Hand Decks Poker

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The fewer hands a category contains, the higher its rank. There are 311,875,200 ways to deal five cards from the deck but only 2,598,960 distinct hands, because the order in which cards are dealt or arranged in a hand does not matter. Moreover, since hands differing only by suit are of equal rank, there are only 7,462 distinct hand ranks. Short-Deck Poker Hand Rankings Short-deck poker can be played according to the exact same rules as regular Texas Hold'em. The betting can be fixed-limit or no-limit (although most often the game is. In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win.

What is Short Deck Poker?

Short-deck poker (also known as six-plus hold'em) is a new variation of traditional Texas hold'em that mostly follows the same rules albeit with a significant difference.

Short-deck poker uses a smaller 36-card deck rather than the full 52-card deck.

Most first heard of short-deck poker after it was introduced among the mix in the high-stakes cash games in Macau.

Play Short-Deck Poker Online

6+ Short-deck poker is available online on the following websites:

Short-Deck Poker Rules

Before we discover how to play short-deck poker, let's see how to get to the 36-card deck needed to play a game of 6+ hold'em.

The 36-card deck in use in poker short deck is created by removing the 2xs, 3xs, 4xs, and 5xs from the deck (16 cards).

That leaves the 6xs up through the Kxs as well as the Axs.

What about the Aces?

As in regular hold'em, in short-deck poker the aces still count as high or low when making straights.

The lowest possible straight in a game of short-deck poker is Ax9x8x7x6x (think of the ace as essentially replacing the missing 5x).

Poker short-deck is played similarly to regular hold'em.

Each player receive two hole cards and use them in combination with five community cards to create the best possible hand.

A game of short-deck poker features four streets of betting:

Pre-flop
Flop
Turn
River

However, there are some differences in the poker short-deck poker that you should know about before playing.

Short-Deck Poker Hand Rankings

Short-deck poker can be played according to the exact same rules as regular Texas Hold'em.

The betting can be fixed-limit or no-limit (although most often the game is played no-limit), and the same hand rankings can be used as follows:

Hand Ranking	Hand Name	Poker Hand
Lowest	High card	Kx6x9x8xQx
One pair	K♦K♠5x8xQx
Two pair	K♦K♠6♥6♦Qx
Three-of-a-kind	K♦K♠K♥6♦Qx
Straight	A♠6♣7♥8♥9♦
Flush	K♦J♦10♦6♦9x
Full house	K♦K♠K♥6♦6♠
Four-of-a-kind	K♦K♠K♥K♦6x
Straight flush	6♦7♦8♦9♦
Highest	Royal flush	10♦J♦Q♦K♦A♦

For more info about the hand rankings in poker and which hand wins, visit our guide to poker hands.

Alternative Short-Deck Hand Rankings

Short-deck poker is played often employing a different hand ranking system. Here are the alternate hand rankings for short-deck poker (note the differences in bold):

Hand Ranking	Hand Name	Poker Hand
Lowest	High card	Kx6x9x8xQx
One pair	K♦K♠5x8xQx
Two pair	K♦K♠6♥6♦Qx
Straight	A♠6♣7♥8♥9♦
Three of a kind	K♦K♠K♥6♦Qx
Full house	K♦K♠K♥6♦6♠
Flush	K♦J♦10♦6♦9x
Four of a kind	K♦K♠K♥K♦6x
Straight flush	6♦7♦8♦9♦
Highest	Royal flush	10♦J♦Q♦K♦A♦

As you can see, following these alternate poker short deck hand rankings a three-of-a-kind beats a straight (instead of vice-versa), and a flush beats a full house (instead of vice-versa).

Why a Different Hand Rankings?

These changes were introduced the because the removal of cards from the standard deck alter the probabilities of making certain hands.

For example, with only nine suited cards (instead of 13), a flush is harder to make in shord-deck poker than in regular hold'em.

Six-Plus Hold'em Variation — The Deal (Fifth Street)

One other popular variation often introduced in six-plus hold'em has to do with the way the river is dealt.

