Short Deck Rules

Short Deck follows a similar format to Texas Hold’em, but with a few crucial differences! Most notably, cards below a 6 are removed, leaving a 36-card deck.

Our guide will quickly get you up to speed, and you’ll soon discover why the game is so popular with modern high-stakes pros!

How does a Short Deck hand play out? 

Pre-flop

• Unlike Texas Hold’em, no blinds are posted.
• Instead of blinds, all players must post an ante.
• To get the action going, the dealer (button) is required to post an additional button ante. This is usually the same value as the regular ante, although may differ.
• The player to the left of the dealer is first to act.
• The minimum pre-flop raise is double the button ante.

Flop

• Three communal cards are dealt face up, starting the next round of betting.
• As with pre-flop, the player to the left of the dealer is first to act.
• The minimum post-flop bet is the value of the normal ante (the mandatory ante which all players committed before a hand was dealt.)

Turn

• A fourth shared card is added, followed by a further round of betting.

River

• The final communal card is dealt, beginning the final round of betting.

Showdown

• As with Texas Hold’em your best five cards play, however in Short Deck:
• Flush beats a full house
• A6789 is a straight (the Ace plays high or low, so TJQKA is also a straight)
• A6789 of same suit is a straight flush 

For the full list of hand rankings, please click here.

Partial removal of funds

Unlike other cash game formats, Short Deck permits players to remove chips from the table once they build up a big enough stack. Players can then continue to play at the same table. partypoker will be the only operator to make a removal of funds feature available, exclusively for our Short Deck cash games. The removal rule is likely to be set at 400 x ante, with players able to remove 100 x ante.

Example: A player buys in to a $0.50 ante game for 100 x ante – a stack of $50. Once the player builds up a stack of $200 (400 x $0.50 Ante), they will be able to remove $50 (100 x $0.50) and carry on playing with $150.

Ante explanation

Example:

In a $1 ante game, the ante is $1 and the additional button ante is $1:

• Players have the option to fold, call $1 or make a pre-flop raise (minimum $2).
• The minimum post-flop bet is $1.