6+ Hold’em is a popular 'short deck' poker format that plays much like Texas Hold’em, but with a few exciting differences:
- 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 and Ace, 6, 7, 8, 9 is classified as a straight
Available exclusively at PokerStars 6+ Hold’em is your chance to play an action-packed variant loved by high-stakes players around the world.
Build your winning strategy with our training content and become poker pro. Crush poker now!
The Rules of 6+ Hold’em
- 6-max (or 6-handed) poker games are by far the most popular online cash game format. They’re so popular, in fact, that they’ve almost completely replaced full-ring (or 9-handed) games on most online poker sites. If you want to become a successful online cash game player, having a strong 6-max game is mandatory.
- ORanges 6+ Calculator is a specially adapted version of the oRanges Calculator for Six plus Hold'em (6+ Hold'em). A new and fast algorithm was created to calculate equity, according to the Original Six-Plus and Triton series hand rankings in the Short-Deck Hold'em (fast switching between the Original and Triton hand rankings is available).
- In traditional Texas Hold’em this is the worst starting hand, and almost completely unplayable. Well, as you can probably work out yourself quite easily, in Six Plus the equivalent hand is J 6 offsuit, which, let’s be honest, would rarely be played even in our normal game!
6 Plus Holdem Rules
All 6+ Hold’em games use a 36-card deck (with all cards lower than a 6 removed), which is shuffled before every hand is dealt. Games also use a 'button blind' structure: every player posts an ante, and the player seated at the button position is the only one who posts a blind – meaning there is only one blind per hand, rather than traditional small/big blind format.
The action starts with the player seated to the left of the button. Each hand then plays out according to Texas Hold’em rules, with pre-flop, flop, turn and river betting rounds.
If you’ve played Texas Hold’em games before, the rules of 6+ Hold’em are easy to follow.
But don’t forget: contrary to regular Texas Hold'em games, in 6+ Hold’em a flush beats a full-house. A five-card hand consisting of Ace, 6, 7, 8, 9 (any suit) is also deemed a straight. All other hand rankings remain the same.
6 Plus Hold'em Strategy
Learn How to Play 6+ Hold'em for Free
If you want to learn how to play 6+ Hold'em, then download the PokerStars software and join any of the free poker games where you can play online against other players. Unlike our real money poker games, since there is nothing at stake, you can be comfortable learning the ropes of the game and all the rules of 6+ Hold'em. We hope to see you in our poker room, and good luck at the tables!
As well as 6+ Hold’em, we also offer many other poker variants. See our Poker Games page to learn more.
If you have any questions, please contact Support.
Find out how the different hands compare in Texas Hold'em, Omaha and other games.
The poker dictionary is your reference for poker jargon and the language of poker.
Make your first real money deposit and start playing at PokerStars. Deposits are fast and secure.