The short answer
Short Deck, also called 6+ Hold'em, removes every 2, 3, 4 and 5 from a standard deck: 36 cards remain. Players still make a best five-card hand using two private cards and a community board. But a familiar full-deck ranking or preflop chart can be wrong here. Before a ClubGG game, check the actual table's hand order, low-ace rule and forced contributions.
ClubGG's public MTT settings help lists 6+ as a configurable tournament variant. That is evidence of a format option, not proof that a particular Club currently offers a Short Deck table or uses the rules of another operator.
What the 36-card deck changes
There are nine ranks per suit: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K and A. The cited WSOP Short Deck event treats A-6-7-8-9 as the lowest straight, with ace acting below six. The highest remains 10-J-Q-K-A. Ace does not wrap into arbitrary sequences such as Q-K-A-6-7.
For a concrete low-straight example, hold A♠ 6♦ on a board of 7♣ 8♥ 9♠ K♣ Q♦. Your best five cards are A-6-7-8-9. That example is physically possible in a 36-card deck and uses two private cards; it does not say the hand wins against every opponent or that ClubGG currently applies the cited rule.
Which rankings must be confirmed?
The table records what an explicitly named 2023 WSOP Short Deck event published. It is a worked ruleset, not a hidden assertion about ClubGG. A different operator's variant explanation notes that straight versus three of a kind can differ between rooms.
On a narrow screen, swipe within the table. With a keyboard, focus the table area and use the left and right arrow keys.
| Question | Published event example | Check in the current Club table |
|---|---|---|
| Deck | 36 cards; ranks 2–5 absent. | Verify that the selected game really is 6+ rather than full-deck NLH. |
| Low ace | A-6-7-8-9 is a straight. | Read the hand-ranking/help panel for the current variant. |
| Flush versus full house | Flush ranks above full house. | Do not use the NLH order without checking. |
| Straight versus trips | Straight ranks above three of a kind. | Other Short Deck rulesets can reverse this order. |
| Forced contributions | Each player posted an ante; the button posted an extra ante. | Read the actual Club table; an event elsewhere does not set it. |
Why do some 6+ rulesets elevate a flush? In the 36-card deck there are 480 ordinary five-card flush combinations (straight flushes excluded) but 1,728 five-card full houses. This counts distinct five-card selections, not a seven-card player's final-hand probability or a guaranteed winning rate. Ranking is a published house rule, not something probability alone imposes.
A showdown that changes with the ruleset
Board: K♠ K♦ 9♠ 9♦ 6♠. Player A holds A♠ Q♠ and makes an ace-high spade flush using three board spades. Player B holds K♣ 9♣ and makes kings full of nines. All nine displayed cards are distinct and legal in Short Deck.
Under the cited WSOP Short Deck ranking, Player A's flush wins. Under conventional full-deck Hold'em ranking, Player B's full house wins. The point is not to predict a ClubGG result; it is to show why the table's actual ranking panel matters before evaluating a hand history.
What should change in your decisions?
Do not import a 52-card starting-hand chart unchanged. A smaller deck changes which boards connect with private cards and how often competing strong hands can appear. A draw or pair must be judged against the specific 36-card rules, position, actual pot price and opponents, not by a full-deck shortcut.
Before any close call, identify the forced contributions and the effective stack. An ante-heavy game changes the pot you are contesting before the flop; it does not automatically make every connected hand worth entering. Recheck whether a flush, full house, straight or trips outranks the opposing category under that table's displayed rules.
What we have not verified for a ClubGG Club
We have not inspected a current named Club's Short Deck lobby, ranking panel, ante structure, table availability or hand history. The WSOP example is dated and explicitly belongs to WSOP; the other operator's explanation is also not a ClubGG rule. Read the current ClubGG screen and seek a product ruling from official support if the app's displayed rule is unclear. A Club or Union administrator can address its own table configuration, not rewrite the platform's hand evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Short Deck and 6+ Hold’em the same thing?
They commonly name the Hold'em variant that removes all twos, threes, fours and fives, leaving 36 cards. The name alone does not determine a Club's forced bets, exact hand-ranking order or present game availability.
Is A-6-7-8-9 a straight?
It is the low-ace straight in the cited WSOP Short Deck example. It is not A-2-3-4-5, because ranks two through five are absent. Confirm the current game's ranking panel before using an example as a ruling.
Does a flush beat a full house in ClubGG Short Deck?
A flush outranks a full house in the cited WSOP Short Deck event and in several other published 6+ rulesets. We have not verified a current named ClubGG table's ranking panel, so do not present that order as a certified ClubGG rule.
Does three of a kind beat a straight?
That ordering is not fixed by the label Short Deck. In the cited WSOP event a straight outranks three of a kind; another published variant explanation notes that some rooms reverse them. Read the current table's order.
Are antes or a button contribution mandatory at every ClubGG table?
No universal structure is established by this guide. The cited WSOP event used player antes and an extra button ante, but that is an event-specific example from another setting. Check the ClubGG table's actual forced-action rule.
Sources and review limits
Public sources checked 26 September 2026. They are deliberately separated by product and date.
- ClubGG MTT Settings Breakdown — 6+ appears as a tournament variant option, not a named Club availability or ranking certification.
- WSOP 2023 Short Deck event rules — explicitly identified example for 36 cards, low ace, ranking order and ante structure.
- GGPoker explanation of Short Deck rule variants — a different operator's example of ranking variation, not a ClubGG setting or endorsement.
- ClubGG Media Guideline — mandatory play-money and non-endorsement disclosure.
No authenticated Club table, game-engine result, actual account, physical phone, screen reader or current configuration was tested. The worked hand and combination counts explain a rule distinction; they cannot certify a live table.