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Short Deck Poker

Also known as Short Deck Hold'em · Six Plus Hold'em · 6+ Hold'em · Six-Plus Hold'em · 36-Card Hold'em

Short Deck Poker — also called Six Plus Hold'em or 6+ Hold'em — is a high-action variant of Texas Hold'em played with a stripped 36-card deck: every deuce, three, four, and five is removed, leaving 6s through aces. Fewer cards means hands connect far more often, so big draws and monster hands fly around the table and the action runs hot. Because flushes are now harder to make than full houses on a short deck, the hand rankings shift: a flush beats a full house, and in the most common rules a set (three of a kind) also beats a straight. The ace still does double duty, playing both high (10-J-Q-K-A) and low to make the A-6-7-8-9 straight. Play Short Deck Poker online free right here against friends or smart bots — no real money, no signup, just chips and the showdown. On our portal, Short Deck runs inside our Dealer's Poker table: open the table, pick the Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) variant, and play.

2–9 players · free · no download · no signup

How to play Short Deck Poker

Open the Dealer's Poker table on our portal and choose the Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) variant.
Take your seat and post the blind when it is your turn; the button (dealer) rotates clockwise each hand.
Remember the deck is only 36 cards — all 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s are gone, so it runs 6 up to ace.
Receive your two hole cards face down and bet pre-flop — fold, call, or raise.
Bet through the flop (3 community cards), the turn (1 card), and the river (1 card) as the shared board fills out.
Play the adjusted rankings: a flush beats a full house, a set beats a straight, and the ace makes the low A-6-7-8-9 straight.
At showdown, make the best five-card hand from your two cards plus the board to win the pot, or take it earlier by making everyone fold, then pass the button on.

Short Deck Poker rules

Objective

Win chips by making the best five-card poker hand at showdown or by betting so that everyone else folds before then. Short Deck uses Texas Hold'em mechanics — your two hole cards plus the five shared community cards, any combination — but the hand rankings are adjusted for the smaller deck (see below). The big idea is the same as all poker: build the strongest hand you can, and bet, call, raise, or fold based on what you hold and what the board could give your opponents.

The deck — deuces through fives removed

Short Deck is played with a 36-card deck. You take a standard 52-card deck and remove all the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s — sixteen cards in total. That leaves 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace in all four suits. This is the single change that defines the game: with fewer low cards, players connect with the board far more often, so pairs, sets, straights, and flushes all show up more frequently than in regular Hold'em. The table seats 2 to 9 players sharing the one 36-card deck.

Adjusted hand rankings

Because there are only nine ranks instead of thirteen, flushes become rarer than full houses, so the rankings are reordered. From weakest to strongest the most common Short Deck order is: high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind (a set) — but a set beats a straight in standard rules — straight, flush — which beats a full house — full house, four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush. The two key swaps to remember: a flush beats a full house, and three of a kind beats a straight. (A common alternate ruleset keeps three of a kind below a straight; our table uses the standard 'set beats straight, flush beats full house' rankings.)

The ace plays high and low

The ace is the highest card for a high straight (10-J-Q-K-A) but it also plays as the lowest card to complete a wheel-style straight. With the 5, 4, 3, and 2 gone, the lowest straight in Short Deck is A-6-7-8-9, with the ace standing in for a five. So an ace is part of both the top straight and the bottom straight — keep that in mind when you read draws, because a hand with an ace and a six has straight potential a Hold'em player might overlook.

How to play — the betting rounds

Short Deck follows the same four-round structure as Hold'em. A button marks the dealer and rotates one seat clockwise each hand. Pre-flop: after each player gets two hole cards face down, there is a betting round; you can fold, call, or raise. Flop: three community cards are dealt face up, then a betting round. Turn: a fourth community card, then another betting round. River: a fifth and final card, then the last betting round. If two or more players remain after the river, the hand goes to a showdown where the best five-card hand wins.

Blinds, antes, and the button

Live Short Deck is often dealt with an 'ante and button blind' format — every player antes and only the button posts a blind — which builds bigger pots and more action. Our Dealer's Poker table uses the familiar small-blind/big-blind structure that all our poker variants share, so the controls feel the same as Hold'em and Omaha. Whichever format you know, the goal is identical: contest the pot through four betting rounds and take it down at showdown or by forcing folds.

