6+ Hold’em is a popular ‘short deck’ poker format that plays much like Texas Hold’em, but with a few exciting differences:
Short-deck poker (also known as six-plus hold'em) is a new variation of traditional Texas hold'em that mostly follows the same rules albeit with a significant difference. Short-deck poker uses a. Poker Starting Hand Chart (6-Max Cash, 100bb) As such, it’s essential only to raise hands that are going to be +EV to start with (for an open-raise). And thanks to the help of poker solvers like PokerSnowie and PioSolver, we can create a baseline for our 6-Max poker starting hand chart.
- All cards lower than a six are removed from the deck
- Everyone posts an ante and only the button posts a blind – known as the ‘button blind’
- A flush beats a full-house
Available in cash games, exclusively at PokerStars, 6+ Hold’em is your chance to play an action-packed variant loved by high-stakes players around the world.
Having already acquainted ourselves with the differences in rules and pre-flop hand selection between 6+ Hold’em and regular Holdem, it is time to meet some post-flop nuances that make 6+ Hold’em a completely different game post-flop as well as pre-flop.
The Rules of Three and Six
Two ancient nuggets of wisdom from the early days of Holdem are the rules of two and four. These rules provide a short-cut for translating outs into equity. In other words, if there are X cards in the deck that will make your hand, how much equity do you have? In Holdem you have 4X% equity on the flop and 2X% on the turn, assuming that your outs will make you the best hand and that there is no other way of improving to the best hand.
In 6+ Hold’em you have the same number of outs with a straight draw as you do in Holdem. If you have an open-ended straight draw on the flop, then you have eight outs to the best hand. The difference lies in the fact that there are less cards in the deck that are not your outs. Instead of trying to hit your 8 cards from a possible 47 unseen cards, the turn and the river emerge from a deck of just 31 unseen cards. This means that we will fail to hit our straight on the turn and river (23/31) x (22/30) = 54% of the time. Our straight will get there the other 46% of the time. 46 / 8 = 6 and this is how we arrive at the rule of six on the flop. Multiply your outs by six instead of four in 6+ Hold’em.
On the turn, there is one less card to come and the chances of making the straight are now half of what they were on the flop. The rule of three will guide us in this case. With eight outs we can expect to make our hand 8 / 30 = 27% of the time. 8 x 3 is 24 and so the rule of three gives a reasonably accurate approximation of our equity.
6 Handed Texas Holdem Strategy
These new rules also apply to flush draws but remember that a flush draw has less outs in the first place. Flopping a draw to a flush gives us nine outs in regular Holdem but only five in 6+ Hold’em. On the flop, we have five outs twice from a deck of 31 unknown cards. We will miss the flush (26/31) x (25/30) = 70% of the time, meaning that we will hit it 30% of the time. The rule of six is very accurate here.
The impact of this is that while it is considerably easier to make a straight in 6+ Hold’em, it is somewhat harder to make a flush. Memorize the outs of the two types of draw and then apply the rules of three and six to get a good feel for how often your outs will turn into big hands.
6 Max Fixed Limit Holdem Strategy
Introduction
The following table ranks the top hands in a 6-player game. This table assumes that all players stay in until the end.
- Cards: Initial two-card hand.
- Probability of win: Probability that this hand will win, or tie for the win.
- Average win: This is how much the player will win on average, including his own bets, if the player does win. This is less than 6 because sometimes the player will have to split the pot.
- Expected value: This is how many units the player can expect to win (positive) or lose (negative) with this hand. For example if the player had a pair of aces and contibuted $1 to the pot then the player could expect to have a net win of $1.95.
- Probability: Probability of getting this hand to begin with.
- Additive probability: Probability of getting this hand or any stronger hand to begin with.
