EasyPoker supports Short Deck Poker, so you can deal it straight from the app. If you’re new to poker generally, start with how to play poker and come back – Short Deck is a variation on the same game.
In a recent update we added support for more types of poker games, including Short Deck Hold’em – also known as Short Deck (6+). Below we cover why we chose Short Deck Hold’em and how its rules differ from regular Texas Hold’em.
Short Deck Poker Using EasyPoker
You’ll find Short Deck Hold’em in the EasyPoker table settings, and your first 10 games of it are free. After that, hosting it needs EasyPoker Plus, which also unlocks more customization for your home games alongside a stack of other features. Our goal is to keep every “need to have” feature free – Texas Hold’em is always free and unlimited – while the nice-to-haves sit in Plus. For games with 4 or more players, the host needs Plus, which supports tables of up to 12.
Why Choose Short Deck Poker?
Short Deck Poker gets more popular every month, and it’s easy to see 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 closely related to regular Texas Hold’em, which fits the EasyPoker mindset perfectly.
Short Deck Poker Rules
Short Deck Poker is very closely related to Texas Hold’em. With Short Deck Hold’em you play without any card lower than a 6, so the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s all come out. That leaves a 36-card deck. Aces stay in, and they still play both high and low – the lowest straight becomes A-6-7-8-9 rather than A-2-3-4-5.
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-card 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
The hand rankings shift a little in Short Deck Poker, because taking out the low cards changes what’s mathematically hard to make. Four of the ten ranks stay put; the four marked below move. From strongest to weakest:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Flush – moves up
- Full House – moves down
- Three of a Kind – moves up
- Straight – moves down
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
Flush and Full House have swapped places, and so have Three of a Kind and Straight. Everything else ranks exactly as it does in standard poker hand rankings.
How to Play
You start the game by putting out a small blind and big blind. After that you deal each player two cards face 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 alongside the community cards, bet again, and then finally add the river card – just like in Texas Hold’em.
At the end, the remaining players show their cards to decide who takes the pot – though anyone who isn’t required to show can muck instead, a term we explain in our poker glossary.
EasyPoker manages the rules, dealing and blinds for you, so a short deck game runs exactly like a regular one. It’s free to download on iPhone and Android using the buttons below.
Short Deck Poker FAQ
What is Short Deck poker?
Short Deck poker, also called Short Deck (6+), is Texas Hold’em played with every card below a 6 removed. That takes the deck from 52 cards down to 36, which makes big hands far more common and the game noticeably more aggressive. Everything else – blinds, betting rounds, flop, turn and river – works exactly as it does in regular Hold’em.
How do Short Deck hand rankings differ from Texas Hold’em?
Two pairs of hands swap places. A flush now beats a full house, because with only nine cards per suit a flush is harder to make. And three of a kind now beats a straight, because removing the low cards makes straights much easier to complete. The other six rankings are unchanged.
Does the Ace still play low in Short Deck?
Yes. Aces stay in the deck and still work at both ends of a straight. Since the 2, 3, 4 and 5 are gone, the lowest straight you can make is A-6-7-8-9 instead of A-2-3-4-5.
Do you need EasyPoker Plus to play Short Deck?
Not straight away. Short Deck is free for your first 10 games, after which hosting it needs EasyPoker Plus. Texas Hold’em is always free and unlimited, and the same 10-game trial applies to Omaha and Reverse Hold’em. For games with 4 or more players, the host needs Plus, which supports tables of up to 12.
Which poker games can you play on EasyPoker?
EasyPoker deals Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Short Deck (6+) and Reverse Hold’em. Reverse Hold’em is our own variant, where the river is dealt first and the flop comes last. The app handles the dealing, the blinds and the chip counting for whichever one you pick, so switching format doesn’t mean learning a new set of controls.