Short Deck Poker (SDP) has been gaining steam over the last few years, attracting action players who enjoy playing more hands and going all in more often. With all cards between 2-5 removed from the deck, there are far more opportunities to make a big hand.
If you’re coming from a No Limit Hold’em background, you might suspect the game is played in much the same way seeing as it’s still played with two cards in hand and five on the board, but the similarities are deceiving. Here are three key Short Deck Poker ideas that will be critical for you to consider and help you avoid hemorrhaging chips.
Straights are everywhere
Although straight draws are not infrequent in NLHE, the likelihood of making one skyrockets in SDP. Whereas a random hand only has a 4.6% chance of making a straight by the river in NLHE, that number more than triples to a massive 14.1% in Short Deck Poker.
That’s because compared to seeing a straight draw on 31% of flops in NLHE, in SDP that number jumps all the way to 48%. That’s right, nearly half of all flops in SDP contain a straight draw of some kind! And when you do flop the most powerful of all straight-draws, an open-ender, you’ll be completing it 46% of the time in SDP compared to just 31% in NLHE.
The implications of straights and straight-draws frequencies on SDP strategy are extensive, and could take up a number of articles of their own. Bet sizing, value-betting, and light calldowns are all impacted by the prevalence of straight draws. Most importantly for new players however, is simply recognizing just how much more frequently you’ll both be facing opponents with straight draws, as well as chasing some of your own.
Blockers really matter
Although blockers are a helpful concept in NLHE too, they become far more powerful in Short Deck Poker. A good example of this can be seen with flush draws. When there are three cards of the same suit on the board in SDP, it means there are only six cards of that suit remaining in the deck. And if you’re holding one of them, there are now just five. By having one card of the relevant suit in your hand, you’ve made it 17% more difficult for your opponent to hold the flush.
In contrast, holding a single blocker to a flush suit in NLHE only reduces your opponent’s flush odds by about 8%.
That difference, 8% versus 17%, is huge! In fact, when it comes to SDP, your blocker will often be the deciding factor between a losing call and a profitable one. So, the next time you’re facing a river bet and are unsure what to do, make sure to ask yourself if you’re holding any relevant blockers.
Aces are not the same
Strangely enough, one of the hands that trips NLHE players up the most when playing SDP is pocket aces. That’s because they’ve been conditioned to view aces as a far more dominating hand than it actually is. For one, in SDP you’ll be dealt aces more than twice as often, and your odds of flopping a set increase by 50%, from 12% of the time in NLHE to 18% in SDP. Sounds like fun, right? Unfortunately, due in part to the abundance of straights we just discussed, aces are far less powerful in Short Deck Poker.
Take AA vs TT for example. While pocket rockets hold an 80/20 advantage in this matchup in NLHE, they are only a 69% favorite in SDP. And against JTs, which retain that same 80/20 edge in NLHE, in SDP they are a much more pedestrian 64% favorite. This reality of hand-equities running closer together can be seen in most matchups involving strong NLHE hands. AKo, for example, is a literal coin-flip against JTs in SDP, rather than the 60/40 favorite in NLHE.
As you can now hopefully see, while Short Deck Poker and No Limit Hold’em have some similarities, there are a plethora of intricacies that can make SDP a highly profitable variant for those players willing to put in the work of learning them. So, consider putting some time in at lower stakes than you might be used to while learning the game and remember, when it comes to hand strength in SDP, things aren’t always what they seem!