Initial Hold'em Hands in Rank Order for 6-Player Game
| Cards | Probability of Win | Average Win | Expected Value | Probability | Additive Probability |
| Pair of A's | 49.51% | 5.96 | 1.9508 | 0.45% | 0.45% |
| Pair of K's | 43.32% | 5.95 | 1.5775 | 0.45% | 0.90% |
| Pair of Q's | 38.3% | 5.93 | 1.2729 | 0.45% | 1.36% |
| Pair of J's | 34.05% | 5.92 | 1.0142 | 0.45% | 1.81% |
| A/K suited | 32.15% | 5.8 | 0.8641 | 0.30% | 2.11% |
| Pair of T's | 30.44% | 5.89 | 0.7944 | 0.45% | 2.56% |
| A/Q suited | 30.56% | 5.76 | 0.7589 | 0.30% | 2.87% |
| K/Q suited | 29.55% | 5.76 | 0.7015 | 0.30% | 3.17% |
| A/J suited | 29.28% | 5.71 | 0.6723 | 0.30% | 3.47% |
| A/K unsuited | 28.96% | 5.77 | 0.6704 | 0.90% | 4.37% |
| K/J suited | 28.28% | 5.72 | 0.6167 | 0.30% | 4.68% |
| A/T suited | 28.27% | 5.67 | 0.6021 | 0.30% | 4.98% |
| Pair of 9's | 27.11% | 5.89 | 0.5978 | 0.45% | 5.43% |
| Q/J suited | 27.57% | 5.71 | 0.5737 | 0.30% | 5.73% |
| A/Q unsuited | 27.21% | 5.71 | 0.555 | 0.90% | 6.64% |
| K/T suited | 27.32% | 5.68 | 0.5506 | 0.30% | 6.94% |
| Q/T suited | 26.64% | 5.67 | 0.5101 | 0.30% | 7.24% |
| K/Q unsuited | 26.28% | 5.72 | 0.5028 | 0.90% | 8.14% |
| J/T suited | 26.33% | 5.66 | 0.4904 | 0.30% | 8.45% |
| A/J unsuited | 25.79% | 5.66 | 0.4597 | 0.90% | 9.35% |
| A/9 suited | 25.75% | 5.62 | 0.4474 | 0.30% | 9.65% |
| Pair of 8's | 24.51% | 5.88 | 0.4416 | 0.45% | 10.11% |
| K/J unsuited | 24.88% | 5.67 | 0.4097 | 0.90% | 11.01% |
| K/9 suited | 24.73% | 5.64 | 0.3946 | 0.30% | 11.31% |
| A/8 suited | 24.98% | 5.58 | 0.3933 | 0.30% | 11.61% |
| A/T unsuited | 24.66% | 5.6 | 0.3817 | 0.90% | 12.52% |
| Q/J unsuited | 24.26% | 5.66 | 0.3721 | 0.90% | 13.42% |
| Q/9 suited | 24.07% | 5.64 | 0.3565 | 0.30% | 13.73% |
| A/7 suited | 24.27% | 5.54 | 0.3444 | 0.30% | 14.03% |
| T/9 suited | 23.9% | 5.62 | 0.3432 | 0.30% | 14.33% |
| J/9 suited | 23.82% | 5.63 | 0.3408 | 0.30% | 14.63% |
| K/T unsuited | 23.8% | 5.61 | 0.3356 | 0.90% | 15.54% |
| A/5 suited | 24.19% | 5.5 | 0.3309 | 0.30% | 15.84% |
| Pair of 7's | 22.35% | 5.87 | 0.3116 | 0.45% | 16.29% |
| Q/T unsuited | 23.2% | 5.61 | 0.3006 | 0.90% | 17.19% |
| A/4 suited | 23.63% | 5.5 | 0.3002 | 0.30% | 17.5% |
| A/6 suited | 23.5% | 5.51 | 0.2954 | 0.30% | 17.8% |
| J/T unsuited | 23.03% | 5.6 | 0.2895 | 0.90% | 18.7% |
| K/8 suited | 22.97% | 5.58 | 0.283 | 0.30% | 19% |
| A/3 suited | 23.05% | 5.51 | 0.2705 | 0.30% | 19.31% |
| Q/8 suited | 22.24% | 5.59 | 0.2436 | 0.30% | 19.61% |
| K/7 suited | 22.37% | 5.55 | 0.2406 | 0.30% | 19.91% |
| A/2 suited | 22.39% | 5.52 | 0.2357 | 0.30% | 20.21% |
| T/8 suited | 22.12% | 5.58 | 0.2345 | 0.30% | 20.51% |
| J/8 suited | 22.01% | 5.59 | 0.2298 | 0.30% | 20.81% |
