Short Deck No Limit

Watch Tom Dwan explain short-deck poker, aka 6-Plus Hold’em, the game played by some of the biggest cash game players in the world. Community dedicated to Sixplusholdem / Short Deck. Bookmark us for updates, deals and latest news on the game. Nybrogade 18, 1203 Copenhagen.

It’s been a very busy few days in the 2020 WSOP Online Series, with bracelets won in Short Deck and No Limit Hold’em. There’s also been a race to the final table of the Millionaire Maker, with Daniel Dvoress proving that he is the man to beat when play reconvenes. Let’s take a look through an exciting collection of events, starting with a Short Deck victory to remember.

Short Deck No Limit Hold'em

Teoh Takes the Short Deck Title

The 47th event of this 2020 WSOP Online Series saw Paul Teoh of Malaysia claim the gold bracelet and a top prize of $88,202 on GGPoker. Teoh is something of a mixed game expert, and has already proved his chops in various formats in the regular WSOP and WSOPE events in both 2018 and 2019, so it comes as no surprise to see him as the winner of this 487-player event.

There was plenty of competition at the final table, too, as Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson was hoping to end his no-luck run as perhaps the best player left on the planet who hasn’t won a WSOP bracelet. While Watson would eventually miss out, he did at least reach the final table, running deeper than some legendary pros in the process.

With GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu falling just short soon after arriving in Mexico for a month-long grind playing World Series events on GGPoker, just 71 players made the money with Dario Sammartino (36th for $2,679), Danny Tang (29th – $2,679) and Dzmitry Urbanovich (22nd for $3,334) among their number.

It was Mike Watson who held the lead into the final table battle and he still had that lead when just six players remained, but Teoh vaulted up and up the counts, eventually having over half the chips in play when he had pocket tens against Watson’s all-in with pocket jacks. It would have been a huge double-up for Watson, getting him to the best possible position to end that barren bracelet run, but Teoh managed to hit a straight on the run out to skittle Watson’s bracelet dream.

With a massive 4:1 chip lead heads-up, Michelle Shah was a big underdog, and when Teoh called her three-bet, Shah’s ace-jack was well ahead against Teoh’s queen-jack. Again, it looked like Teoh might have got it in bad at the worst time, for a big pot. Instead, the poker Gods reprieved him, and he hit a queen on the flop to win the WSOP bracelet and a top prize of $82,202.

While Shah took home $60,254 for finishing as runner-up, it was Teoh who took the win for his first-ever WSOP bracelet.

WSOP 2020 Online Series Event #47 Final Table Results:

Dvoress Leads the Way in Millionaire Maker

With a field of 1,041 players, it is professional poker player Daniel Dvoress who leads the way in the race to become this year’s WSOP Millionaire Maker bracelet winner. The Canadian player will go into the final with 30 big blinds, which might not seem the most, but compared to his peers, Dvoress is deep-stacked.

While a certain ‘Kid Poker’ put Dvoress’s run to the top of the chipcounts down to his choice of avatar, Dvoress got there through bringing his A-Game and may well add a seven-figure score to an already impressive poker resume, with $15 million in winnings. He certainly went for it in the run to the final table, busting the last two players of the night to go into the nine-handed final with a big lead, even over his closest challenger, Argentinian player Alejandro Caridad.

With a ridiculous $1,489,289 top prize on offer – the entry fee was just $1,500 for this tournament – ever player still in is guaranteed a windfall of $107,671 for their efforts. Both the winner and runner-up will become millionaires, with the chipcounts of the lower players showing you just how much power Dvoress and Caridad are going to have at the final table.

WSOP Millionaire Maker Final Table Chipcounts:

The final table will take place this coming Saturday, August 8th, with the latest millionaires courtesy of GGPoker and WSOP being awarded their winnings likely quite early on that day given the average final table stack is just 11 big blinds.

Lessin beats Moore as Jonathan Wins Seniors Event for $64,411

Jonathan Lessin won $64,411 as he outlasted a field of 720 entries in the $500-entry WSOP Online Series Seniors Event.

Traditionally a competition that sees many more entries in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel & Casino, this year all the action takes place online, of course, restricting the numbers somewhat for this niche event.

The winner of this year’s event was Jonathan Lessin, who managed to beat James Moore (yes, Lessin really did beat Moore) heads-up. Elsewhere in the event, there was yet another cash without a win for Roland Israelashvili (107th for $648), Layne Flack (76th for a spookily similar $777.60) and 15-time winner Phil Hellmuth, who came 67th for a result of $842.

Despite going into heads-up at a deficit of just a sixth of Moore’s chips, Lessin battled back and having got himself into the lead, managed to get Moore to move all-in on a five-high flop with just ace-high. Lessin called, and his top two pair was turned over by the online graphic.

He would river a full house to confirm his incredible achievement and become yet another deserved winner in what has been a dramatic and enjoyable WSOP Online Series on both the official WSOP.com client and the steadily more impressive GGPoker.

With events taking place all the way until September 6th, there are still huge tournaments left to run, including the $25,000-entry Poker Players Championship.

WSOP 2020 Online Series Event #30 Final Table Results:

Short Deck Hold’em is also known as 6+ (Six Plus) Hold’em. This No-Limit Poker game is played with a stripped-down deck.

Increasing in popularity

The game is a fast, fun variation of the world-recognised Texas Hold’em format. Short Deck Hold’em originated in Asia a few years back and is gaining increased recognition in Europe.

Due to some recent star-studded High Roller events, the game is attracting growing interest in the USA and is now being played in Las Vegas.

Difference in pack size

All of the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s and 5’s are removed from the standard 52-card pack leaving a game where only 36 cards are used. This means the 6 is the lowest card…. Unless you use an Ace as low.

An Ace has added value

As in traditional Hold’em the Ace can be used as either a High or Low, but in the Short Deck version of the game it can also make up the low and high ends of a straight. As in:

• A 6 7 8 9 is classed as a straight (In this example the Ace is classed as a ‘5’)

Hand ranking differences – Let the significance sink in!

While there are only a few differences in the value of a hand between the 2 formats of Hold’em these are very significant and will prove expensive if forgotten.

In Short Deck Hold’em

• A Flush beats a Full House – This is because mathematically it is harder to make a flush than a full house from the reduced deck.

Note: This is the general rule. However, some houses may still have it the other way around – As ever; check the house rules before taking your seat.

Flush possibilities

In regular Hold’em, players with suited hole cards have 9 cards in the deck from which to make a flush. Playing the Short Deck game reduces this to 5 cards. This means a Flush is far harder to hit.

Short Deck No Limit Hold'em

Easier to hit a set

Playing short deck Hold’em makes it easier to hit a set than when playing the regular game. Short deck players holding a pocket pair have 2 cards remaining from the 34 to give them a set as opposed to 2 cards out of 50 in the regular game.

Short Deck Hold’em strategy

Players who are used to the regular version of Hold’em should be aware of strategy considerations during a traditional game.

Playing the Short Deck game brings a number of changes. Here are just 5 you need to bear in mind:

• The rule of 4 and 2 turns into the rule of 3 and 6
• Stronger Post-Flop hands are needed
• The chance of being dealt pocket Aces are twice as high
• Hands such as top pair and top kicker have a much lower value
• Single pair hands rarely win a pot

Fast, fun & exciting

There is no doubting that Short Deck Hold’em (6+ Hold’em) is making waves in Poker communities across the globe so why not taste the action by giving it a go?

A final word of caution though: While you are sure to hit far bigger hands than in the regular game this means your opponents will too!