Short Deck Poker

EasyPoker just launched Short Deck Poker – play directly from within the app.

In a recent update we added support for more types of poker games, including Short Deck Hold’em – also known as 6-plus poker. In this post I will talk about why we choose Short Deck Hold’em and how the Short Deck poker rules differ from regular Texas style of play.

Short Deck Poker – using EasyPoker

First off, Short Deck Hold’em is a Plus feature you will find in the EasyPoker table settings. EasyPoker Plus starts from $3.99 and will allow more customization for your home games, as well as many other features. Our goal is to deliver all “need to have” features for free (such as creating a free game for up to 6 players) and nice to have features are Plus. This includes Short Deck Poker.

Why Chose Short Deck Poker?

Short Deck Poker is becoming more and more popular each month. And I completely understand why. The Short Deck game is eliminating all the low ranked cards. This makes the gameplay more intense and leaves a greater chance of having impressive hands – both for you and your competition.

This small but amazing twist made it an obvious choice for EasyPoker to support the poker style. It’s also very closely related to regular texas hold’em, which fits perfectly in the EasyPoker mindset.

Short Deck Poker Rules

Short Deck Poker is very closely related to Texas Hold’em. With Short Deck Hold’em you play without cards lower than 6 (Ace are still included in Short Deck). This means no 2’s, 3’s, 4’s and 5’s.

Eliminating these cards means that you have a greater chance of getting a full-house than a flush. It’s also harder to get three of a kind than a straight – unlike in 52 cards poker. This is because you only have 9 cards of each suit, so flushes and three of a kind are pretty rare when playing with a short deck.

Short Deck Poker Hand Rankings

As mentioned above the hand rankings are a bit different when playing Short Deck Poker. This is because the mathematical possibilities change when removing the lower cards. The hand rankings are…

1. Royal Flush
2. Straight Flush
3. Four of a kind
4. Flush
5. Full House
6. Three of a Kind
7. Straight
8. Two Pair
9. One Pair
10. High Card

As you can see by the colors, Flush and Full House has switched places. So has Three of a Kind and Straight.

How to Play

You start the game by putting out a small blind and big blind. After that you deal each player two cards with the top down – just like in regular Texas Hold’em. All players need to at least match the big blind in order to continue.

After the initial betting round you lay out the first 3 community cards. Then you have a new betting round. Next you lay out the turn card in the CC, bet again, and then finally add the river card – just like in Texas Hold’em.

In the end all the remaining players need to show their cards in order to find the winner of the pot (keep the mucking rules in mind).

EasyPoker will manage all rules, dealing, blinds etc. for you. Just follow the link to play short deck poker on Android and iPhone or use the buttons below. Just a friendly reminder from me.

Get EasyPoker

EasyPoker will allow you to play short deck
hold’em with friends and family.

Short Deck Poker – Rules & How to Play