Short deck poker: hold em with 36 cards

• Learn the new hand order first.
• Flushes are rarer than full houses.
• Hands run closer in equity.
• Check the house rule on trips and straights.

Some games add a button blind on top of the antes.

Each suit has only 9 cards, so making five of one suit is harder than in a full deck. It becomes rarer than a full house.

Straights become easier, since there are fewer gaps between ranks. That is why many rooms rank three of a kind above a straight.

Most short deck games use an ante from every player. The button may post an extra blind, often double the ante.

Because everyone has money in the pot, players open wider than in hold em. Pots can grow quickly.

1. 1

   Step 01

   Learn the rankings

   Flush over full house.

2. 2

   Step 02

   Check the straight rule

   Trips or straight.

3. 3

   Step 03

   Watch the antes

   Pot sizes.

4. 4

   Step 04

   Play tighter at first

   New math.

5. 5

   Step 05

   Set a budget

   Swings are big.

You hold the ace and king of hearts. The board shows three more hearts, and another player has a full house.

Your flush beats the full house in short deck, so you win the pot.

Short deck became popular in high stakes games in Asia and later in some US cardrooms.

It is still rare in US rooms. Ask the floor if the game runs or appears in a mixed rotation.

Some tournament series run short deck events with their own rules sheets. Some rooms also treat the ace as both high and low for straights, so A-6-7-8-9 and 10-J-Q-K-A both count.

Using hold em rankings

The flush moves up.

Missing the low straight

A-6-7-8-9 counts.

Overvaluing pairs

Hands run close.

Ignoring house rules

Trips and straights differ.

With 9 cards per suit, a flush draw has only 5 outs left after the flop, not 9.

An open-ended straight draw has 8 outs, the same as in hold em, out of a much smaller deck.

That makes straight draws strong and flush draws weaker than they look. With only 36 cards, the chance of two players holding the same strong hand is higher than in hold em, so split pots come more often.

Big swings mean you need a larger bankroll for the same stakes.

Start at low limits until the new hand order feels natural.

Set a time limit as well as a money limit. Mixed games sometimes add short deck as one of several games in a rotation.

• Texas hold em basics →The full-deck game.
• Hand rankings chart →Standard order.
• Omaha basics →Four hole cards.
• Poker equity →Share of the pot.

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1. Wizard of Odds — Poker Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry)?The gaming industry’s standard reference for casino-game math, by actuary Michael Shackleford. Not an official registry; our calculators compute these numbers independently. · accessed Oct 15, 2026Poker rules and odds
2. Poker TDA — Rules Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry) · accessed Oct 15, 2026Standard tournament rules
3. American Gaming Association — Research Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry) · accessed Oct 15, 2026US casino industry data
4. National Council on Problem Gambling — Help and resources Not from a registry (Reference source, not an official registry) · accessed Oct 15, 2026Free, confidential help: call or text 1-800-GAMBLER