Short Deck Hold'em (6+ Hold'em)

Short Deck is Texas Hold'em played with a 36-card deck -- all cards below 6 are removed. The smaller deck dramatically increases the frequency of strong hands and changes the hand rankings.

The Deck

Cards 2, 3, 4, and 5 are removed, leaving 6 through Ace in all four suits (36 cards total). Ace can still play low to make a 6-high straight: A-6-7-8-9.

Hand Rankings (Short Deck)

RankHandNotes
1Royal FlushSame as standard
2Straight FlushSame as standard
3Four of a KindSame as standard
4FlushBeats a full house in Short Deck
5Full HouseLoses to a flush
6Three of a KindBeats a straight in Short Deck
7StraightA-6-7-8-9 is the lowest straight
8Two Pair
9One Pair
10High Card

Key differences: Flush beats Full House; Three of a Kind beats Straight.

Gameplay

Play proceeds identically to No-Limit Texas Hold'em: two hole cards, four betting streets (pre-flop, flop, turn, river), five community cards. The only differences are the deck size and hand rankings above.

On SPN

Short Deck tables use the standard SPN tick-fee model. All hand rankings are automatically enforced by the platform.