| 9/8 suited | 21.72% | 5.6 | 0.2165 | 0.30% | 21.12% |
| A/9 unsuited | 21.93% | 5.53 | 0.2136 | 0.90% | 22.02% |
| Pair of 6's | 20.59% | 5.85 | 0.2054 | 0.45% | 22.47% |
| K/6 suited | 21.75% | 5.52 | 0.1996 | 0.30% | 22.78% |
| K/5 suited | 21.29% | 5.49 | 0.1692 | 0.30% | 23.08% |
| K/9 unsuited | 20.98% | 5.56 | 0.1659 | 0.90% | 23.98% |
| A/8 unsuited | 21.07% | 5.47 | 0.1533 | 0.90% | 24.89% |
| Q/7 suited | 20.65% | 5.54 | 0.1434 | 0.30% | 25.19% |
| K/4 suited | 20.75% | 5.5 | 0.1406 | 0.30% | 25.49% |
| 8/7 suited | 20.39% | 5.57 | 0.1367 | 0.30% | 25.79% |
| Q/9 unsuited | 20.41% | 5.55 | 0.1334 | 0.90% | 26.7% |
| T/7 suited | 20.46% | 5.54 | 0.1333 | 0.30% | 27% |
| T/9 unsuited | 20.44% | 5.54 | 0.1322 | 0.90% | 27.9% |
| 9/7 suited | 20.30% | 5.57 | 0.1299 | 0.30% | 28.21% |
| J/7 suited | 20.38% | 5.54 | 0.1293 | 0.30% | 28.51% |
| J/9 unsuited | 20.28% | 5.55 | 0.1248 | 0.90% | 29.41% |
| K/3 suited | 20.25% | 5.51 | 0.1154 | 0.30% | 29.71% |
| Pair of 5's | 19.05% | 5.84 | 0.1118 | 0.45% | 30.17% |
| Q/6 suited | 20.19% | 5.5 | 0.1109 | 0.30% | 30.47% |
| A/7 unsuited | 20.25% | 5.42 | 0.0981 | 0.90% | 31.37% |
| K/2 suited | 19.76% | 5.52 | 0.0909 | 0.30% | 31.67% |
| A/5 unsuited | 20.15% | 5.37 | 0.083 | 0.90% | 32.58% |
| Q/5 suited | 19.72% | 5.48 | 0.0806 | 0.30% | 32.88% |
| 7/6 suited | 19.31% | 5.56 | 0.0736 | 0.30% | 33.18% |
| 8/6 suited | 19.11% | 5.54 | 0.059 | 0.30% | 33.48% |
| Q/4 suited | 19.22% | 5.49 | 0.0547 | 0.30% | 33.79% |
| A/4 unsuited | 19.51% | 5.37 | 0.0484 | 0.90% | 34.69% |
| A/6 unsuited | 19.43% | 5.38 | 0.0458 | 0.90% | 35.6% |
| K/8 unsuited | 19.04% | 5.48 | 0.043 | 0.90% | 36.5% |
| T/6 suited | 18.95% | 5.49 | 0.0407 | 0.30% | 36.8% |
| 9/6 suited | 18.82% | 5.53 | 0.0402 | 0.30% | 37.1% |
| J/6 suited | 18.92% | 5.49 | 0.038 | 0.30% | 37.41% |
| Pair of 4's | 17.76% | 5.84 | 0.0369 | 0.45% | 37.86% |
| Q/3 suited | 18.69% | 5.5 | 0.0281 | 0.30% | 38.16% |
| 6/5 suited | 18.45% | 5.55 | 0.0233 | 0.30% | 38.46% |
| A/3 unsuited | 18.87% | 5.38 | 0.0148 | 0.90% | 39.37% |
| T/8 unsuited | 18.5% | 5.48 | 0.0138 | 0.90% | 40.27% |
| J/5 suited | 18.56% | 5.46 | 0.0131 | 0.30% | 40.57% |
| Q/8 unsuited | 18.43% | 5.48 | 0.0104 | 0.90% | 41.48% |
| Q/2 suited | 18.25% | 5.52 | 0.0063 | 0.30% | 41.78% |
| J/8 unsuited | 18.31% | 5.48 | 0.004 | 0.90% | 42.68% |
| 7/5 suited | 18.1% | 5.53 | 0.0007 | 0.30% | 42.99% |
| 9/8 unsuited | 18.14% | 5.5 | -0.0013 | 0.90% | 43.89% |
| K/7 unsuited | 18.38% | 5.42 | -0.0036 | 0.90% | 44.8% |
| 5/4 suited | 17.82% | 5.54 | -0.0125 | 0.30% | 45.1% |
| J/4 suited | 18.03% | 5.47 | -0.0139 | 0.30% | 45.4% |
| A/2 unsuited | 18.15% | 5.38 | -0.0235 | 0.90% | 46.3% |
