Short Deck (6+ Hold'em)
Hold'em with the 2s to 5s removed - why a flush beats a full house, how straights change, and what that does to the odds.
Short Deck, also called 6+ Hold'em, is Texas Hold'em played with a 36-card deck: all the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s are removed. Everything else - two hole cards, the flop, turn and river - works the same. Fewer cards make strong hands much more common, and that changes the rankings.
What changes
- A flush beats a full house. With only nine cards per suit, flushes become harder to make than full houses, so they rank higher.
- Three of a kind beats a straight in most games today, including GGPoker's 6+ tables, because straights become easier to make. Some games keep the straight above trips: check the rules where you play.
- The ace plays low with the six. A-6-7-8-9 is the lowest straight, replacing A-2-3-4-5.
- Antes, not blinds, in most games: everyone posts an ante, and the button often posts an extra one.
Hand rankings in Short Deck
| # | Hand |
|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush |
| 2 | Straight flush |
| 3 | Four of a kind |
| 4 | Flush |
| 5 | Full house |
| 6 | Three of a kind |
| 7 | Straight |
| 8 | Two pair |
| 9 | One pair |
| 10 | High card |
The bold rows are the ones that differ from normal Hold'em.
Why the odds change
With fewer small cards, the cards you hold connect with the board far more often:
- Straight draws hit far more often. An open-ended straight draw still has 8 outs, but after the flop only 31 cards are unseen instead of 47. It gets there by the river about 45.6% of the time, against 31.5% in Hold'em.
- Flush draws get worse. Only nine cards per suit means a flush draw has just 5 outs: about 30.1% by the river, against 35% in Hold'em. That is exactly why the flush ranks above the full house.
- Pocket pairs flop a set more often (17.1% against 11.8%), because there are fewer other ranks to flop.
- Hands run much closer before the flop. Pocket aces are a smaller favourite than in Hold'em, and connected suited cards play very well.
Who plays it
Short Deck became popular in high-stakes games in Asia, was spread by events like the Triton series, and is offered online by GGPoker as 6+ Hold'em. It is a fun, action-heavy variation for a home game once everyone knows Hold'em well.
Start with Texas Hold'em rules and hand rankings.