Showdown and winning the pot

At showdown the remaining players reveal their hole cards, and each makes the best five-card hand from any combination of their two hole cards and the five board cards. The highest-ranking hand under the Short Deck rankings wins the pot; tied hands split it evenly. There is no cash value here — chips are for play, ranking, and bragging rights only, since this is a free, social, no-real-money game.

Where it lives: the Dealer's Poker table

Short Deck runs inside our Dealer's Poker (Dealer's Choice) table, where one engine deals several community-card poker variants. To play Short Deck specifically, choose the Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) variant for the hand — the table then deals from the 36-card deck and applies the adjusted rankings for you. The flop-turn-river betting flow is shared across all the variants, so the pace and buttons feel the same whether you are playing Short Deck, Texas Hold'em, or Omaha.

Strategy tips

Re-learn your hand values: with deuces-to-fives gone, top pair and one-pair hands are much weaker, while sets, straights, and flushes appear far more often — don't overvalue a single pair.
Chase draws harder. On a 36-card deck your straight and flush draws hit far more frequently than in regular Hold'em, so draws are worth more and are often the favorite on the flop.
Memorize the swapped rankings before you bet big: a flush beats a full house and a set beats a straight here, so a hand that wins in Hold'em can lose in Short Deck (and vice versa).
Value aces highly — an ace works in both the high straight (10-J-Q-K-A) and the low straight (A-6-7-8-9), giving hands like A-6 sneaky two-way straight potential.
Sets are gold. Because three of a kind beats a straight in standard Short Deck rules, flopping a set is even stronger than in Hold'em — play it fast for value.
Expect bigger, faster pots and tighten your fold discipline: more connection means more cooler spots, so respect aggression on coordinated boards and don't pay off the nuts.

Variants

Standard Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) — flush beats full house, set beats straight · Alternate rankings ruleset — three of a kind ranked below a straight · Ante-and-button-blind format (button posts the only blind, everyone antes) · Triple-draw and mixed-game appearances as a Hold'em substitute · Played at our Dealer's Poker table — pick Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) as the variant · Limit, Pot-Limit, or No-Limit betting structures

Short Deck Poker — frequently asked questions

What is Short Deck Poker?

Short Deck Poker (also called Six Plus Hold'em or 6+ Hold'em) is a variant of Texas Hold'em played with a 36-card deck. Every 2, 3, 4, and 5 is removed, leaving 6s through aces. With fewer low cards, players connect with the board far more often, so it is a faster, higher-action game than regular Hold'em.

Which cards are removed in Short Deck?

All sixteen cards ranked deuce (2) through five (5) are removed — every 2, 3, 4, and 5 in all four suits. That leaves a 36-card deck of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. Everything else about the cards is standard.

How are the hand rankings different in Short Deck?

Because the smaller deck makes flushes rarer than full houses, the rankings are reordered: a flush beats a full house, and in the standard rules a set (three of a kind) also beats a straight. Our table uses these standard 'set beats straight, flush beats full house' rankings. A common alternate ruleset keeps three of a kind below a straight.

Does the ace play low in Short Deck?

Yes. The ace plays high for the 10-J-Q-K-A straight and low for the lowest straight, which is A-6-7-8-9 (the ace stands in for a five since the 5, 4, 3, and 2 are gone). So an ace is part of both the top and bottom straights, which makes ace-six hands stronger than they look.

How do I play Short Deck Poker online for free?

On our portal, Short Deck runs inside the Dealer's Poker table. Just open the table, pick the Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) variant, and play — no download, no signup, and no money. You play with chips against friends or smart bots, so you can learn it completely risk-free in your browser.

How is Short Deck different from Texas Hold'em?

The deck and the rankings change, but the flow is the same. Short Deck uses 36 cards instead of 52 (no 2s–5s), so hands connect much more often and the game runs wilder. The rankings shift so a flush beats a full house and a set beats a straight, and the lowest straight becomes A-6-7-8-9. Otherwise the two-hole-card, flop-turn-river structure is identical to Hold'em.

How many players can play Short Deck Poker?

Short Deck works from 2 players (heads-up) up to a full ring of 9 players sharing one 36-card deck. On our portal you can fill empty seats with smart bots, so you can practice or play a full table any time, with no real money involved.