs increases to 18% from 11.8%, and the probability of hitting an open-ended Straight by the River also increases to 48% in 6+ Hold’em compared with 31.5% in traditional Hold’em.
Let’s now have a look at some of the pre-flop all-in hand situations:
Six Plus Hold’em vs Traditional Hold’em (Hands Comparison)
| Hand All-in Pre-Flop | Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Hold’em (Trips beat Straight) | 6+ Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ac Ks vs Th Td | 43% vs 57% | 47% vs 53% | 49% vs 51% |
| Ac Ks vs Jc Th | 63% vs 37% | 53% vs 47% | 52% vs 48% |
| As Ah vs 6s 6h | 81% vs 19% | 76% vs 24% | 76% vs 24% |
As mentioned earlier, the equities run very close to each other with the shortened deck and so a hand like Ace-King versus Jack-Ten is almost a coin-flip, whereas the former is a favorite in Texas Hold’em. Again, a hand like Ace-King versus a pocket pair like Tens is a coin-flip in 6+, whereas a pocket pair is a slight favorite in normal Hold’em.
Now, let’s take a look at the probabilities when a connected or wet Flop is dealt:
Player 1: Ac Ks
Player 2: Td 9h
Flop: Kh 8c 7d
| Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Hold’em (Trips beat Straight) | 6+ Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player 1 vs Player 2 | 66% vs 34% | 52% vs 48% | 48% vs 52% |
In traditional Hold’em, Ace-King is a favorite with 66% and Player 2 is chasing the Straight draw with a close to 34% chance of hitting it. However, the probability significantly changes in both variants of 6+ Hold’em. In a variant where Trips beat a Straight, Player 1 is only a slight favorite with just 52% (more like a coin-flip). However, in a Short Deck game where a Straight beat Trips, Player 2 is now slightly favorite with 52% chance of hitting a Straight by the river.
Another hand:
Dockers Cargo Shorts For Men
Player 1: As Ah
Player 2: Qd Jh
Flop: Ad Th 9s
| Traditional Hold’em | 6+ Hold’em (Trips Beat a Straight) | 6+ Hold’em (Straight beat Trips) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player 1 vs Player 2 | 74% vs 26% | 100% vs 0% | 68% vs 32% |
It’s pretty clear when it comes to normal Hold’em, but in a Short Deck variant where Trips beat a Straight, Player 2 is drawing dead as opposed to the other variant where Player 2 still has a 32% of chance of completing a Straight by the River.