Poker game guide
Short Deck Hold'em
Remove every card below six and familiar Hold’em becomes faster, tighter and full of strong hands. This guide follows PokerStars’ 6+ Hold’em rules, including its button blind and adjusted hand rankings.
- Players
- 3–6
- Time
- 45–120 min
- Experience
- Hold’em regulars
- Best scoring
- Final placement
How to play
A clear rhythm for every hand.
Agree the stakes and house rules before the first deal. Once play begins, these are the moments everyone needs to follow.
Build the short deck
Remove every two, three, four and five from a standard deck. The remaining 36 cards run from six through Ace.
Post antes and the button blind
Every player posts the agreed ante. The dealer button posts the only blind, and action begins with the player to the button’s left.
Deal and play pre-flop
Give each player two private cards. Players fold, call or raise until every active player has matched the current bet.
Reveal flop, turn and river
Deal three community cards, then one turn and one river, with a betting round after each reveal just as in Texas Hold’em.
Use the adjusted rankings
Make the best five-card hand. Under these 6+ rules a flush beats a full house, and Ace-6-7-8-9 counts as a straight.
Before the first hand
Set the table once.
- Remove all sixteen cards ranked two through five and count the remaining 36 cards.
- Display the adjusted hand ranking where every player can see it.
- Agree the ante, button blind, starting stack and blind progression.
- Confirm that these PokerStars-style 6+ rules will govern the entire session.
Make it a season
Turn the extra action into a fair season.
Short Deck produces frequent confrontations, so let final placement carry the season. Record match wins as a secondary statistic rather than rewarding every large pot.
Create your season- Formula
- Placement-based points
- Record
- Final place + match win
- Good cadence
- Two short matches per night
- Season idea
- Best match result counts