Americas Cardroom will launch short deck poker cash games on September 10. The form of hold’em promoted by Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and other pros in Asia is slowly making its way to the United States.
The Winning Poker Network, parent company of Americas Cardroom, announced the relatively new poker variant will be available in 6-max, 9-max, and heads-up cash game formats. Short deck tournaments will likely soon be offered.
The game is currently available in beta format. A full version will be available on September 10. It’s unclear the short deck stakes available on Americas Cardroom. But most cash games on that site are low stakes.
What is Short Deck Poker?
Short deck poker, otherwise known as six plus hold’em, is a slightly different variation of Texas hold’em. All cards 2-5 are removed from the deck in this newer poker game.
That means there is a higher percentage of face cards in the deck. Some “monster” hands in Texas hold’em aren’t as strong in short deck. For that reason, hand rankings are a bit different.
Short Deck Hand Rankings (strongest to weakest)
Royal flush, straight flush, quads, flush, full house, three-of-a-kind, straight, two pair, pair, high card.
Winning poker strategy changes slightly from Texas hold’em to short deck poker. Players shouldn’t feel as confident in hands such as a straight or full house when playing six plus hold’em. It’s easier to hit a full house than a flush in this game.
That doesn’t mean a full house is a weak hand, however. But inexperienced short deck players often forget hand rankings and overplay certain hands. You can watch a video of Tom Dwan explaining six plus hold’em.
Durrrr explains in the video that a player has just five outs when flopping a flush draw as opposed to nine in Texas hold’em. With the 2-5 removed from the deck, that eliminates four of the outs.
History of Six Plus Poker Hold’em
The game is becoming popular in Asia, but is slowly catching on in other parts of the world. Americas Cardroom is the first US-facing site to offer six plus poker cash games. But the game is starting to catch on in America.
On the same day ACR launches its short deck games (September 10), the Poker Masters high roller series hosts a $10,500 buy-in short deck tournament.
Short deck first started a few years ago in the nosebleed games in Asia. Players such as Dwan and Ivey frequently play six plus hold’em in Macau. They now promote the game and hope it grows in the United States.
