Partypoker has added a new offering to its global client. The world’s second biggest poker room announced this week that players can now play short-deck games on the online platform.
The short-deck hold’em variant started to go mainstream in the last couple of years. Short deck is widely used in high-stakes cash games in Asia, particularly in the world’s gambling capital Macau. Since then, the variant, which is also known as Six-Plus Hold’em, has grown in popularity, and has become a favorite amongst the high-roller community.
Short-Deck Poker
Short-deck games offer an exciting variation from the traditional No-Limit Hold’em, in that the deuces through fives are removed from the deck, creating a reduced deck of 36 cards. The variant also differs in hand rankings and structure, with a regular flush beating a house, and three of a kind beating a straight. Due to the reduced deck, it is easier for players to make a straight than to have a set or trips.
The partypoker rules that apply to the short-deck games on the platform follow the exact structure as the popular Triton Super High Roller Series. The games are played by using antes instead of blinds, and are available in six-max, eight-max, heads-up, and full tables. No other versions of the game have adopted the same no-blind, ante-only structure today, except the games offered at Partypoker.
Short-deck’s ante structure, and its ability to frequently create strong hands, often lead to large initial pots, making it the most action-packed poker variant, and attracting some of the best high-stakes players in the world. Timofey Kuznetsov, along with other partypoker-sponsored pros remain big fans of the format.
The Russian poker pro offered his support for the launch of the latest offering that is being rolled out on via partypoker global client. Kuznetsov said the game moves away from the usual waiting and folding format, with players being dealt a reduced card deck and still can do just fine. Kuznetsov is among those who can’t wait to try his first hand on the partypoker short deck tables.
Surprise Twist
Partypoker’s short-deck format has incorporated a new feature which makes it a bit different from those offered at other poker websites. Players who wish to reduce their stack can do so by executing a “partial removal of funds”, in which they can decide to remove money from the table when they’ve built their stacks to a certain level. They will be able to choose the number of antes they wish to reduce their stack to, according to a minimum table balance which they can see through the funds removal tab.
For example, on a table that permits reduction to 300-ante stacks, if a player begins with 100 antes and manages to build up to 400 antes, he or she can remove 100 antes off the table and resume the game with the remaining 300 antes.
In live poker, this practice is called “going south” and violates the rules. The same practice in online poker is referred to as “ratholing” and is usually met with disapproval. Partypoker explained that players can only use the fund removal feature in short-deck tables. It could be a mechanism to prevent players from losing huge amounts of money at a time.
The new short-deck games will also have their own “quick lobby” in the global client. They are also available within the main Cash Game lobby.
Short-Deck Popularity Continues to Grow
Short-deck continues to gain popularity in the world of poker, with some major tournaments like the Triton Series promoting the format. Among the first to introduce the poker variant in the US was Poker Central, through its own high roller series which include the US Poker Open and the Poker Masters. Today, short-deck has been adopted as a small-stakes event in famous poker rooms like ARIA and Golden Nugget.
The World Series of Poker, one of the largest and most prestigious poker tournaments in the world, caught many by surprise when it added a $10,000 Short Deck event to its schedule.
PokerStars which is the number one online poker room in the world introduced short-deck in January, as part of its latest line of temporary offerings. While previous temporary poker formats have been replaced, the website stays committed to six-plus and thus it remains in play for the time being.