Short Deck Holdem Strategy

Six Plus Hold’em (6+), also called Short Deck Poker, is a community card poker game based on Texas Hold’em. While most of the rules are the same, there are three main differences between the two. In 6+ Hold’em, the cards from deuces through fives are removed to make the total deck just 36 cards instead of the usual 52. How Antes Dictate Short Deck Holdem Strategy Rather than the blind structure that we commonly associate with community card poker games, Short Deck Holdem uses a unique ante structure, which sees every player at the table post an ante, followed by a button straddle. Upswing Short Deck Course Review – Kane Kalas Strategy No-Limit Hold’em has been all the rage for many years, but Short Deck Hold’em (also known as Six-Plus Holdem) is gaining a lot in momentum and is one of the most promising games. Run It Once pro Patrick Sekinger runs through the rules of Six-Plus (Short Deck) Hold'Em as well as some initial thoughts on effective strategies during his.

  1. Short Deck Holdem Strategy
  2. Short Deck Holdem Strategy Games
  3. Short Deck Holdem Strategy Tips
  4. Short Deck Holdem Strategy Strategies
  5. Short Deck Strategy

We are going to spend some time looking at some Poker Strategies. Today’s – Short Deck Hold’em:

The beauty of poker is that each game has a variety of different ways to play it. Original games are still popular, but newer versions seem to be ever increasing in demand. Poker players are looking for a change in traditional games that offer more difficulty and lucrative betting options.

Five Quick Tips For Short Deck Hold ’em

Short Deck Holdem Strategy

Having a short deck hold ’em strategy is going to be different from your regular poker game. This is because of the rule changes. The differences you will see are of rankings, cards used, and overall knowledge of the game.

Five quick tips for short deck hold ’em are :

  1. Understand the rules
  2. Know the hand rankings
  3. Look at your hand value
  4. Search for the flush
  5. Create the best starting hand

Understand The Rules

Short deck hold ’em will catch your attention with the change. You can tell by the word that “short” means that you will be playing fewer cards. The deck has been cut down to 36 total, with the cards being removed are all twos, threes, fours and fives.

“Six Plus Poker” is a nickname for this game, since the six is now your lowest card in the deck. Oddly enough, 10 players can still play this game even with the cut of the deck.

Know The Hand Rankings

If you are not careful, you will miss the card rankings. The best hand is still set at a royal flush, but other hands have been changed. The card rankings are as follows:

  1. Royal Flush
  2. Straight Flush
  3. Four of a Kind
  4. Flush *
  5. Full House
  6. Straight
  7. Three of a Kind
  8. Two Pair
  9. One Pair
  10. High card

Notice how the flush is now able to beat a fullhouse. Since there are fewer cards being played, that particular hand is now more difficult to create.

Aces are a little different because they can either be high or low. So, it can also be used in the place of a five to make your straights.

Look At Your Hand Value

Strategy

When playing short deck hold ’em, you are going to realize one thing: your hands are going to be better a lot more often than normal. More than likely, scenarios like being dealt pocket aces, will happen a lot more often compared to your regular hold ’em.

Keeping all of this in mind, your opponents are going to have better hands as well. You should not be worried, but not more cautious because of this. You will have scenarios of when you need to be the aggressor and, of course, when you should fold.

Search For The Flush

As noted above, flushes have had an increase in their betting value. Because there are fewer cards in the deck, you are now less likely to lose to a higherflush, so your hand becomes more attractive.

Do not be afraid if you find yourself being dealt multiple suitedcards, and then you see the flop turning in your favor because flushes are now an excellent hand to have. These hands have the power to take on the whole pot, so you need to be aware of not only your hand but also what your opponents could have if the flop is valuable.

Short Deck Holdem Strategy Games

Create The Best Starting Hand

Do not let pocket pairs such as queens and jacks fool you. They do not have the same value as they once had in a regular hold ’em game. Aces and kings still are desirable, especially if you get three or four of a kind, but remember where you are in the game to decide.

Suited hands, for example, to make flushes are hands that are excellent or starter hands. Since they have an increase in value, you will be better off going for them. So if you have weaker cards dealt to you at first, do not overlook them, especially if they are suited.

Table Of Contents

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.

Strategy

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.

Play Short-Deck Poker Online

6+ Short-deck poker is available online on the following websites:

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Short-Deck Poker Rules

Short

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:

  1. Pre-flop
  2. Flop
  3. Turn
  4. 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 RankingHand NamePoker Hand
LowestHigh cardKx6x9x8xQx
One pairKK5x8xQx
Two pairKK66Qx
Three-of-a-kindKKK6Qx
StraightA6789
FlushKJ1069x
Full houseKKK66
Four-of-a-kindKKKK6x
Straight flush6789
HighestRoyal flush10JQKA

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 RankingHand NamePoker Hand
LowestHigh cardKx6x9x8xQx
One pairKK5x8xQx
Two pairKK66Qx
StraightA6789
Three of a kindKKK6Qx
Full houseKKK66
FlushKJ1069x
Four of a kindKKKK6x
Straight flush6789
HighestRoyal flush10JQKA

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.

Short Deck Holdem Strategy Tips

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!

Short Deck Holdem Strategy Strategies

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 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

How do you play Short-Deck Poker?

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.

Why is short-deck poker so popular?

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.

Where is short-deck poker played?

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.

What's the best short-deck poker strategy?Short deck holdem strategy tactics

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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