The game can be played according to the same procedure followed in regular hold'em, with the community cards coming in the same way — flop (three cards), turn (one card), and river (one card) — and betting rounds after each street.

More often, though, instead of a river card being dealt to complete a five-card board, players are each dealt a third hole card instead.

Players then make their five-cardpoker hands by using exactly two of their three hole cards and three of the four community cards.

The building of hands resembles the procedure followed in Omaha poker where players must use two of their four hole cards plus three board cards to make a five-card poker hand.

Short-Deck Poker Basic Strategy

As you might imagine, the removal of low cards and use of the 36-card deck makes it more likely to make higher value hands, a change that tends to introduce more action.

You should adjust your thinking about relative hand values from what they are used to in regular hold'em.

The smaller deck makes it easier to make two-pair hands, which means a hand like top pair-top kicker is no longer as strong in six-plus hold'em as it is in regular hold'em.

Straights and full houses are also easier to make in six-plus hold'em than in the regular version of the game (a reason for the alternate hand rankings).

The odds of hitting certain draws change, too, in short-deck pokr.

Just to highlight one example, filling an open-ended straight draw becomes more likely in poker short-deck.

While you're still looking for the same eight outs there are fewer total cards in the deck, thus increasing the percentage you'll make your straight.

The smaller deck also affects the likelihood of being dealt certain hands. [∫]You're more than twice as likely to get pocket aces[/B] in short-deck poker than you are in regular hold'em!

Finally, players being dealt a third hole card instead of there being a fifth community card obviously affects hand values as well, making it even more likely that players improve their hands — yet another factor that has to be taken into account when calculating odds and considering your final-round betting strategy.

Conclusion

Short-deck poker / 6+ hold'em introduces several exciting twists to traditional Texas hold'em, creating an action-filled alternative that many players are finding especially enjoyable to play.

The changes from regular hold'em aren't terribly complicated, making it easy to new players to learn and play right away.

Short-Deck Poker FAQ

How do you play Short-Deck Poker?

A game of short-deck poker follows the same rules and gameplay as Texas hold'em poker.

The players receive two hole cards and they need to combine them with five community cards to create the best possible five-card hand.

Short-deck poker, however:

Uses a 36-card deck rather than the full 52-card deck
Ranks the hands differently compared to Texas hold'em

All the details to know before playing a game of short-deck poker are in this article.

Why is short-deck poker so popular?

The game of short-deck poker, os six-plus hold'em became famous at the high-stakes games in Macau. Due to the smaller deck, the game makes it more probably for players to hit high-value combinations.

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Where is short-deck poker played?

You can play short-deck poker live at most poker festivals. If you are looking for games of short-deck poker online, check out the pokes sites listed on this page.

What's the best short-deck poker strategy?

The removal of some low-value cards from the deck changes the game's basic strategy and the value of different poker hands.

To understand ranges and odds in short-deck poker, have a look at this article.

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I have often wondered if anyone ever plays poker with multiple decks of cards. If it is a viable way of playing, what are the rules and hand rankings? I did some research on playing poker with more than one deck and this is what I found out.

Can poker be played with 2 decks? Poker games can only be played with one deck. All poker rules are built around having just one deck. If multiple decks were used the odds and probabilities would change and you would no longer be playing the same game.

Since we know that the game would be altered and could no longer be called poker, let’s take a look at the reasons why this would happen.

Multiple Decks Would Alter the Odds

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Playing more than one deck in a poker game would necessarily force you to change your strategy in every situation. Most notably, you would have to revamp your understanding of how the additional 52 cards would effect outs for drawing hands. Here are a couple of examples of things you’d have to consider:

If you have a two-card flush draw you now have 22 outs instead of 9- In 1 deck poker, your odds of hitting the flush on the next card is 19% (9 outs divided by 47 cards left in the deck= 19). In two deck poker, your odds of hitting a flush would be 22% (22/99= 22).
If you have an open-ended straight draw you now have 16 outs instead of 8- In 1 deck poker, your odds of hitting a straight on the next card is 17% (8 outs divided by 47 cards left in the deck= 19). In two deck poker, your odds of hitting a flush would be 16%! (16/99= 16).

