Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game StandardVariant SpecificRAW MARKDOWN (/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules.md)

Short Deck (6+ Hold'Em) Official Rules: 36-Card Deck, Flush Beats Full House & A-6-7-8-9 Straight

DIRECT FLOOR RULING SUMMARY

Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Removes All 2s, 3s, 4s, And 5s To Play With A 36-Card Deck Where Aces Play Both High And As A 5 (Making A-6-7-8-9 The Low Straight) And A Flush Beats A Full House.

Official TDA & RROP Floor Ruling Procedure

In Official Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Rules, All 16 Cards Ranked 2 Through 5 Are Removed From The Standard 52-Card Deck, Leaving 36 Cards (6 Through Ace In All Four Suits). Because Only 9 Cards Of Each Suit Remain In The Deck, Making A Flush Is Mathematically Harder Than Making A Full House, So A Flush Officially Outranks A Full House. Aces Play High (In A-K-Q-J-T Broadway) And Also Substitute For The Missing 5 To Form The Lowest Straight: A-6-7-8-9 (9-High Straight). In Almost All Sanctioned Short Deck Structures, Every Player Posts An Equal Ante And The Dealer Button Posts A Double Ante ("Button Blind"), With Preflop Action Starting Immediately Left Of The Button.

Authority Reference: Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard|Rule Category: Variant Specific|Last Verified: 2026-11-09

Common Live Table Scenarios & Official Floor Decisions

How Tournament Directors And Cardroom Floor Supervisors Apply Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules In Real-World Disputes:

SCENARIO #1
Table Situation:

At Showdown In Short Deck, Player A Tables A Queen-High Flush And Player B Tables Kings Full Of Tens (Full House).

Official Floor Ruling:

Player A Wins The Entire Pot Because A Flush Always Beats A Full House Under Official Short Deck 6+ Rules.

SCENARIO #2
Table Situation:

The Board Reads 6-7-8-9-K With No Flush Possible, And Player A Holds Ace-Queen.

Official Floor Ruling:

Player A Has A 9-High Straight (A-6-7-8-9) Because The Ace Acts As The Low End Of The 6-7-8-9 Sequence.

SCENARIO #3
Table Situation:

A New Player Asks Whether Three Of A Kind Beats A Straight In Short Deck.

Official Floor Ruling:

In Official WSOP, Triton, And Smarter.Poker Rules, A Straight Still Beats Three Of A Kind (Trips), While A Flush Beats A Full House.

Frequently Asked Questions: Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules

What Is The Rule Of 6 And 3 In Short Deck 6+ Hold'em?

Because Only 31 Unseen Cards Remain On The Flop (And 30 On The Turn) Instead Of 47/46, Each Out Gives Roughly 3.2% Equity Per Street: Multiply Your Outs By 6 On The Flop (All-In) Or By 3 On The Turn To Estimate Equity.

How Does The Button Blind Structure Work In Short Deck?

Instead Of A Small Blind And Big Blind, Every Player Posts 1 Ante Unit And The Player On The Dealer Button Posts An Extra Ante ("Button Blind"). Preflop Action Starts With The Seat Left Of The Button, And The Button Acts Last Both Preflop And Postflop.

Cite This Dataset Or Embed Verified Attribution Badge
All Webmaster Widgets & Badges

Journalists, Bloggers, Forum Authors, And Academic Researchers May Freely Cite This Dataset Under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 With Canonical Attribution To Smarter.Poker:

HTML Contextual Backlink
<a href="https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard) (Smarter.Poker Research)</a>
SVG Authority Badge Embed
<a href="https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard)"><img src="https://smarter.poker/api/seo/badge?type=research&label=Official%20Floor%20Ruling&value=Short%20Deck%206%2B%20Tournament%20%26%20Cash%20Game%20Standard" alt="Official Floor Ruling: Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard" height="28" /></a>
Markdown / Substack Citation
[Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard) (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard)](https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules)
Forum BBCode (TwoPlusTwo / CardsChat)
[url=https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules]Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard) (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard)[/url]
Wikipedia / MediaWiki Citation ({{cite web}})
{{cite web |title=Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard) |url=https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules |website=Smarter.Poker |publisher=Smarter Software Inc. |year=2026 |access-date=2026-11-09}}
Journalist / Media Attribution Quote
According to Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard) published by Smarter.Poker (https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules), Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Removes All 2s, 3s, 4s, And 5s To Play With A 36-Card Deck Where Aces Play Both High And As A 5 (Making A-6-7-8-9 The Low Straight) And A Flush Beats A Full House.
Academic / Game Theory BibTeX
@techreport{poker_rule_short_deck_six_plus_holdem_rules_2026,
  title = {Short Deck (6+ Hold'em) Button Blind & Flush Ranking Rules (Short Deck 6+ Tournament & Cash Game Standard)},
  author = {{Smarter.Poker Research Division}},
  institution = {Smarter.Poker},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://smarter.poker/rules/short-deck-six-plus-holdem-rules}
}

Smarter.Poker Is A Free-To-Play Poker Training, Rules Reference, And Social Community Platform. 18+. Club Chips And Diamonds Have No Cash Value.