Holdem Short Deck
How to use: First insert the hands and board texture into the appropriate fields using the following format “AhKh” (Where the first (capital) letter represents the card and the second (lowercase) letter represents the suit). When you have the inserted the correctly formatted hands/board texture, hit the play button to run the simulation. PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT use the “6+ short deck. If you’re an accomplished Short Deck Holdem poker player, you know how exciting the various poker types are. Although Omaha, for example, offers players plenty of outs, making the game one of the most favored high stake rollers, Texas Hold’em remains the staple of all variants and is still the most played poker in the world.
If you’re an accomplished Short Deck Holdem poker player, you know how exciting the various poker types are. Although Omaha, for example, offers players plenty of outs, making the game one of the most favored high stake rollers, Texas Hold’em remains the staple of all variants and is still the most played poker in the world. There were also televised poker shows with excellent high stakes action which, sadly, were not enough to persuade some players of the thrill Texas Hold’em offers. And why don’t the stakes be even higher? This is where (also known as Six Plus Hold’em) will really unravel its full potential!
Short Deck Poker Rules – What’s the Difference?
As we think about this variability, you should bear in mind that it’s not wide spread across the top online poker sites, but you’ll see that it can definitely change. As you can tell by the name of this poker game, we’re talking about a tweaked card deck that’s shorter than your usual 52 card set. For this case, all 2 do 5 cards have been withdrawn, which means that the chances of obtaining high cards or even large pocket pairs have improved significantly. In fact, one big distinction worth remembering is that the flush is a higher combination than the full house. Thanks to the smaller number of cards, which means a lower probability for a flush, this combination can be deemed much more desirable, whereas the potential for a full house remains equal to Texas Hold’em.
One thing worth noting would be that in some combinations three-of – a-kind may be a better hand than a straight as the odds of having a set or a trip are lower than those of having five consecutive cards. Last but not least, there is also a disparity between blind systems. The tiny blind does not exist and is now replaced by an ante paid by all. The player on the “press” sends a blind, which can normally be 2 to 4 times the size of the ante. Occasionally even the best poker players can be confused by a strategic strategy, keeping in mind this particular set of rules.
Short Deck Poker Strategy – Tips and Tricks
Poker is probably one of the few games where a strategic strategy will potentially produce long-term results. Therefore, all serious players who play this game not only for fun but also to earn a living have various strategies depending on the goals they have set. Needless to say, Short Deck Hold’em is no exception to that statute. That’s why, in the following pages, we’ve gathered some of the most useful tips to aid in your own games.
Tip #1 – Don’t Rely on Flush Draws Too Much
Since the deck is shorter, flushes are much more important, but waiting for the right card is often more difficult than you would expect. With 16 cards fewer, the chances of reaching a flush are getting slimmer. Let’s presume you’ve got two hearts in your pocket, and there are two hearts on the flop. With 5 cards left available and possibly other players who also participate in the game, often paying or betting on a flush draw is not the most rational option!
Tip #2 – Open-Ended Straight Draws Can Be Very Profitable
The more outs you’ve got, the better! Since the deck has only 36 cards and the open-ended draws send you 8 outs, this means that, technically, almost 1 out of every 4 cards is the one you’re waiting for. A 25% theoretical chance in poker, whatever the circumstances and without understanding the opponent’s hands, will certainly be worth your consideration!
Tip #3 – Always Consider the Percentages of Having a Combination
Although getting better chances to make a winning hand is fantastic, you can not forget that it applies equally to other players as well. Therefore, when we talk about major changes in chances, being more cautious and deductive in the estimation would be more desirable when playing. Understanding who says the best poker is also a significant advantage, particularly when you’re playing live. However, if we’re talking about online gaming, numbers are still of significant significance, so here’s the table below with percentages contrasting variations between Texas Hold’em and regular Short Deck poker:
| Combination | Short Deck Hold’Em | Texas Hold’Em |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 0.00019% | 0.00015% |
| Straight Flush | 0.00017% | 0.00013% |
| Four of a Kind | 0.031% | 0.024% |
| Full House | 0.18% | 0.14% |
| Flush | 0.14% | 0.19% |
| Straight | 0.50% | 0.39% |
| Three-of-a-Kind | 2.74% | 2.11% |
| Two Pair | 5.84% | 4.75% |
| Pair | 54.92% | 42.25% |
Tip #4 – Strong Hole Cards Aren’t Always the Best!
