Short Deck (6+) vs Texas Hold’em: key strategy and equity differences

Short Deck (often called 6+) looks similar to Texas Hold’em at first glance, but the missing cards (2–5) change the maths underneath almost every decision. Hand values shift, equities run closer, and the game tends to reach all-in points faster because stacks are effectively shallower relative to the pot. This article breaks down what is genuinely different in 2026 play: how ranges, bet-sizing, and equity calculations should change, and where many solid Hold’em players leak the most when they sit in a 6+ game.

Rules and hand-ranking differences that drive the strategy

The headline change is the deck: 36 cards instead of 52, so there are fewer combinations for everything. That single fact increases equity “collision” (more players make strong hands more often) and reduces the gap between premium hands and the rest of your range. In practical terms, it becomes harder to dominate opponents with one-pair hands, and easier for draws to stay live deep into the runout because the remaining deck is more concentrated.

Most live and online Short Deck games in 2026 use a modified hand ranking where a flush beats a full house (because making a flush is harder with fewer suited cards). Not every room uses the same ranking, so you must confirm it before you sit down. If you assume Hold’em rankings while the game uses the “flush over full house” rule, you will make expensive river mistakes, especially in multiway pots where a flush can be disguised.

Straights become noticeably more common, partly because Short Deck typically allows A-6-7-8-9 as the lowest straight (ace can connect to the 6). That changes board coverage and what “safe” textures look like. In Hold’em, players often relax on middle boards because the wheel threats are limited; in 6+, straight density is higher, so top pair on connected boards is less of a “park it and value-bet three streets” hand and more of a pot-control or thin-value candidate depending on blockers.

What becomes stronger and what becomes fragile

Sets lose relative power. In Hold’em, a flopped set is a classic stack-winning hand because opponents can have strong top-pair hands and big draws that still trail badly. In Short Deck, top pair is less dominant and draws are stronger, so sets get pushed into more “must-charge” lines. You still win big pots with sets, but you should expect to face more high-equity aggression and more runouts that change the nuts.

Big draws gain value because they retain equity more often. With fewer cards, a strong combo draw is less likely to be completely dead against made hands, and it realises equity more efficiently because pots inflate quickly. This is why you see more aggressive semibluffing in modern 6+ line-ups: raising draws is not just about fold equity, it’s about building a pot while your equity is high and your opponent’s range is less able to “sit comfortably” with one pair.

Overpairs and even AA are still strong, but they are less of an automatic stack-off compared with Hold’em. The gap between AA and the rest compresses because opponents hit pairs and connected hands more often, and because many runouts create straights/flushes with higher frequency. The correct adjustment is not “play AA scared”, but “plan the hand earlier”: think about SPR, blockers, and which turn cards help or hurt your range before you commit to a pot-building line.

Preflop: ranges, 3-bets, and why position matters even more

Because equities run closer, you can profitably continue with more hands preflop than you would in Hold’em, especially in position. However, that does not mean you should splash around. The best 6+ preflop approach is selective looseness: widen in position with hands that make strong, nutty outcomes (high cards, connectedness, suitedness) and avoid weak dominated holdings that make fragile one-pair hands with poor blockers.

3-betting tends to be more frequent in Short Deck for two reasons. First, you deny equity to ranges that have decent raw chances but struggle when forced to realise out of position. Second, pots inflate faster, so preflop initiative carries more value: it helps you control sizing on later streets and gives you a clearer narrative when you apply pressure on high-equity turns. At the same time, mindless 3-betting “because 6+ is wild” backfires; if you bloat pots out of position with hands that can’t continue on many boards, you create a leak you can’t patch with postflop talent.

Open sizes are often smaller than old-school live Hold’em norms, because everyone’s calling range has more equity and the rake/ante structures in many 6+ games already build the pot. Smaller opens keep your range wide, reduce the cost of getting 3-bet, and make your postflop decisions less polarised. The exact sizing is game-dependent, but the logic stays the same: with compressed equities, you gain less by “pricing out” calls, and you lose more when you force yourself into big-pot lines without nut potential.

All-in thresholds, SPR, and the “earlier commitment” trap

Stack-to-pot ratios shrink quickly in Short Deck, especially in ante-heavy formats. That creates more turns and rivers where a jam is mathematically reasonable, but it also tempts players into committing too early with hands that are not robust. A common Hold’em habit is to treat top pair/top kicker as a near stack-off on many boards; in 6+, you should treat it as a hand that can stack off only on runouts where the nut landscape does not change sharply.

When deciding whether to commit, focus on two filters: your equity versus the range that can continue, and your ability to block the nuts. Blockers matter more because ranges are denser and nut hands appear more often. Holding an ace that blocks the nut flush, or a key straight card, can be the difference between a profitable shove and a punt, even when your made hand looks similar in absolute strength.

Finally, pay attention to multiway dynamics. Short Deck pots go multiway often because callers are priced in and have playable equities. In multiway pots, the threshold for value-betting thinly rises, and the value of strong draws rises too (because they can win big when they hit). The mistake is playing multiway like heads-up: firing three streets with a marginal made hand is far less reliable, while taking aggressive lines with nut draws can be more reliable than it feels to a Hold’em specialist.

Equity calculations and practical heuristics you can use at the table

You do not need to memorise massive tables to make good Short Deck decisions, but you do need a few clean mental models. Start with this: draws have more bite, and made hands have less safety. That means you should expect more “equity realisation battles” where both players have a strong share of the pot, and decisions come down to whether you can force folds, deny realisation, or set the price correctly given the SPR.

Pot odds stay pot odds, but the inputs change. Because equities are closer, the break-even point for calling versus raising shifts. Hands that are clear folds in Hold’em can become clear continues in 6+ if they connect well with the board and retain nut potential. On the flip side, hands that are clear continues in Hold’em (like weak top pair with poor kickers) can become reverse-implied-odds traps when the nut straights and flushes are more accessible to your opponent’s range.

In 2026, many serious players study Short Deck with solvers or simplified tree work, but the human edge in live environments still comes from applying the right heuristics under time pressure. The most reliable heuristic is to measure “nut advantage” street by street: ask which range can credibly hold the current nuts and the next-street nuts. If your range loses nut advantage rapidly on many turns, you should reduce big-pot lines with medium-strength hands and shift value into hands that can keep the nuts or block them.

Concrete equity shifts to remember (and how they change your lines)

Flush frequency drops in a 36-card deck, which is why many rule sets rank flush above full house. Strategically, that pushes you to treat made flushes as premium finishers and to respect nut-flush blockers when you are bluffing. It also makes “three-to-a-flush” boards less automatically scary than in Hold’em, but more decisive when someone represents a flush strongly—because fewer combinations exist, so lines are often more polarised.

Straights are more available, so boards that look “only mildly connected” in Hold’em can hide many straight combos in 6+. That changes c-bet strategy: on connected textures, you should c-bet with a plan (smaller sizes, more checking, and clearer barrel cards) rather than defaulting to large, range-wide pressure. When you do bet big, it should be because you either hold strong blockers or you are building a pot with a hand that can stand heat and keep value on many runouts.

Pair-based hands sit on thinner ice. Two pair remains valuable, but it is not invincible; sets remain valuable, but they need protection; overpairs remain valuable, but they need context. If you take one practical rule from this section, let it be this: in Short Deck, your strongest value bets tend to be hands that can still be near the top of the hierarchy after a “bad” turn card arrives, not just hands that are strong right now on the flop.