Triton Short Deck Poker Rules

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Triton Short Deck Poker Rules Poker

Short-deck poker (a.k.a. Six-plus Hold'em or Triton Poker) is a variant of Texas Hold'em design by Chinese poker players. The rules are similar to Texas Hold'em, but the game differ in a fundamental way: there are 36 cards instead of 52 involved (making 630 starting hands possible instead of 1326). Short Deck Hold’em (also known as 6+) is a poker variant very similar to Texas Hold’em, where everyone is dealt two cards and there are five community cards on the table. Like Texas Hold'em, players have to make the best hand to win. However there are a few key differences: 1) There are fewer cards. It has gained noticeable popularity with the televised high stakes cash games in China, notably the Triton Poker Series. Short Deck used to be unavailable to play both live and online. However, due to the increasing popularity, more live venues and online sites are now offering short deck poker. Rules of Short Deck Poker. The Triton Super High Roller Series returned to the stunning Maestral Resort & Casino in Budva, Montenegro.The seven-day festival kicked off with the first-ever live Short Deck Ante-Only tournament and attracted some of the biggest names of the international high stakes poker scene.

What Is Short Deck Poker?

Short Deck poker, also known as 6+ Hold’Em, is an increasingly popular version of poker. It’s a fairly new poker game and has only been around a few years. It has gained noticeable popularity with the televised high stakes cash games in China, notably the Triton Poker Series.

Short Deck used to be unavailable to play both live and online. However, due to the increasing popularity, more live venues and online sites are now offering short deck poker.


Rules of Short Deck Poker

There are some major differences between Short Deck Hold’Em and traditional No-Limit Hold’Em. For starters, all the deuces through fives are removed from the deck.

Because of this, the probability to make certain hands changes. It is now much more difficult to hit a flush, but easier to hit straights and 3 of a kind.

A flush beats a full house.

Triton Short Deck Poker Rules How To Play

This is due to less cards of any suit being available with all the deuces through fives being removed. This makes it statistically less probable to hit a Flush.

Even though it is easier to make 3 of a kind than in normal Texas Hold’Em, it is also much easier to hit a straight. The ace makes a straight with A6789 for the Short Deck wheel. It doesn’t loop around, just like traditional Texas Hold’Em. JQKA6 does not make a straight!

3 of a kind beats a straight in some versions of Short Deck, but in other versions, a straight still beats 3 of a kind.

Short Deck Hold’Em is generally played with 6 players. However, there are enough cards for up to 10 handed play. Short Deck Poker was invented to be an action-packed Texas Hold’Em game to move away from the nitty full ring style of play.

There is also a difference in pre-flop action with the blinds. While some Short Deck games will have antes and some games won’t, the big blind rule will stay the same. The button is the only player to pay any blinds. Because the Button is paying the blinds, the button will act last both before and after the flop.

Not all Short Deck games will have the exact same rules. So, it’s always a good idea to check them out first, just in case they have any slight variations.


Strategy for Short Deck Poker

Because of the different hand rankings, it’s important not to overvalue certain hands. Most noteworthy are straights.

Your strategy with playing straights and straight draws will be very different depending on which Short Deck rules you are playing with.

If straights beat 3 of a kind, then you are much happier to chase straight draws and get the money in.

If you are playing with the Short Deck rules where this is not the case, straights are not the best hand to stack off with. Even chasing straight draws becomes undesirable, as you are drawing dead if your opponent already has 3 of a kind.

You are almost twice as likely to get dealt pocket pairs pre-flop, including QQ-AA. So, stacking off a bit on the tighter end pre-flop will not be a bad idea.

Playing aggressively is going to be key in these games. Almost all Short Deck poker games have antes. Taking down as many of these antes as possible is going to be optimal. You will bleed less money from losing your own ante and take other people’s antes in the process.


