Short Deck Hands

Weak Ace High hands have poor playability in Short Deck. In regular No limit Hold’em an offsuit Ace high hand such as A♠ 8 ♣ would make us a favorite over a suited hand such as Q♦ K♦ in Short Deck hold’em the opposite is true, holding the suited connector would make us a 57% favorite over the Ace high hand. To play Short Deck Hold’em you take a regular 52-card deck and remove the twos, threes, fours, and fives. You end up with a 36-card deck in which the six is the lowest card – unless the ace is low, of course. 2) 6+ Holdem Hand Rankings. Below Deck is a show on Bravo that follows the crew of a superyacht under the direction of Captain Lee. A deckhand is one of the positions on the ship for crewmembers to hold and they are responsible for the exterior of the ship.

What is “short-deck” poker? This is just one of the things Paul Phua discusses with Phil Ivey in the latest Paul Phua Poker School video, along with strategy tips for beginners

Do beginners have an easier time at poker these days? In the latest Paul Phua Poker School video, we welcome back the great Phil Ivey. Last time we talked about the thrills and challenges poker holds, even for a player as experienced as Phil. This time we focus on beginners to the game, as well as a fun variant on Texas Hold ’Em called “short-deck poker” or “Six Plus Hold ’Em”.

Poker can be a hard game to break into: experienced players may punish you if they sense weakness, and though it is easy to learn the basic rules, it can take a while to understand all the odds and strategies. But as Phil Ivey says in this video interview, “Because of all the information that’s available, with the different teaching schools and things that are available now, different ways of learning that are out there, and with Paul’s teaching site, I think everyone is catching up.”
When Phil Ivey started out in poker, winning his first WSOP bracelet when he was just 23,

Short Deck Winning Hands

internet poker was in its infancy. There were a few strategy books, such as Doyle Brunson’s Super System, but not the virtual library of tips that is out there now.
“I didn’t have schools,” says Phil Ivey in the video interview. “I didn’t have teaching sites. I didn’t have different tools I could learn from.” His most important lessons, he says, came just from trial and error.

A big tip for beginners

So one big tip for beginners is to learn everything they can from sites like Paul Phua Poker! And always be aware that however much you think you know, there is always more to learn. As Phil Ivey points out in our video interview, “beginners have a certain selection of hands in their minds that they want to play, and they just stick with that”.
Instead, he encourages players to experiment: “Start learning which hands you can play, in which positions, which hands you can bluff with, which hands you should call with.”
And as I say in the video, your play should also vary according to the structure of the games – whether there are antes or straddles involved, for instance – as well as whether the other players are aggressive or tight.
If it sounds complicated, that’s because it is! Phil Ivey has devoted two decades to perfecting his game. I know Phil pretty well, as we have played together many, many times. And, as I also say in the video, I think one of the most impressive things about him is not just his grasp of strategy, but his strength of character. He just never seems to go on tilt, and that’s something I try to model myself on.

“Short-deck” or “Six-Plus Hold ’Em”

There are more useful tips in the video, so do watch it. But one thing I perhaps need to explain more is the “short deck game” that we talk about in the interview. We often like to play this game when we get together. It is very similar to Texas Hold ’Em, but with fewer cards.
Before you start you remove from the deck all the low cards, deuce through to 5, which is why the game is also known as “Six Plus Hold ’Em”. It’s a more exciting game than Texas Hold ’Em in many ways, because with the low cards taken out you are more often dealt high cards and big pairs. You also have to adapt to a different set of odds. Post-flop, you have a nearly 1 in 2 chance of completing an open-ended straight draw by the river, for instance, compared with nearly 1 in 3 in classic Texas Hold ’Em.
As Phil Ivey says in the video interview, “There’s a lot of gambling involved. The equities run pretty close, so it’s pretty easy to get your money in the middle and be 50/50 or somewhere near that. It suits a more gambling style of player.”
Phil thinks this makes the short-deck game perfect for the beginner. But if so, I have just one piece of advice. You still don’t want to be playing against Phil Ivey!
For more Paul Phua Poker School videos, subscribe to the YouTube channel. It’s free!

Rules of the Game

Short Deck Hold’em is simply No Limit Hold’em played with a thirty-six card deck where the twos, threes, fours, and fives have been eliminated. This effectively ends the all too often stretches of always looking at complete duds like nine-deuce off suit and the like. Jack-six off suit is the Seven-deuce off suit of Short Deck and has few exciting possibilities; however, the odds are greater that you will get dealt hands with potential. Equities run much closer in the game and an ante only structure that frequently accompanies the game provides the impetus for a ton of action.

Another very unique aspect of this game is that the aces are also considered low. In other words, A6789 is the new wheel. Be very mindful of this aspect at all times as not to misread your hand and/or potentially not fully consider a powerful holding that your opponent may have. When you are new to the game it is helpful to constantly remind yourself that aces are fives.

The use of a short-deck also changes some of the traditional hand rankings because flushes are now mathematically more difficult to make than full houses and trips are made less frequently than straights. In all variations currently played flushes beat full houses but the rules vary on whether or not trips beat straights.

In Asia and the high-roller tournaments the rules stipulate that a straight still beats three of a kind and is typically played as an ante-only structure. This version is often referred to as either Short Deck Hold’em or Triton Poker and is action packed because connecting cards are very valuable and the structure often encourages large multi-way pots.

In the ante only structure everyone antes, however the button is forced to make a double ante. The pre-flop action starts to the left of the button and that person has the option to fold, put in one more ante, or raise to any amount they wish. Each person in turn then has the option to fold, match the current bet, or raise or re-raise.

Short Deck is also sometimes played with the conventional blinds and most often in these games trips beat straights. This structure and rules is most often referred to as Six Plus Hold’em and is the version now spread by some online sites. However, recently PokerStars has introduced an online version where straights do beat trips and are marketing it as Six Plus Hold’em so don’t get confused. The first rule of poker is to know the rules!

Basic Strategy

Short Deck Hold’em utilizes a very unique structure that helps facilitate action while also allowing for a multitude of different yet successful strategies for the opening round of betting.

In the ante only structure everyone except the button antes once while the button is forced to make a double ante. The pre-flop action starts to the left of the button and that person has the option to fold, put in one more ante, or raise to any amount they wish. Each person in turn then has the option to fold, match the current bet, or raise or re-raise. The first person to limp is getting a tremendous 7 to 1 on their money while the odds and position get better for each player in succession.

With the truncated deck you are more likely to dealt be good hands; you are slightly more than twice as likely to be dealt aces or any other particular hand. Sets are flopped more often. In Hold’em your odds of flopping a set are approximately 12% whereas in Short Deck it is around 18%.

Flopped straights are much more common, any hand capable is typically more than three times as likely in Short Deck. For example, JT has a 1.2% probability in Hold’em but has 4.2% chance in Short Deck. In Hold’em an eight out draw has around a 31.4% probability coming in, however in Short Deck it is 45.6%.

Short Deck Hand Crossword

Flushes are harder to hit because four flush cards have been removed from the deck. Flush draws now only have five outs instead of nine thus they are harder to hit and are ranked higher than full houses.

Position is much more desired in Short Deck due to the fact that equities run much closer and turns and rivers are scarier as the deuces and other blanks are taken out of the deck. In essence most flops are “wet” in that future board cards will often present possible strong holdings and if not will usually improve your opponent one way or another. In Short Deck by the river the board will either be paired or there will be at least one straight possible.

Further Learning

Check out Upswing Poker’s Short Deck Mastery course from Kane Kalas.