Short Deck Poker: Check the Rules, Then Count

First name the 6+ rule set

In the PokerStars 6+ Hold'em rulesused for the examples below, all twos, threes, fours and fives are removed. The ranks are 6, 7, 8, 9, T, J, Q, K, A — nine ranks in each of four suits, or 36 cards. Players still receive two hole cards, then a three-card flop, one turn and one river. A five-card high hand is chosen from the available hole and community cards as in Texas Hold'em; it does not have Omaha's exact-two-hole requirement.

“Short Deck” describes the stripped deck, not one immutable set of house rules. The ranking table here follows PokerStars 6+: flush over full house, straight over three of a kind, and A-6-7-8-9 as the low straight. AGGPoker guide to short-deck variantsnotes that some venues put three of a kind above a straight. A game may also differ in its blind or ante procedure. Confirm the actual table's ranking and forced bets before interpreting a showdown or an action.

A complete five-card ranking reference

The rows run strongest to weakest under the named PokerStars rule set. Each specimen is an independent five-card handusing only ranks that exist in a 36-card deck; the rows are not ten players in a single deal. Royal flush is the ace-high straight-flush case, listed separately for quick recognition. The important difference from the ordinary Hold'em order is that flush sits above full house. In this named version a straight still beats three of a kind; other house rules can reverse that pair.

Each displayed five-card specimen belongs only to its row. On a narrow screen, focus the table and use the arrow keys to scroll sideways if needed.

The change in flush rank is a rule choice associated with having only nine cards per suit. It does not mean any one player's five-card flush draw is a guaranteed favorite, nor that hand order must always be assigned solely by comparing raw five-card frequencies. Thepublished 6+ rulessettle this table's order; the room settles its own.

Ace can complete A-6-7-8-9

Since five is not in the deck, ace may sit below six to make thelowest straight, A-6-7-8-9. This standalone legal five-card example is not five cards in one suit, so it is a straight, not a straight flush:

Ace also sits above king in T-J-Q-K-A. It does not wrap around the end of the rank order to make Q-K-A-6-7. When reading a board, build the best five-card hand from the actual seven known cards and compare under the game's published ranking.

Antes and a button blind in this version

PokerStars 6+ has every player post an ante and the button post an additional blind. Preflop action begins with the seat to the button's left. For example, six players each posting one chip plus a one-chip button blind put seven chips in the pot before voluntary action; this is invented arithmetic, not a current stake or posted price. Betting then proceeds through preflop, flop, turn and river. Rules for available actions, minimum raises, stacks and later action still have to be read from the relevant game. A larger forced pot does not itself justify entering with a particular hand or exceeding a spending limit.

Button-blind play differs from the small- and big-blind order in thebasic Hold'em lesson. Do not transfer action order by position name alone. Thebetting guide explains why total price and stack commitments, not just the visible antes, matter in any betting decision.

Calculate completion, not equity

The two examples in this section are different illustrative deals. Each uses your two hole cards and the flop only. From your perspective, five of 36 cards are known, so 31 are unseen before the turn. Assume a uniformly random turn and river from those unseen cards, with no further information about opponents' cards, burns or folded hands. We count specified cards that complete a named hand; we do not count the chance of winning, the value of a call, ties, fees or further bets.

This is a fixed-outs illustration; each row keeps its own known cards and unseen deck. On a narrow screen, focus the table and use the arrow keys to scroll sideways if needed.

These exact fractions come from drawing without replacement from 31 then 30 unknown cards. If an opponent's cards or other information are known, the unseen count and outcomes change. Even an exact completion fraction cannot answer a betting decision without theprice, competing hands and future action.

Translate the rules into decisions carefully

1. Verify the table. Write down the flush/full-house and straight/trips order, wheel and forced bets before comparing hands.
2. Build the actual five cards. Use only ranks six through ace and check all available hole and board cards. An overpair on a connected board is still just a pair unless it improves.
3. Separate events. Completing a straight or flush, beating an opponent and finding a worthwhile call are three different questions.
4. Keep the decision bounded. Position, effective stacks, opponents and a pre-set spending limit matter. Neither a larger ante pot nor a changed draw fraction tells everyone to play wider, bluff less, or pursue losses.

Continue learning

The standard ranking referencemakes the flush/full-house change easy to spot; return to this page for the named 6+ order. Read Texas Hold'em and basic betting rounds for the full-deck baseline, then usepot odds to distinguish draw completion from a priced call. Thebetting-strategies guidecovers how a bet's size changes what a caller must decide.

Sources and limits

The deck, button blind, flush/full-house order and low straight are taken from PokerStars 6+ Hold'em rules. The GGPoker short-deck guideidentifies the straight-versus-trips house-rule variation. Every specimen, ante count and draw fraction here is an independently constructed teaching example, not a logged hand, a retained solver result, a payout forecast or a statement that any product is available in a reader's location. Check current house rules for a particular game.