After three full days of high stakes no limit hold’em, the Triton Series Special Edition in Cyprus now shifts its focus to Short Deck Hold’em.
We’re preparing now for Events #3 and #5, beginning today and tomorrow, where buy-ins are $75,000 and $125,000 respectively.
You’ll notice that that’s bigger than the hold’em events, and there’s a reason for that. The players who like short deck the best are the players who like to play highest. This is a game that originated among the high-stakes cash game players in Asia, where the more eye-watering the stakes, the better.
The game is gradually catching on among western players too, particularly those who can sense a money-making opportunity. In this very exclusive world, where pros will want to find the most profitable spots, it pays to do some study and learn a new game, if that’s the game that most people want to play.
If you’re on the fence about short-deck, here’s a quick reminder of the principal differences. (Read the full article here.)
A SHORTER DECK
The most significant difference between short deck and regular hold’em is there in its name. It’s played with a pack of cards from which all of the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s are removed.
In this game, an ace can be both high and low, as usual, but the next lowest card is the 6. (It’s sometimes called 6+ hold’em, which also makes sense.)
The wheel in short deck is A-6-7-8-9. And a Broadway straight is still 10-J-Q-K-A.
Instead of 52 cards, there are 36 in short deck.
HAND RANKING DIFFERENCES
While there are only a few differences in the value of a hand between the two formats of hold’em, these are very significant. It could prove expensive if forgotten.
In short deck hold’em:
• A flush beats a full house – This is because mathematically it is harder to make a flush than a full house from the reduced deck.
Think about it. In regular hold’em, players with suited hole cards and two community cards of the same suit have nine cards in the deck from which to make a flush. Playing the short deck game reduces this to five cards. This means a flush is far harder to hit thank usual.
EASIER TO HIT A SET
Playing short deck hold’em makes it easier to hit a set than when playing the regular game. Short deck players holding a pocket pair have two cards remaining from the 34 unknown to give them a set as opposed to two cards out of 50 in the regular game.
SHORT DECK HOLD’EM STRATEGY
Players who are used to the regular version of hold’em should be aware of strategy considerations during a traditional game. You need to slightly adjust your expectations of what kinds of hands will win pots.
In general, players will see many more strong hands, so stronger hands are typically needed to win pots.
• The chance of being dealt pocket aces is twice as high
• Hands such as top pair and top kicker have a much lower value
• Single pair hands rarely win a pot
However, this allows greater bluffing opportunities too, where it’s feasible for players often to represent very strong holdings.
FAST & FURIOUS
Action in short deck can be very fast, with pots escalating quickly and bust outs and buy-ins commonplace. That’s how the players on this series like it.
Players always need to remember that while you are sure to hit far more big hands, so will your opponents.
HAND RANKINGS CHART
Photography by Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive