Short Deck Poker Strategy: Adjusting to a New Kind of Game

If you’re to succeed at Short Deck poker, then you need to know how to change your game in order to be good at it. To be profitable at any version of poker, from No Limit Hold’em to Pot Limit Omaha and everything in between, you need to master the basics and know how to comfortably experiment within carefully monitored boundaries. From hand strength to pot odds, hand rankings to aggression, everything changes in Short Deck. If you treat it like a regular game of Hold’em, you’ll get burned.

But if you adapt, then you can have an edge… and bring the fire.

What are the Key Differences with Short Deck?

In Short Deck poker, there are 16 fewer cards in the deck, so you’re playing with a deck of 36 instead of 52 cards. That means you get stronger hands more often… but so does everyone else. Some of the hand rankings are different, with flushes now ranked above full houses, as they are harder to achieve than three of a kind with a pair in Short Deck.

Straights and sets happen at different rates, too. That makes your drawing odds longer or shorter too, meaning that you need to think differently about how you play each hand, pre-flop and post-flop.

How to Adjust to Short Deck Poker – Pre-flop

Many professional players who wander into Short Deck out of boredom during a tournament series can then go on to become greats at the game. Take Stephen Chidwick for example. The British player, who took a long time to win a WSOP bracelet in an incredible career, eventually broke his duck in that regard in PLO. But in the Triton Poker Series, Chidwick won his first three titles in Short Deck. They now form a key part in breaking up his festivals, keeping him focused and pressing his considerable edge at the felt.

Chidwick’s strengths in Short Deck are many but his ability to emphasize his pre-flop awareness of stack sizes is crucial. If Chidwick believes himself to be ahead, he has a greater willingness to jam or raise with strong drawing hands and this plays against his table image, leading to a lot of success. In the most recent $100,000-entry Short Deck event in Jeju, South Korea, Chidwick won the $3.45 million top prize after pressing his edge before the final table to build a massive stack. He then exploited his opponents ruthlessly with that chip dominance and it paid off.

Here are some solid pre-flop changes to make.

• Value hands are even more valuable – You can often get called by worse hands just because more players will hit hands by the river, so if yours is best, there’s a better chance you’re getting paid. But beware – their raw equity versus drawing hands is lower. Premium hand like pocket aces or ace-king are contested more often. Pocket aces will show up way more frequently than the 220 hands it takes you to get them in No Limit Hold’em but those ‘pocket rockets’ can get cracked more often, too.
• Suited connectors and suited aces increase in value – While straights are easier to hit and you’re removing cards that block draws, this means hands that might look mediocre in full deck are better in Short Deck. It’s worth remembering that others will know this too, as this is one of the points about Short Deck that more players know than not, so adjusting your suited ace range especially is advised.
• Medium pairs and lower single pairs lose value – One pair or top pair, weak kicker hands in No Limit Hold’em can often win at showdown when you don’t expect them to. They kill all bluffs and can often win you chips. In Short Deck, however, relying on them is ultimately a fool’s errand. If you get the chips in with a weak top pair, it’s more likely to be the second-best hand by turn or river.

An Example of Short Deck Adaptation

One famous Short Deck hand involving Tom Dwan and Timofey Kuznetsov shows why adapting to the game is vital in Short Deck. Dwan was dealt ace-jack while Kuznetsov had nine-eight suited. The flop of 9-8-7 with three different suits saw Kuznetsov flop two pair, while Dwan had a gutshot straight draw, with A-6-7-8-9 being the lowest straight in Short Deck.

On the turn, Dwan hit his straight and when the river didn’t improve Kuznetsov to a full house, Dwan took it down with the straight. The hand highlights how two pair is far from safe. In NLHE, the relatively strong hand wins more often but in Short Deck, straights can come with more regularity and draws – even gutshots – can overtake the leading hand more often.

Here’s a great example of how great players can adapt their NLHE skills to the Short Deck game. Tom Dwan, Timofey Kuznetsov and Mikita Badziakouski all feature in this cash game stream from the Triton Poker Series in Jeju in February 2019. Watch how they change their calling, betting and raising ranges to adapt not only to the different format but each players’ perceived style within it.

How to Adjust to Short Deck Poker – Post-flop

Once the flop hits, things change quickly in Short Deck.

