Do you want to try your hand at Short Deck Poker? That’s not surprising, as this variation of Texas Hold’em 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 your experience and knowledge of Texas Hold’em is enough to master Short Deck, think again. Sure, they’re useful, but some key differences make playing with a reduced deck a completely different experience than playing a full deck Hold’em.
So, how to play Short Deck Poker? How is it different from Texas Hold’em? What are the best Six Plus Hold’em strategies? 10JILI will answer that and more in the following guide to playing Short Deck Poker.
What is a Short Deck Poker?
Sometimes called 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 also gives players more playable hands.
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 before, the deck uses fewer cards. The important thing is that this significantly changes the probability of certain hands appearing. That’s why in this card game, straight wins in threes and J-T vs. A-K are lucky or unlucky. We will discuss these differences in probability in more detail later in this guide.
Just like in Hold’em, Aces count both high and low in Short Deck Poker. But since there are no cards from 2 to 5, the lowest straight may look a bit unusual. A 9-high straight with cards 9-8-7-6-A can take some getting used to for new Short Deck players!
How to Play Short Deck Hold’em: Rules & Card Rankings.
To play Short Deck Poker, you need a deck of 36 cards instead of 52 cards. As mentioned, the game is played by discarding all 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s. Besides this change, a typical Short Deck game plays out very similarly to a No-Limit game, in that:
Each player receives two trump cards.
There are four rounds of betting – pre-flop, flop, turn, and river.
Players create hands using both trump cards and community cards.
To start a regular game of short-deck poker, everyone must pay an initial bet (ante). Whoever has the Dealer button in front of them must also place a second mandatory bet, called the “blind button”, starting the pre-flop betting round.
Short Deck Poker can still be played using the traditional Small and Big Blind system. But this blind button and ante structure is the most common method.
Short Deck Hold’em Card Rankings
Although the card rankings in Short Deck Poker are similar to Texas Hold’em, there is one key difference. Flush now ranks higher than Straight because you have fewer cards to create a straight.
In a typical game of Texas Hold’em, if you have two trump cards of the same suit and two other cards of the same suit on the table, then nine cards in the deck can help you complete the flush. In the Short Deck, this number is reduced to five cards, making it more difficult to create a straight.
Here’s how to rank different hands in Short Deck Hold’em:
