Short Deck Poker Rules
Short Deck — also called Six Plus or 6+ Hold’em — is Texas Hold’em played with a stripped-down 36-card deck. Every 2, 3, 4, and 5 is removed, so the deck runs from the 6 up to the Ace in each suit. Fewer cards means far more strong hands, closer all-in equities, and two rearranged rankings that catch out every newcomer. It is one of the fastest, most action-packed poker games there is.
The objective
Short Deck is a community-card game with the same goal as any poker game: win the pot, either by making the best five-card hand at showdown or by betting so that everyone else folds. You still get two hole cards, still share five community cards, and still build the best five of your seven. What changes is the maths — with a 36-card deck, pairs improve to sets more often, straights fill more easily, and premium hands collide far more than they do in a full-deck game.
The 36-card deck
All of the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s are taken out. The deck holds 36 cards: 6, 7, 8, 9, T, J, Q, K, and A in each of the four suits.
Sixteen cards fewer than a standard deck changes everything about how hands run. Each suit now has only nine cards instead of thirteen, so flushes are harder to complete. The ranks are compressed into a tighter band, so straights come together much more easily and connected cards gain value. And because there are fewer cards to miss, players are dealt playable hands far more often — which is exactly why the game feels so fast.
How a hand plays out
The streets are exactly the same as Texas Hold’em. A hand moves through four betting rounds:
- Pre-flop: Antes are posted and each player receives two hole cards. Betting opens and players fold, call, or raise.
- Flop: Three community cards are dealt face up, followed by a betting round.
- Turn: A fourth community card is dealt, followed by another betting round.
- River: A fifth and final community card is dealt, followed by the last betting round and the showdown.
Short Deck hand rankings
Short Deck uses standard poker rankings with two changes forced by the smaller deck. A flush now beats a full house, and — in the standard "power" ruleset used on Salty Poker — three of a kind beats a straight. The table below shows the full order from strongest to weakest.
| Hand | Example |
|---|---|
| Straight flush | T♥ 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ |
| Four of a kind | K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣ 9♠ |
| Flush | A♣ J♣ 9♣ 8♣ 6♣ |
| Full house | Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ 8♣ 8♠ |
| Three of a kind | 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♣ 9♠ |
| Straight | A♦ 9♠ 8♥ 7♣ 6♦ |
| Two pair | J♠ J♦ 8♣ 8♥ 9♠ |
| One pair | T♦ T♣ A♠ 8♥ 6♦ |
| High card | A♠ Q♦ 9♣ 7♥ 6♠ |
Key differences from standard poker: a flush beats a full house, and three of a kind beats a straight.
The Ace plays high and low
Because the 2 through 5 are removed, the Ace slots in directly below the 6 to keep straights possible at the bottom. The lowest straight is A-6-7-8-9, with the Ace acting as a "5".
The Ace still plays high as well, so it caps the top straight T-J-Q-K-A (Broadway) just as it does in Hold’em. In other words the Ace works at both ends of the run: high in Broadway and low in the wheel-equivalent A-6-7-8-9. It is the only card in Short Deck that plays two ways.
Ante and button-ante betting
Short Deck is almost always spread as a no-limit game, but the forced bets usually differ from Hold’em. Instead of a small and big blind, every player posts an ante and the player on the button posts an extra "button ante" that functions like a big blind. Because everyone already has chips in the pot before the deal, folding gives up money you have committed, so far more players see a flop and the action builds quickly. Some rooms still use traditional blinds, but the button-ante structure is the one most associated with the game.
A worked example
The board comes 9♠ 9♦ 7♣ K♣ 6♣. You hold A♣ T♣ and an opponent holds 9♥ 8♥.
The board shows three clubs — 7♣, K♣, and 6♣ — and you hold A♣ T♣, so you make an ace-high flush: A-K-T-7-6 in clubs. A strong holding.
Your opponent pairs the board’s two nines with the 9♥ in hand for three of a kind, trip nines. In standard poker that would be a monster on this board, but here is the twist: in Short Deck a flush beats a full house and comfortably beats three of a kind, so your flush is well ahead of their trips.
The lesson is the ranking order. A hand that feels monstrous in Hold’em — a full house, or a straight — is worth less here, while a flush is gold. Always re-read the board through the Short Deck rankings before you commit your stack.
On SPN
Short Deck tables use the SPN tick-fee model, so there is no rake taken from the pot. The altered rankings are enforced automatically at showdown — the software always awards the pot to the best legal Short Deck hand, so a flush correctly beats a full house and three of a kind correctly beats a straight without anyone having to argue it. Dealing is provably fair and the tables are bot-free.
Frequently asked questions
What is Short Deck poker?
Short Deck, also called Six Plus or 6+ Hold’em, is Texas Hold’em played with a 36-card deck. Every 2, 3, 4, and 5 is removed, leaving only cards from 6 up to Ace in each suit. The smaller deck makes strong hands far more common and changes two hand rankings, so the game plays faster and with much more action.
Why does a flush beat a full house in Short Deck?
With four fewer cards of every suit in the deck, flushes are meaningfully harder to complete than in a full 52-card game, while full houses come around slightly more often. Because a flush is now the rarer hand, it is ranked above the full house. This is a universal Short Deck rule.
Does three of a kind really beat a straight?
In the most common ("power") Short Deck ruleset, yes. The compressed deck makes straights much easier to make and sets of trips harder, so three of a kind is ranked above a straight. A minority of rooms keep the traditional order with straights above trips, but Salty Poker uses the standard where three of a kind beats a straight.
What is the lowest straight in Short Deck?
Because the 2 through 5 are gone, the Ace plays as a low card directly below the 6. The lowest straight is A-6-7-8-9, where the Ace acts as a "5". The Ace still also plays high in T-J-Q-K-A, the Broadway straight, so the Ace works at both ends of the run.
How is Short Deck betting different from Hold’em?
The streets are identical — pre-flop, flop, turn, and river — but many Short Deck games replace the small and big blinds with an ante from every player plus an extra "button ante" posted by the dealer button. Everyone has money in the pot before the cards come out, so far more hands see a flop.