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

6+ Hold’em is a popular ‘short deck’ poker format that plays much like Texas Hold’em, but with a few exciting differences: All cards lower than a six are removed from the deck Everyone posts an ante and only the button posts a blind – known as the ‘button blind’ A flush beats a full-house. Short Deck Rules. Short Deck follows a similar format to Texas Hold’em, but with a few crucial differences!Most notably, cards below a 6 are removed, leaving a 36-card deck. Our guide will quickly get you up to speed, and you’ll soon discover why the game is so popular with modern high-stakes pros!

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, 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!

Six-plus hold 'em

Alternative names	Short-deck hold 'em
Type	Community card poker
Players	2-10
Skills required	Probability, psychology
Cards	36
Deck	French
Play	Clockwise
Card rank (highest first)	A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6
Random chance	High

Six-plus hold 'em (also known as short-deck hold 'em) is a community card poker game variant of Texas hold 'em, where the 2 through 5 cards are removed from the deck. Each player is dealt two cards face down and seeks to make the best five card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards (five community cards and their own two hole cards).^[1]

Rules[edit]

The rules in terms of betting structures, play of the hand, and showdown are the same as in Texas hold 'em. However before play begins all cards 2 through 5 are removed (16 cards), thus the total number of cards in the deck is 36. Aces are high, but same as in Texas hold 'em, can make both low and high end of straights. For example the lowest straight would be (9x-8x-7x-6x-Ax) and the highest (Ax-Kx-Qx-Jx-10x). This changes the probability of hands and alters hand rankings.^[2]

Modified hand rankings[edit]

Rank	Name	Example
1	Royal flush
2	Straight flush
3	Four of a kind
4	Flush†
5	Full house†
6	Straight†
7	Three of a kind†
8	Two pair
9	One pair
10	High card

^†Flush ranks higher than full house. In theory, three-of-a-kind ranks higher than a straight as the probability of achieving three-of-a-kind is lower than a straight in short-deck, however recent games have been ranking straight higher than three-of-a-kind which has become standard.^[3] Some variations of six-plus hold 'em plays with standard Texas hold 'em hand rankings. When calculating for 5 card six-plus hold 'em where each player gets only 5 cards, straights rank higher than three-of-a-kind.

The 2018 Triton Poker tournament series hosted the first televised six-plus hold 'em tournaments. The first Triton Super High Roller HK$250,000 short deck ante-only event was won by Phil Ivey, earning him US$617,396.^[4] The 2018 Triton tournaments ranked straights higher than three-of-a-kind.^[5]

History[edit]

The game originated in 2014 and is popular among high stakes gamblers in Asia due to its high variance.^{[clarification needed]} In 2015, Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan promoted the game in an online video showing this variant of Texas hold 'em which is frequently played in Macau, Hong Kong and Manila.^[6][7]

Short Deck Hands

Notes[edit]

Short Deck Hand Crossword

1. ^'Six Plus Hold'em'. PokerVIP. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
2. ^Gheorghe, Florain (14 March 2016). 'The New Six Plus Holdem'. PokerTube. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
3. ^DellaFave, Robert (2016-02-25). 'Six Plus Holdem Launches - How Will It Impact iPoker Liquidity?'. Online Poker Report. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
4. ^Fast, Erik (2018-05-14). 'Phil Ivey Wins Triton Poker Montenegro $250,000 HKD Short Deck Event'. cardplayer.com. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
5. ^CardsChat Tournament News (2018-05-14). 'Phil Ivey Wins 'Short Deck' Poker Tournament in Montenegro for $605K'. Cardschat. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
6. ^Rettmuller, Charles (10 June 2015). ''Six Plus Hold'em' Promoted by Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey'. PokerTube. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
7. ^Weldon, Alex (2015-06-11). 'What the Heck is Six-Plus Hold'em?'. Part Time Poker. Retrieved 2017-08-28.

External links[edit]

• Six Plus Hold'em on PokerNews
• Beginners Tips on Sixplusholdem.com

Short Deck Rank Of Hands