Complete Guide to Short Deck Poker

Short Deck Poker: What You Need to Know

• Short Deck Poker Basics: Understand the fundamental rules of Short Deck Poker, where the game is played with a 36-card deck, having removed 2s through 5s.

• Hand Rankings: Familiarize yourself with the unique hand ranking order that differentiates Short Deck from traditional poker, like a flush being rarer and thus higher than a full house.

• Adapting Strategy: Recognize how the short deck alter strategies due to the higher probability of stronger hands being dealt.

• Importance of Position: Understand the strong emphasis on position in Short Deck Poker, where being last to act is a significant advantage.

• Managing Variance: Learn how to manage higher variance in Short Deck Poker, requiring careful bankroll management and risk assessment.

It seems poker is continually changing with new games and variations being dealt as players get more creative and imaginative. Short deck (also known as 6+ Hold’em) is one of the latest poker variants that has grown in popularity, especially with high-stakes players in recent years.

The game is a variation of Texas Hold’em, and as the name implies, features a reduced deck along with plenty of action and high hands. Players like Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey have become big fans of the game and short deck has even now been found at the World Series of Poker.

Here’s a quick look at how to play this game as well as some strategy tips.

How to Play Short Deck Poker

Short deck began gaining some popularity for the last five years with players like Dwan and Phi Ivey taking to the game while playing high-stakes cash games in Macau. The game eventually migrated to other parts of the world. That eventually included the WSOP, which featured two events in 2023.

That year saw Thai Ha top a field of 363 players in the $1,500 buy-in tournament to score the win and $111,170. In the $10,000 buy-in event, Martin Nielsen bested a field of 106 to claim the first-place prize of $270,160.

So what exactly is short deck and what differentiates it from traditional no limit Hold’em? The deck of cards is obviously a major differentiator. In short deck, all twos, threes, fours, and fives are taken out for a 36-card deck. This makes for some interesting dynamics as players will have much higher hands with all those small cards removed.

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The rest of the game is played the same as one might see in no limit Hold’em, although there is a small change in the poker hands ranking because of the reduced deck (more on that below). All players receive two cards and there is a round of betting, with players calling the big blind, folding, or raising.

Players then see three community cards called “the flop”, followed by a round of betting.

There is then a fourth card, known as the “turn card” and players then bet again, calling, raising, and folding as needed. The final community card is known as “the river” and players have one more round of betting. There is then a “showdown” in which players still remaining reveal their cards. The player with the highest hand then takes the pot.

Short Deck Poker Ranking of Hands

Because of the reduced number of cards used in short deck, there are some slight changes to the rankings of hands. Because so many cards of the four suits are removed, it’s now more difficult to make a flush and this hand now beats a full house.

Another difference is the use of an ace for the low end of a straight. In traditional poker, aces can be used to make an A-2-3-4-5 wheel straight. With all twos through fives removed, the ace can now be used as as a 5 to make the lower straight – A-6-7-8-9. Here’s a quick comparison of hand rankings for short deck versus Texas Hold’em.

It’s important to remember the key differences in hand rankings when jumping in the short deck action. Other than that, players will find a game played similarly to no limit Hold’em but must expect higher hands in general.

Short Deck Poker: Strategy Suggestions

Those looking to add short deck to their poker repertoire should at least have a general understanding of the game and some of the strategy that comes with the game. As with no limit Hold’em, look for solid starting hands like big pocket pairs, A-K suited, and other suited connectors that have a chance to make nice hands on the boards such as K-Q suited.

Playing more suited hands gives players more opportunities to make flushes and grab more pots. Big suited drawing hands can even be more ideal than big pocket pairs. For example, a hand like A-K suited is a 60% favorite versus pocket pairs. Understanding that short deck is a bit more of a drawing game can go a long way toward finding success.

Being aggressive with big suited cards can also pay off, but getting others to fold preflop and on the flop. You may even hit a big hand and opponents with marginal hands or draws based on board texture may be willing to call sizable bets.

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Some players tend to want to limp in many pots as well, seeing the flop cheaply with a chance of making some big hands or draws because of the prevalence of higher cards in the shortened deck. Be cautious, however, because even when you make a hand, opponents could have even bigger holdings.

While a player in no limit Hold’em has just under a 6% chance of being dealt a pocket pair, short deck players have about an 8.6% chance of being dealt a pocket pair. Realizing this can help avoid potentially messy situations. Straights are also much more prevalent, with the chances of hitting an open-end straight draw at almost 46% compared to just over 31% in NLHE.

On the other hand, drawing to a flush is more difficult. NLHE players have about a 36% chance to hit a flush by the river after the flop. That percentage is cut to 30% in short deck. As with any game, playing position is always an ideal poker strategy as well.

Rule of 6 and 3

Many players are familiar with the “rule of 4 and 2” in no limit Hold’em. A player simply multiplies the outs needed to make your hand. For example, if you have four cards to a flush on the flop, then there are nine cards left that would deliver that flush by the river.

• 9 outs X 4 = 36% chance to hit the flush

After the turn card, the percentage goes down and the player would multiple by 2.

• 9 outs X 2 = 18% chance to hit the flush

It’s important to note that players in the above situation may have other outs to include on the flop and turn cards that would be included in this formula do could make these percentages go up even more.

In short deck, this is altered to the “rule of 6 and 3” because of the reduced number of cards in the deck. A player would multiply the number of outs needed to improve the hand by 6 on the flop and by 3 on the turn card. The above hands would look like this in short deck:

• 9 outs X 6 = 54% chance to hit the flush
• 9 outs X 3 = 27% chance to hit the flush

While these formulas aren’t exact, they at least offer a rough estimate within a couple percentage points (for short deck) and can be a great tool in determining whether to make a call, raise, or other play.

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Where to Play Short Deck Poker

Short deck continues to grow in popularity and can be found on many online platforms such as PokerStars.

This can be a nice way to learn the game at lower stakes than what one might find in live casino cash games or tournaments.

The live game has become extremely popular in high-stakes cash games in tournaments, with Triton Poker among the early backers of the game. That series continues to offer numerous short deck events.

After offering the game at the World Series of Poker in 2023, series officials backed off the game in 2024. It seems likely the game will return again at some point, at least as one of the series higher buy-in events as many of the game’s high rollers continue to enjoy this format.

As Short Deck is fairly new, the strategy and action around the game continues to evolve, making it an exciting time to get involved.

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