Although having high hole cards in your hand can be most recommended in Texas Hold’em, this does not extend with full force to Six Plus Hold’em. The explanation for this is the lack of small cards that will inevitably make middle hands like Jack-Ten almost equal to the Ace-King. This way, you’ve got a chance to connect to smaller and higher cards. In fact, by making more outs, you have a greater chance of winning the pot and growing your stack.
The Future for the Texas Hold’em Short Deck Variation
While the need for a new and exciting poker variant has been the driving force behind the development of Short Deck Hold’em, the game has rapidly begun to spread through casinos and is expected to gain even greater popularity. Even one of the top poker pros in the presence of Tom Dwan has dropped Texas Hold’em spotlight and welcomed Short Deck’s play. ‘Durrrr’ was a fantastic ambassador of the game and spent much of his time playing casino games around Macau.
Due to that popularity, even some of the UK’s best poker sites sell Six Plus Hold’em to their players, making it much more available, solidifying the variety as a world-class form of poker. However, if you’re still not caught in the excitement of this game and prefer to better your classic Hold’em skills, the Phil Ivey Masterclass may be of more interest to you. Another page that could stimulate your interest is packed with new casino sites that have been launched over the past few months. Make sure you try it out, and next time we’ll see you!
Short Deck Hold’em, also known as Six Plus Hold’em, is similar to traditional Texas Hold’em. Players are dealt two hole cards and the hand proceeds with four betting rounds and five community cards (a three-card flop, turn and river) just like Hold’em. The main difference, as the name implies, is that Six Plus Hold’em is played with only the cards that are six or higher in value.
All of the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s, are removed from the deck (hence the nickname six plus or Short Deck), so instead of playing poker with a 52-card deck, it is played with a 36-card deck. With the deuces through fives removed, the sixes are the lowest cards in the deck.
Despite its similarities to Texas Hold’em, there are some significant differences in the hand rankings, strategy and rules of the game.
Short Deck Hand Rankings
Perhaps the biggest difference between Six Plus Hold’em and Texas Hold’em (besides the number of cards in the deck) is the hand rankings. Because the total number of cards in the deck is reduced, the mathematical odds of being able to make certain poker hands changes. It is this change in odds that dictates the change in hand rankings.
While there can be some variance in hand ranking depending on where the game is spread, for the most part, there are two important hand ranking to note:
Three-of-a-kind Beats a Straight
One might think that removing the deuces through fives would make it harder to make Straights, but the card removal means that all of the cards left in the deck are closer in rank than in a 52-card deck, meaning Straights are actually easier to make.
Also, just like in traditional Hold’em, the ace can be used as high or low when making straights. In the case of Six Plus Hold’em, the ace still acts as the highest card and can makes the highest straight AKQJ10, but it also can be used in place of the five making the smallest straight A6789.
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A Flush Beats a Full House
Card removal makes it harder to hit a flush than in traditional Hold’em, as there are four less cards of each suit. As a result, flushes are moved up in the hand ranking above full houses.
You can see all of the hand rankings for Six Plus Hold’em side by side with those of regular Hold’em in the table below (ranked from the highest hand to the lowest).
| Six Plus Hold’em (36-Card Deck) | Texas Hold’em (52-Card Deck) |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | Royal Flush |
| Straight Flush | Straight Flush |
| Four-of-a-Kind | Four-of-a-Kind |
| Flush | Full House |
| Full House | Flush |
| Three-of-a-Kind | Straight |
| Straight | Three-of-a-Kind |
| Two Pair | Two Pair |
| One Pair | One Pair |
| High Card | High Card |
Where to Play Six Plus Hold’em
With the recent boom in popularity of Six Plus Hold’em, there are now several places to play the game online.
iPoker Network
One of the more popular places that players gather to play Six Plus Hold’em is at Red Kings which is on the iPoker network and offers a large international player pool that provides the liquidity needed to ensure that more games go off at the times you want and at the stakes you want to play.
Americas Cardroom
Short Deck was recently added to the offshore US facing poker room, Americas Cardroom on the Winning Poker Network (WPN). Another room on the network that offers Six Plus Hold’em is Black Chip Poker.
Short Deck Holdem Odds
Soon be Available on PokerStars
Last month, pokerfuse discovered that PokerStars may be planning on adding Six Plus Hold’em to his game offering. When that happens, the game is likely to be added to its dot-com player pool first (although PokerStars is known to test games out in segregated European markets such as Italy).
Adding a new game to all of the regulated markets that PokerStars operates in will likely require additional testing and cutting through plenty of red tape to get approval from gaming regulators in those markets.
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