Figuring out draws actually becomes easier

This is something that surprised me. You may have also noticed this trend in the above calculations. In two-deck poker, your percentage of hitting your draw is the same as the number of outs you have. Here is an outs chart to illustrate my point:

2-Deck Poker Hand Rankings and Probabilities

Since hand combinations would be built differently, you would run into some issues when determining hand rankings. The problem with 2-deck poker is that the rankings would not flow logically the same way it does in normal poker. An example, it is less likely to make 5 of a kind than it is to make a straight flush. That simply makes no sense, straight flushes are the 2nd best hand in poker next to the Royal flush.

Here is what the hand rankings would be for two-card poker:

5 of a kind with Flush
Royal Flush
Five of a kind
Straight flush
Flush with two pair
Four of a kind
Flush with one pair
Flush with no pairs
Full house
Unflushed straight
Three of a kind
Two pair
One pair
High card

Combinations possible for 2-deck poker hands:

Royal Flush- 128
Five of a kind- 728
Straight flush- 1172
Flush with two pair- 6,884
Four of a kind- 87,360
Flush with one pair- 91,520
Flush with no pairs- 163,566
Full house- 244,608
Unflushed straight- 326508
Three of a kind- 3,075,072
Two pair- 5,374,492
One pair- 40,909,440
High card- 41,681,170

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2-Deck Poker Strategy

It’s obvious that 2-deck poker would play more like Omaha, save for having two hole cards instead of 4. Draws would go way up in value and the hand leading on the flop would rarely be the winner on the river.

On the plus side, there would be a huge amount of action in every hand. Being ahead or behind would become murkier and you would probably see multi-way pots for multiple streets more often than not. Here are some general guidelines for two-deck poker:

Bluff less- Fold equity will be low since there are so many possible hand combinations out there.
Play tighter than you think you need to- Due to all the possibilities of making a hand, it might be tempting to get in there and mix it up. While this might not be poker in the truest sense, I would be willing to bet there is one carryover. Normal poker theory dictates that you should play loose when everyone else is tight and tight when everyone else is loose. Therefore, I recommend being as big of a nit as is reasonably possible. I imagine 16-20%VPIP is probably optimal for 6-max games and 10-14% for 9-max tables.
Upgrade your requirements for continuing- By this, I mean you will need a much better hand to call a raise or value bet. A good rule of thumb might be to upgrade one tier for every situation. In other words, if you would normally need top pair or better to continue, you now need two-pair. If two-pair was needed before, now you are required to have trips. Follow this rule and you will probably be okay.

Keep in mind that these strategic suggestions are based purely on my experience and examination of the basic rules. I could be way off. I would recommend a resource for you to study. Unfortunately, I know of no professional 2-deck poker players or anyone who plays that game on a regular basis. If you figure something out, please comment below.

Should We Play 2-Deck Poker?

In my opinion, you can’t even call 2-deck poker “poker” since the hand rankings are different. The one thing that is in common among all high-card poker games is the hand rankings. Change that, and you are playing something else. Maybe you could call it “Toker”?

What if we have too many players for one deck?

The main reason people may try 2-deck poker is if they have so many people they are afraid of running out of cards. However, this is not a huge concern. There are only 8 cards needed to do the flop, turn, and river including the burn cards. This leaves 44 cards to deal to players. That means 22 players can play poker on a single deck!

Even so, this would be a cluster muck, to put it mildly. Instead, it’s much better to just use two decks and play two different tables. If you want to all still play together, just do a tournament. Everyone throws an equal amount in a hat and you all play for a prize pool.

Final Thoughts

Unless you are looking for a new game to play and don’t mind having to completely relearn poker rules, or “toker” rules, then I recommend not playing poker with two decks. Besides, Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or any of the other variants are poker are complicated enough to learn. I’ll stick with what I know.

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