Short Deck Poker Rules (Six Plus Hold'em)

Short deck poker — also called six plus Hold’em — is Texas Hold’em played with a 36-card deck: every 2, 3, 4, and 5 is removed, leaving only 6 through Ace. Because there are fewer cards, hands connect more often, the action is faster, and two ranking rules change: a flush beats a full house, and (in many rooms) three of a kind beats a straight.

The structure will feel familiar if you know Texas Hold’em — two hole cards, a flop, turn, and river. Only the deck and a few rankings differ.

What changes when you remove 16 cards

Stripping the low cards has two big effects on probability:

• Straights are easier. Fewer ranks means the gaps between cards are smaller, so you make straights far more often.
• Flushes are harder. Each suit now has only nine cards instead of thirteen, so completing a flush is tougher than completing a full house.

To keep the rankings honest, short deck promotes the flush above the full house. Some games also rank trips (three of a kind) above a straight for the same reason. Always confirm the house ruleset before you sit down.

Standard Hold’em ranking	Short deck ranking
Straight flush	Straight flush
Four of a kind	Four of a kind
Full house	Flush
Flush	Full house
Straight	Three of a kind (in many games)
Three of a kind	Straight (in many games)
Two pair	Two pair
One pair	One pair
High card	High card

The ace and the lowest straight

The ace plays both high and low. With the 5 gone, the lowest straight is A-6-7-8-9, where the ace stands in for the missing low cards. The highest straight is the usual 10-J-Q-K-A. So the ace is part of the bottom and top straight, which makes ace-rag hands more playable than in regular Hold’em.

Betting: the button blind

Most short deck games skip the standard small-blind/big-blind setup. Instead, everyone antes each hand and the player on the button posts an extra “button blind.” Action starts to the left of the button, and the button acts last preflop too. This ante-only structure builds bigger pots and encourages the loose, aggressive style the format is known for.

Worked example: a flush over a full house

You hold A♥ K♥ and the board runs out Q♥ 9♥ 9♣ 7♠ 2... — wait, there are no 2s. Say the board is Q♥ 9♥ 9♣ 7♠ 6♥.

• You make the ace-high flush in hearts.
• Your opponent holds 9♦ 7♦ for a full house, nines full of sevens.

In standard Hold’em the full house wins easily. In short deck, your flush is the winner — flushes outrank full houses here. This single ranking flip is the most common, most expensive mistake new short deck players make: do not slow down with a “monster” full house when a flush is possible on board.

Quick strategy notes

• Draws are stronger. Open-ended straight draws have many more outs proportionally, so semi-bluffing is more profitable.
• Sets are gold, especially if trips beat straights in your game — a flopped set is enormous.
• Re-learn your equities. Pocket pairs and suited connectors shift in value; don’t import Hold’em ranges blindly.
• Position still rules. Acting last is as valuable here as anywhere.

Short deck is the most beginner-friendly variant if you already play Hold’em — same shape, more action. Branch out from here to a completely different style with five-card draw, double-check the inverted rankings against our hand rankings guide, or browse the full poker variants hub.