| 8/5 suited | 17.73% | 5.5 | -0.0244 | 0.30% | 46.61% |
| Pair of 3's | 16.69% | 5.85 | -0.0245 | 0.45% | 47.06% |
| J/3 suited | 17.57% | 5.48 | -0.0365 | 0.30% | 47.36% |
| T/5 suited | 17.62% | 5.44 | -0.041 | 0.30% | 47.66% |
| 9/5 suited | 17.41% | 5.48 | -0.0458 | 0.30% | 47.96% |
| K/6 unsuited | 17.72% | 5.38 | -0.047 | 0.90% | 48.87% |
| 6/4 suited | 17.17% | 5.54 | -0.0484 | 0.30% | 49.17% |
| J/2 suited | 17.11% | 5.5 | -0.0589 | 0.30% | 49.47% |
| T/4 suited | 17.19% | 5.44 | -0.0643 | 0.30% | 49.77% |
| Pair of 2's | 15.87% | 5.85 | -0.0708 | 0.45% | 50.23% |
| 7/4 suited | 16.66% | 5.52 | -0.0809 | 0.30% | 50.53% |
| 5/3 suited | 16.59% | 5.54 | -0.081 | 0.30% | 50.83% |
| K/5 unsuited | 17.18% | 5.34 | -0.0829 | 0.90% | 51.73% |
| 8/7 unsuited | 16.76% | 5.47 | -0.0841 | 0.90% | 52.64% |
| T/3 suited | 16.72% | 5.46 | -0.0871 | 0.30% | 52.94% |
| 9/7 unsuited | 16.61% | 5.45 | -0.0953 | 0.90% | 53.85% |
| T/7 unsuited | 16.71% | 5.41 | -0.0962 | 0.90% | 54.75% |
| Q/7 unsuited | 16.7% | 5.4 | -0.098 | 0.90% | 55.66% |
| J/7 unsuited | 16.51% | 5.41 | -0.1073 | 0.90% | 56.56% |
| 8/4 suited | 16.25% | 5.49 | -0.1085 | 0.30% | 56.86% |
| T/2 suited | 16.27% | 5.48 | -0.1089 | 0.30% | 57.16% |
| K/4 unsuited | 16.59% | 5.34 | -0.114 | 0.90% | 58.07% |
| 4/3 suited | 15.9% | 5.56 | -0.1162 | 0.30% | 58.37% |
| 9/4 suited | 16.05% | 5.46 | -0.1237 | 0.30% | 58.67% |
| 6/3 suited | 15.77% | 5.54 | -0.127 | 0.30% | 58.97% |
| Q/6 unsuited | 16.17% | 5.35 | -0.135 | 0.90% | 59.88% |
| K/3 unsuited | 16.03% | 5.35 | -0.142 | 0.90% | 60.78% |
| 9/3 suited | 15.67% | 5.47 | -0.143 | 0.30% | 61.09% |
| 7/6 unsuited | 15.62% | 5.43 | -0.1512 | 0.90% | 61.99% |
| 5/2 suited | 15.19% | 5.53 | -0.1593 | 0.30% | 62.29% |
| 7/3 suited | 15.25% | 5.51 | -0.1605 | 0.30% | 62.59% |
| 9/2 suited | 15.22% | 5.49 | -0.1644 | 0.30% | 62.9% |
| Q/5 unsuited | 15.66% | 5.31 | -0.1685 | 0.90% | 63.8% |
| K/2 unsuited | 15.49% | 5.36 | -0.1695 | 0.90% | 64.71% |
| 8/6 unsuited | 15.35% | 5.41 | -0.1698 | 0.90% | 65.61% |
| 8/3 suited | 14.94% | 5.47 | -0.1832 | 0.30% | 65.91% |
| 4/2 suited | 14.68% | 5.56 | -0.1836 | 0.30% | 66.21% |
| 9/6 unsuited | 15% | 5.38 | -0.193 | 0.90% | 67.12% |
| T/6 unsuited | 15.06% | 5.33 | -0.1972 | 0.90% | 68.02% |
| Q/4 unsuited | 15.08% | 5.31 | -0.1987 | 0.90% | 68.93% |
| 8/2 suited | 14.58% | 5.49 | -0.2 | 0.30% | 69.23% |
| 6/5 unsuited | 14.71% | 5.41 | -0.2045 | 0.90% | 70.14% |
| J/6 unsuited | 14.94% | 5.32 | -0.2053 | 0.90% | 71.04% |
| 6/2 suited | 14.37% | 5.53 | -0.2056 | 0.30% | 71.34% |
| 3/2 suited | 14.02% | 5.58 | -0.2171 | 0.30% | 71.64% |
| Q/3 unsuited | 14.52% | 5.33 | -0.2267 | 0.90% | 72.55% |