• Draws are everywhere – There are fewer small cards, so that means there are more potential straight draws, often two ways. You must assume opponents have more equity in many runouts and semi-bluffs become more powerful. However, pure bluffs are riskier, because way more hands are priced in for the call having completed a hand.
• Flushes are rarer – It’s not often that you can hit a flush in Short Deck. When you do, however, it plays very strong. Due to flushes beating full houses, they become a much more powerful hand.
• Board texture matters even more – Since draws are more common, if the board looks dangerous, with connected or suited cards, meaning more possible multiple draws, you need to play more carefully, even with good hands.
• Be more aggressive post-flop with your monster hands – When you flop sets, better two-pairs, or make strong straights or flushes, bet them hard in Short Deck. Let your equity in the hand do the work like professionals such as Isaac Haxton do and ramp up your bet-sizing accordingly.

Bluffing With Blockers

In Short Deck, bluffing is a much trickier business than usual. Doing so is much less recommended in general but when you have powerful blockers in your hand, you can convince players of your stories much easier. There are less cards in the deck to choose from, so if you have a blocker, it can make your story more convincing.

While bet sizing tends to be larger due to the reasons we’ve already told you, raising small is more fraught with danger. Players are priced in to call or raise a lot more, and you can get called lightly, which leads to a certain percentage of hands improving past your own hand. Short Deck raises are larger than NLHE players are used to according to Isaac Haxton, so adapt your game in order to survive.

Mistakes that Hold’em Players Make in Short Deck Poker

Here are some common mistakes from No Limit Hold’em players as observed at the felt in lower stakes Short Deck games where new players are more likely to play.

1. Over-valuing top pair or a weak kicker – A hand you’d go hard with on the river in NLHE is often second best quickly in Short Deck.
2. Under-estimating drawing hands – Not giving enough respect to draws can be fatal. Conversely, don’t let drawing hands check or call on the cheap.
3. Bluffing too much without equity or blocker – Short Deck boards are going to improve someone’s hand with way more regularity than in No Limit Hold’em.
4. Not adjusting for changed hand rankings – Do not forget that flushes beat full houses in Short Deck. Along with not recognizing wheel straights like A-6-7-8-9, hand ranking errors often cost real money in Short Deck poker.
5. Betting or raising too small – Folding equity drops if your bets are timid, so don’t let players call you light with weaker holdings that could yet overtake yours.

Great Examples of Famous Poker Players Who Made the Switch Successfully

• Just like Stephen Chidwick, other legends of the mindsport of poker have adapted brilliantly to Short Deck. Here are a handful of examples. These guys don’t just show up and play Short Deck events. They shift their ranges, their bet sizing and their aggression based on how the format rewards them.
• Phil Ivey first played and won a Short Deck event in the Triton Poker Series way back in 2018. The man formerly known as ‘No Home Jerome’ has mastered the format and now regularly wins these events as often as he does in NLHE.
• Jason Koon, the king of Triton with 12 tournament wins, has built that number based in no small part down to his proficiency in Short Deck poker.
• Isaac Haxton has spoken in poker interviews about just how much lower or medium pairs lose value in Short Deck, as well as detailing how suited hands and connected cards gain ground in the game.

Quick Strategic Adjustments for Short Deck

If you want to play Short Deck right away we don’t blame you – it’s a lot of fun! Here are seven quick tips you can implement from the first card in one of poker’s fastest growing formats.

1. Loosen up with suited connectors or suited aces preflop, especially in position.
2. Play tight with single pairs, weak top pairs, or overpairs against aggressive draws.
3. Use bigger raises and larger continuation bets. Small bets get called too often.
4. Pure bluff much less often, but semi-bluff more often, especially with blockers.
5. Pay attention to stack depths. In deeper games, risk more with draws.
6. Know your opponent and exploit tightness with aggression, punishing wide calls.
7. Prioritise range in your thoughts with more made hands out there than in NLHE.

In Conclusion

Short Deck is an exciting poker format that is catching on around the world. While it can be rewarding, it is worth putting in a lot of study before you play it. The game forces you to reevaluate your poker game, rewarding smart aggression and punishing one-dimensional players.

Take your full deck experience from PLO or NLHE and rebuild your strategy on the cornerstones of knowledge we’ve described above, understanding the new odds you have to work with, recalibrating your hand strength, range-finding and your ability to switch up your play pre-flop and post-flop.

Play the long game and your experience in Short Deck can be a huge boost to your bankroll.