Want to try your hand at Short Deck Poker? This Texas Hold’em variant is growing in popularity. Now offered by all reputable online poker sites, Short Deck Hold’em, also known as Six Plus Hold’em, has been making waves in the poker world since its introduction in 2018.
However, if you think that your Texas Hold’em experience and knowledge is enough to master Short Deck, think again. Sure, it helps, but there are some key differences that make playing with a reduced deck a completely different experience than playing full deck Hold’em.
So, how do you play Short Deck Poker? How is it different from Texas Hold’em? What are the best Six Plus Hold’em strategies? 55bmw will answer that and more in the following Short Deck Poker guide.
What is Short Deck Poker?
Sometimes referred to as Six Plus Hold’em or 6+ Poker, Short Deck emerged around 2017 in Macau. Its name comes from the fact that the game is played with a reduced deck of 36 cards, removing all cards from 2 to 5.
This makes the game much faster-paced and more action-packed than traditional Texas Hold’em. It also reduces the number of weak hands before the flop and gives players a wider range of hands to play.
Short Deck Hold’em vs No Limit Hold’em
The rules of Short Deck Poker are quite similar to the rules of regular Texas Hold’em. However, there are a few notable differences.
First, as mentioned earlier, fewer cards are used in the deck. Importantly, this significantly changes the probability of certain hands appearing. That’s why in this game, straight flushes beat three of a kind and J-Ts beat A-Ks are basically a matter of luck. We’ll discuss these differences in probability in more detail later in this guide.
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Just like in Hold’em, Aces count as both high and low in Short Deck Poker. But since there are no cards from 2 to 5, the lowest straight can look a little unusual. A 9-high straight with cards 9-8-7-6-A can take a while to get used to for a new Short Deck player!
How to Play Short Deck Hold’em: Rules & Hand Rankings
To play Short Deck Poker, you need a deck of 36 cards instead of 52. As mentioned, the game is played by removing all 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s. Aside from this change, a typical game of Short Deck plays out very similarly to a No-Limit game, in that:
Each player receives two hole cards.
There are four betting rounds – pre-flop, flop, turn and river.
Players form hands using both their hole cards and the community cards.
To start a typical game of Short Deck Poker, everyone must pay an ante. Whoever has the Dealer button in front of them must also make a second forced bet, called a “button blind”, which starts the pre-flop betting round.
It is still possible to play Short Deck Poker using the traditional Small and Big Blind system. But this button blind and ante structure is the most common method.
Short Deck Hold’em Hand Rankings
Although the hand rankings in Short Deck Poker are similar to Texas Hold’em, there is one key difference. Flushes are now ranked higher than straights, since you have fewer cards to make a straight.
In a typical Texas Hold’em game, if you have two hole cards of the same suit and two other cards of the same suit on the table, you have nine cards in your deck that can make a straight flush. In Short Deck, this number drops to five, making it more difficult to make a straight flush.
Here are the different hand rankings in Short Deck Hold’em:
- Straight Flush: A combination of a straight and a flush. The highest possible hand is a straight flush with an Ace, also known as a Royal Flush. For example Q♣ J♣
- T♣ 9♣ 8♣ (Highest straight flush with a Q)
- Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same value, plus any fifth card. Example 9♣ 9♥️ 9♦️ 9♠️ K♣ (Four of 9s)
- Flush: Any five cards of the same suit that do not form a straight. Example: A♥️ J♥️ T♥️ 8♥️ 7♥️ (Highest flush with Aces)
- Full House: Any three of a kind combined with any pair. Example J♥️ J♣ J♦️ 7♥️ 7♥️ (Three of Js with a pair of 7s)
- Straight: Any five cards in consecutive order, not of the same suit. Example 9♣ 8♥️ 7♥️ 6♦️ A♣ (Highest straight with 9s)
- Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same value, plus the fourth and fifth cards that do not form a pair. Example K♦️ K♣ K♥️ T♣ 8♥️ (Three of Ks)
- Two Pair: Two pairs plus a fifth card. Example: T♥️ T♦️ 7♣ 7♥️ J♣ (Two pairs of 10s and 7s)
- One Pair: Any pair with three other cards that do not form a pair. Example 7♠️ 7♦️ A♣ K♠️ T♣ (One pair of 7s)
- High Card: Five unrelated cards that do not belong to any other card type. Example K♦️ J♦️ T♣ 7♥️ 6♠️ (Highest card is a K)
