Playing Tips for Short Deck Hold'em - HomePokerEdge.com

PLAYING TIPS for SHORT DECK HOLD 'EM

HOW TO PLAY SHORT DECK HOLD 'EM (aka Six-Plus Hold'em)

Short Deck Hold 'Em poker is played exactly like Texas Hold 'Em but with a deck from which the 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's have been removed leaving 36 cards ranked 6 to ace.

SUMMARY of ACTION
Remove all 2, 3, 4 & 5 ranked cards from standard deck.
Deal 2 hole cards to each player.
Bet
Deal 3 cards from the deck for the flop.
Bet
Deal 1 card from deck for the turn.
Bet
Deal 1 card from deck for the river.
Bet
Showdown

The removal of 16 cards concentrates the deck resulting in hand values that rise considerably. Mathematical probabilities also change, resulting in hand rankings that differ from full deck poker. You are left with a deck of just 36 cards (as opposed to the usual 52).

1. Aces may be used as both high and low in a straight. The lowest straight becomes A-6-7-8-9.
2. The probability of getting certain hands pre-flop, like pocket aces, go way up (1 in 100 in Short Deck vs. 1 in 221 in standard Hold'em)
3. More premium hands (e.g., AK, AQ, pocket pairs, etc.) will be dealt to each player.
4. Poker hand rankings for Short Deck Hold'em are different. It is mathematically more difficult to make a flush, so its value goes up. It is mathematically easier to make a straight than a set, so the value of a straight is diminished. Make sure everyone is aware of this. See hand ranking chart below.

SHORT DECK HOLD 'EM HAND RANKING
   Royal Flush
   Straight Flush
   Four of a Kind
   Flush
   Full House
   Three of a Kind
   Straight
   Two Pair
One pair
High card

From these hand rankings, the most obvious takeaways are:
A flush is ranked higher than a full house. From a mathematics perspective, this makes sense. With four cards of every suit removed, there are now only 5 outs to your flopped four-flush as opposed to 9. Mathematically you will make a flush much less often.
3 of a kind is ranked higher than a straight. The odds of making a straight draw increase as there are fewer gap cards to fill in a straight. Possible straight draws hit the flop nearly half of the time as opposed to about 31% with a full deck. While the odds of flopping a set also increase from 12% to 18%, it is still more difficult to make 3 of a kind than a straight.

STARTING HAND SELECTION
Starting hands take on a bit less significance in Short Deck Hold 'Em. It is still very important to start with premium hands, because, if you don't hold such a hand other players almost certainly do. But, even with premium hands, it almost always requires that the board cards improve your starting hand in order to win. In a full deck game pocket aces stand a decent chance of winning by themselves. In Short Deck that seldom happens.

As might be expected, when the deck is altered so drastically it changes the value of certain starting poker hands. More premium hands are dealt pre-flop, so the value of a premium hand pre-flop goes down. While you will make more big hands, so will your opponents.

High Pocket Pairs have a higher value. Your chances of hitting a set, then going on to make a full house are higher than they are in standard Hold'em so big pocket pairs go up in value. The bigger the pair, the better. Small pairs make small full houses which are very vulnerable and likely to lead you into a situation where you either win a small pot or lose a large one.
For example: holding 66 with a board of 68TTK. There is no other full house you can beat. Any player with 88, TT, KK, T6, T8 or KT has you crushed.
There are no pocket pairs that can be considered middle pairs in Short Deck. Either you have a low pair (66 - TT) or a high pair (JJ - AA).

Suited Premium Hole Cards are much more valuable than unsuited cards. Suited Broadway cards are much preferred over unsuited given their opportunity to make flushes as well as full houses. Any suited ace is probably worth playing to see the flop while off-suit ace with a small card is not.
As mentioned, even if your overall hands made are higher value, so will your opponents' be higher.

Approximate odds of being dealt selected hands as your 2 hole cards are listed below.

Hole Cards
Any Pocket Pair
Pair of Aces
Ace-King (suited or unsuited)
Single Suited Ace
Single Unsuited Ace

Approximate Probability/Odds
8.6% (10.5:1)
0.96% (103:1)
2.5% (39:1)
5% (19:1)
15% (5.5:1)

PLAYING TIPS for SHORT DECK HOLD 'EM
As noted above, the biggest difference in Short Deck Hold 'Em is the change in ranking between the flush and full house and the set and straights. In general, your objective should be to play hands that can make flushes and big full houses. Avoid playing cards whose upside is typically no better than a straight (e.g., small, unsuited connectors).

Single Pairs rarely win. Because overall hands are usually higher, a single pair - including over pairs or top pair/top kicker - will not win at showdown very often.

Premium Unsuited Hole Cards are less valuable. As mentioned, even if your overall hands made are higher value, so will your opponents be higher. That means your premium hands - like unsuited Broadway cards are worth less. You need to make strong post-flop hands, such as big full houses, on average to win pots.

Most drawing odds are better. The "Rule of 4 and 2" becomes the "Rule of 3 and 6". The Rule of 2 and 4 in standard Texas Hold'em means you can estimate your equity (odds of hitting a winning hand) on the turn and flop by multiplying the number of outs you have by 2 or 4, respectively. In Short Deck Hold'em this changes to 3 and 6. On the flop multiply your outs by 3 to find your rough odds of hitting your hand on the turn. Multiply by 6 to find your chances of hitting your out if you plan to see both the turn and river card.
In contrast, drawing a flush is more difficult. Should you flop 4 to a flush there are only 5 cards that complete the flush whereas in a full deck there are 9. The odds of completing the flush in this situation decreases from about 36% with a full deck to about 30% in short deck.

Multi-way hands are common. Since good starting hands are dealt more often, expect multiple players to see most flops and to stay in hands longer.

You have to see flops. You have to play more liberally and hope your hole cards improve on the flop. Even a pocket pair of aces will seldom stand up as the winning hand without improvement from the board. Players who fold too frequently pre-flop will often do poorly.

Practice. It is one thing to read about the differences between full deck and short deck play. It is much more useful to see it. Before you play, practice by dealing out several full hands to see how different starting hands and board runouts actually are.