Equity calculator for short deck and full deck hold'em poker games with hand history storage. Short Deck Hold’em (also known as 6+) is a poker variant very similar to Texas Hold’em, where everyone is dealt two cards and there are five community cards on the table. Like Texas Hold'em, players have to make the best hand to win. However there are a few key differences: 1) There are fewer cards.

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Short Deck Hold’em is also known as 6+ (Six Plus) Hold’em. This No-Limit Poker game is played with a stripped-down deck.

Increasing in popularity

The game is a fast, fun variation of the world-recognised Texas Hold’em format. Short Deck Hold’em originated in Asia a few years back and is gaining increased recognition in Europe.

Due to some recent star-studded High Roller events, the game is attracting growing interest in the USA and is now being played in Las Vegas.

Difference in pack size

All of the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s and 5’s are removed from the standard 52-card pack leaving a game where only 36 cards are used. This means the 6 is the lowest card…. Unless you use an Ace as low.

An Ace has added value

As in traditional Hold’em the Ace can be used as either a High or Low, but in the Short Deck version of the game it can also make up the low and high ends of a straight. As in:

• A 6 7 8 9 is classed as a straight (In this example the Ace is classed as a ‘5’)

Hand ranking differences – Let the significance sink in!

While there are only a few differences in the value of a hand between the 2 formats of Hold’em these are very significant and will prove expensive if forgotten.

In Short Deck Hold’em

• A Flush beats a Full House – This is because mathematically it is harder to make a flush than a full house from the reduced deck.

Note: This is the general rule. However, some houses may still have it the other way around – As ever; check the house rules before taking your seat.

Flush possibilities

In regular Hold’em, players with suited hole cards have 9 cards in the deck from which to make a flush. Playing the Short Deck game reduces this to 5 cards. This means a Flush is far harder to hit.

Easier to hit a set

Playing short deck Hold’em makes it easier to hit a set than when playing the regular game. Short deck players holding a pocket pair have 2 cards remaining from the 34 to give them a set as opposed to 2 cards out of 50 in the regular game.

Short Deck Hold’em strategy

Players who are used to the regular version of Hold’em should be aware of strategy considerations during a traditional game.

Playing the Short Deck game brings a number of changes. Here are just 5 you need to bear in mind:

• The rule of 4 and 2 turns into the rule of 3 and 6
• Stronger Post-Flop hands are needed
• The chance of being dealt pocket Aces are twice as high
• Hands such as top pair and top kicker have a much lower value
• Single pair hands rarely win a pot

Fast, fun & exciting

There is no doubting that Short Deck Hold’em (6+ Hold’em) is making waves in Poker communities across the globe so why not taste the action by giving it a go?

A final word of caution though: While you are sure to hit far bigger hands than in the regular game this means your opponents will too!

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.

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

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 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 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?

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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