| 7/5 unsuited | 14.34% | 5.38 | -0.2289 | 0.90% | 73.45% |
| 7/2 suited | 13.97% | 5.49 | -0.2331 | 0.30% | 73.76% |
| J/5 unsuited | 14.53% | 5.27 | -0.2339 | 0.90% | 74.66% |
| 5/4 unsuited | 14.05% | 5.39 | -0.2418 | 0.90% | 75.57% |
| Q/2 unsuited | 14% | 5.34 | -0.2523 | 0.90% | 76.47% |
| 8/5 unsuited | 13.87% | 5.34 | -0.2595 | 0.90% | 77.38% |
| J/4 unsuited | 13.96% | 5.28 | -0.2632 | 0.90% | 78.28% |
| 6/4 unsuited | 13.34% | 5.39 | -0.2814 | 0.90% | 79.19% |
| 9/5 unsuited | 13.48% | 5.3 | -0.2859 | 0.90% | 80.09% |
| T/5 unsuited | 13.63% | 5.24 | -0.2859 | 0.90% | 81% |
| J/3 unsuited | 13.42% | 5.29 | -0.2898 | 0.90% | 81.9% |
| T/4 unsuited | 13.16% | 5.23 | -0.3113 | 0.90% | 82.81% |
| J/2 unsuited | 12.92% | 5.3 | -0.3147 | 0.90% | 83.71% |
| 5/3 unsuited | 12.71% | 5.38 | -0.3167 | 0.90% | 84.62% |
| 7/4 unsuited | 12.78% | 5.34 | -0.3175 | 0.90% | 85.52% |
| T/3 unsuited | 12.62% | 5.25 | -0.3377 | 0.90% | 86.43% |
| 8/4 unsuited | 12.29% | 5.29 | -0.35 | 0.90% | 87.33% |
| 4/3 unsuited | 11.99% | 5.39 | -0.3537 | 0.90% | 88.24% |
| T/2 unsuited | 12.12% | 5.26 | -0.3623 | 0.90% | 89.14% |
| 6/3 unsuited | 11.82% | 5.35 | -0.3672 | 0.90% | 90.05% |
| 9/4 unsuited | 12.01% | 5.24 | -0.371 | 0.90% | 90.95% |
| 9/3 unsuited | 11.58% | 5.25 | -0.3927 | 0.90% | 91.86% |
| 5/2 unsuited | 11.23% | 5.34 | -0.3998 | 0.90% | 92.76% |
| 7/3 unsuited | 11.24% | 5.3 | -0.4046 | 0.90% | 93.67% |
| 9/2 unsuited | 11.08% | 5.26 | -0.417 | 0.90% | 94.57% |
| 4/2 unsuited | 10.67% | 5.37 | -0.4267 | 0.90% | 95.48% |
| 8/3 unsuited | 10.86% | 5.23 | -0.4314 | 0.90% | 96.38% |
| 6/2 unsuited | 10.32% | 5.31 | -0.4519 | 0.90% | 97.29% |
| 8/2 unsuited | 10.45% | 5.24 | -0.4522 | 0.90% | 98.19% |
| 3/2 unsuited | 9.98% | 5.39 | -0.462 | 0.90% | 99.1% |
| 7/2 unsuited | 9.87% | 5.24 | -0.4833 | 0.90% | 100% |
| Total | 18.14% | 5.51 | 0 | 100% | 0% |
Top 20% of Hands in 6-Player Game
- Pair of sevens or higher.
- Suited A/7 or higher.
- Suited A/5.
- Any two suited cards both 9 or higher.
- Unsuited A/T or higher.
- Unsuited K/T or higher.
- Unsuited Q/J.
Methodology
Mostech free spins. This table is the result of a random simulation and assumes all players stay in until the end of the hand. Goldfish casino slots app.
The following table shows my power rating for each initial 2-card hand in a 6-player game. The numbers are on a 0 to 40 scale. Use the top table if you have a pair, the middle table if your cards are suited, and the bottom table if your cards are unsuited. Except for a pair,look up your high card along the left and your low card along the top.
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Written by: Michael Shackleford