Poker blog offering poker tournament news for PokerStars events. Includes European Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, WCOOP, and WSOP coverage. Discover 6+ Hold'em and start playing short deck poker games at PokerStars. Re: Poker & PokerStars 6+ holdem Played a little bit in 6+. It is a little impractical when almost every card changes a board, because I play mostly no-limit hold'em. Often confused with flushdro. 6+ Hold'em is available on PokerStars at all stakes, for real and play money, and you can play it on desktop or mobile. Watch and learn from the pros. Over the next couple of weeks, you can also watch PokerStars Ambassadors hosting special multi-camera streams on Twitch. They'll be showcasing 6+ Hold'em. In Six Plus Hold’em, a Flush beats a Full House, because it is mathematically more difficult to hit, but still has to consist of 5 cards of the same suit. As in regular Hold’em an ace can play high or low and even connect with the 6, which is now the lowest card in the deck.

• Pokerstars 6+ Holdem
• Pokerstars 6+ Hold'em Cash Out
• Pokerstars 6+ Hold'em Rake

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.

Pokerstars 6+ Holdem

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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Pokerstars 6+ Hold'em Cash Out

Key features

• Excellent mobile poker games
• Lots of free and real-money action
• One of the most trusted brands in online gaming

PokerStars has launched its long-awaited new game, called 6+, its version of the game known as Short Deck Poker or Six Plus Hold’em.

The game is now live in Denmark, Estonia and for free-play on the dot-net client, pokerfuse can exclusively reveal.

It will launch in the UK and Sweden, and for players internationally on the global dot-com and dot-EU player pools tomorrow, Wednesday the 16th.

Playing 6+

Players will find the new games in the lobby under a new dedicated 6+ tab. The game is played on six-max tables.

Just like all PokerStars new games, players choose their table via a “blind lobby” system—they simply select their buy-in level and hit “play now” to be taken to the best available seat. Table and seat selection is not available.

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• Largest player base in the world.
• Home of Spin & Go, Power Up and lots of other unique game variants.
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Currently, only two buy-ins are available in the real money Denmark lobby—$4 and $10. Presumably this will be expanded to higher stakes once the company is confident that the deployment has been successful.

At the time of writing, only cash games are available, there has been no official announcement of whether sit and go or tournament formats for 6+ are in the pipeline.

Rules and Strategy

In 6+, the deuces through fives are removed from the deck. This creates more action-packed games, as players can make bigger hands. Correct strategy dictates a loose play style, and equities between hands are smaller.

The game plays much like traditional Texas Hold’em, though usually with a few rules changes. PokerStars employs three:

• The low straight can be made with an ace—so A6789 is a legitimate hand.
• Flushes rank higher than Full Houses.
• The game is played with an ante, and the button posts an additional ante that acts as the only blind.

Unlike some spreads of Short Deck, in PokerStars’ 6+ three of a kind still ranks lower than a straight.

In the $4 game spread for real money in Denmark right now, antes and blinds are 2 cents; In the $10 game, the antes and blinds are 5 cents, so in both cases, plays sit with a mandatory 200 antes.

What the Operator Is Saying

“6+ is an exciting poker variant that often produces big hands and a lot of action, so we’re excited to bring it to the tables,” said Chris Straghalis, Director of Poker Product at PokerStars, in a statement to pokerfuse.

“While the format has proven popular with high stakes players, the range of stakes available on PokerStars and similarities to hold’em mean that it should appeal to those who may want to try a new game but don’t want something too different. We’re looking forward to seeing what people think,” he added.

Path to Launch

Pokerfuse revealed that Six Plus Hold’em was going to be released some five months ago.

Normally, games are launched soon after we spot them, but 6+ was sidelined for other cash game novelties. Fusion, a game that blended elements of Hold’em and Omaha, was launched instead.

Pokerstars 6+ Hold'em Rake

Last week, we then revealed that 6+ was finally moving towards launch, and Fusion was taken down just a few days ago to seemingly make room.

Will it be Permanent?

Now that 6+ has finally launched for real money, the question is whether PokerStars plans to make the game permanent or not. The operator has launched four cash game variants in similar fashion in the last year, and each of them only lasted a couple of months. The operator talked up the benefits of limited edition games.

However, it is also clear that PokerStars would love another breakout hit, much like Fast Fold (aka Zoom) and Lottery Sit and Gos (aka Spin and Gos). And when it hits on that big win, we can be sure it will stay around permanently.

PokerStars made no mention of its permanency (or lack thereof) ahead of launch, so we are left guessing. But there is good reason to believe that 6+ will be a big hit.

Firstly, this is not a unique PokerStars innovation: It is already spread online by smaller competitors (including US-facing WPN and the iPoker network). It has also proved popular live.

It is also a very simple game to pick up—the rules are Hold’em, with just a couple of tweaks. But those tweaks also open up a raft of new poker strategy—indeed, you would probably do best throwing out everything you know about Hold’em strategy and starting again with 6+—the probabilities are very different and the game plays very differently.

Throw in the fact that this is an action game—particularly with the ante+blind structure—and how close hand values run together, and you have a potent mix that may cause the game to be hugely successful.