To Wrap It Up

Short Deck poker is becoming increasingly popular every day. Some say it may even replace traditional Texas Hold’Em! However, those same people have been saying the same about Pot-Limit Omaha. While Pot-Limit Omaha keeps getting more popular, it hasn’t replaced old fashioned Texas Hold’Em and it’s not even close.

Triton Short Deck Poker Rules Card Game

Short Deck is running on PKC and the games are very soft! There are low to high stakes games most hours of the day and the traffic is better than most other sites offering Short Deck. If you want a change from Texas Hold’Em and want a game with a lot of action, come check out the games on PKC today!

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Rules of the Game

Short Deck Hold’em is simply No Limit Hold’em played with a thirty-six card deck where the twos, threes, fours, and fives have been eliminated. This effectively ends the all too often stretches of always looking at complete duds like nine-deuce off suit and the like. Jack-six off suit is the Seven-deuce off suit of Short Deck and has few exciting possibilities; however, the odds are greater that you will get dealt hands with potential. Equities run much closer in the game and an ante only structure that frequently accompanies the game provides the impetus for a ton of action.

Another very unique aspect of this game is that the aces are also considered low. In other words, A6789 is the new wheel. Be very mindful of this aspect at all times as not to misread your hand and/or potentially not fully consider a powerful holding that your opponent may have. When you are new to the game it is helpful to constantly remind yourself that aces are fives.

The use of a short-deck also changes some of the traditional hand rankings because flushes are now mathematically more difficult to make than full houses and trips are made less frequently than straights. In all variations currently played flushes beat full houses but the rules vary on whether or not trips beat straights.

Rules

In Asia and the high-roller tournaments the rules stipulate that a straight still beats three of a kind and is typically played as an ante-only structure. This version is often referred to as either Short Deck Hold’em or Triton Poker and is action packed because connecting cards are very valuable and the structure often encourages large multi-way pots.

In the ante only structure everyone antes, however the button is forced to make a double ante. The pre-flop action starts to the left of the button and that person has the option to fold, put in one more ante, or raise to any amount they wish. Each person in turn then has the option to fold, match the current bet, or raise or re-raise.

Rules

Short Deck is also sometimes played with the conventional blinds and most often in these games trips beat straights. This structure and rules is most often referred to as Six Plus Hold’em and is the version now spread by some online sites. However, recently PokerStars has introduced an online version where straights do beat trips and are marketing it as Six Plus Hold’em so don’t get confused. The first rule of poker is to know the rules!

Basic Strategy

Short Deck Hold’em utilizes a very unique structure that helps facilitate action while also allowing for a multitude of different yet successful strategies for the opening round of betting.

In the ante only structure everyone except the button antes once while the button is forced to make a double ante. The pre-flop action starts to the left of the button and that person has the option to fold, put in one more ante, or raise to any amount they wish. Each person in turn then has the option to fold, match the current bet, or raise or re-raise. The first person to limp is getting a tremendous 7 to 1 on their money while the odds and position get better for each player in succession.

With the truncated deck you are more likely to dealt be good hands; you are slightly more than twice as likely to be dealt aces or any other particular hand. Sets are flopped more often. In Hold’em your odds of flopping a set are approximately 12% whereas in Short Deck it is around 18%.

Flopped straights are much more common, any hand capable is typically more than three times as likely in Short Deck. For example, JT has a 1.2% probability in Hold’em but has 4.2% chance in Short Deck. In Hold’em an eight out draw has around a 31.4% probability coming in, however in Short Deck it is 45.6%.

Flushes are harder to hit because four flush cards have been removed from the deck. Flush draws now only have five outs instead of nine thus they are harder to hit and are ranked higher than full houses.

Position is much more desired in Short Deck due to the fact that equities run much closer and turns and rivers are scarier as the deuces and other blanks are taken out of the deck. In essence most flops are “wet” in that future board cards will often present possible strong holdings and if not will usually improve your opponent one way or another. In Short Deck by the river the board will either be paired or there will be at least one straight possible.

Further Learning

Check out Upswing Poker’s Short Deck Mastery course from Kane Kalas.