Short Deck Poker Hand Rankings Explained: Why a Flush Beats a Full House

If you’re used to regular Hold’em, short deck will trip you up exactly once. You’ll lose a pot with a full house to someone holding a flush and wonder what just happened. The short deck poker hand rankings differ from the standard list, and once you know why, they’re easy to remember.

What changes when you remove the low cards

Short deck, also called 6+ Hold’em, strips the deuces, threes, fours and fives out of the deck. That leaves 36 cards, running from six up to ace. The betting rounds, the community cards and the two hole cards stay exactly as they are in regular Hold’em. What changes is the math, and the math changes which hands are rare.

With fewer cards, some hands show up far more often and others far less. That’s the whole reason the short deck poker hand rankings had to be adjusted: a hand’s rank is supposed to reflect how hard it is to make.

Short deck poker hand rankings, highest to lowest

Here’s the common ordering used at most online tables, from strongest to weakest:

1. Royal flush / straight flush
2. Four of a kind
3. Flush
4. Full house
5. Three of a kind
6. Straight
7. Two pair
8. One pair
9. High card

Compare that to regular Hold’em and two spots stand out. A flush now beats a full house, and three of a kind beats a straight in this ordering. Rules can vary slightly between rooms, especially on that second one, so check the rules panel at the table before you sit down.

Why a flush beats a full house

Each suit has only nine cards left in a 36-card deck instead of thirteen. Getting five of one suit is therefore harder than it is in a normal game, while full houses get easier because there are fewer ranks to pair up. When one hand becomes common and the other becomes rare, the rare one ranks higher, and that’s the logic behind all the short deck poker hand rankings.

It’s a good habit to remember the reasoning instead of the list. If you ever forget the order at the table, ask yourself which hand is harder to make with only nine cards per suit.

The ace plays low, but not the way you expect

In regular Hold’em the lowest straight is A-2-3-4-5, the wheel. With the low cards gone, the ace has to connect somewhere else. In short deck, the lowest straight is A-6-7-8-9, and the ace counts as low only in that straight. Broadway, T-J-Q-K-A, is still the highest.

This catches beginners all the time. If you hold A-6 and the board shows 7-8-9, you already have a straight, which isn’t something regular Hold’em would ever allow. It also makes A-6 more playable than it sounds.

How the rankings change your starting hands

Pocket pairs lose some of their edge in short deck, because high-card hands like A-K connect with the board more often than they would with a full deck. Suited connectors and hands with straight potential are worth more, and flushes are much harder to complete, so a flush draw is a lot more valuable when it hits.

• Straight draws come in more often than in regular Hold’em, since there are fewer gaps.
• Sets and trips do better than they used to, since three of a kind now beats a straight.
• Don’t overvalue a full house when the board is flush-heavy.

Understanding the short deck poker hand rankings is only the first step. The Short Deck rules page covers the format’s ante structure and how betting works in detail.

Common mistakes with short deck poker hand rankings

• Remembering the old order. A full house is no longer second best. Say “flush beats full house” to yourself until it sticks.
• Forgetting the A-6-7-8-9 straight. Both you and your opponents can make it.
• Playing like it’s regular Hold’em. Hand values shift enough that a plan built for 52 cards leaks money here.
• Ignoring the table rules. If trips versus straight differs at your table, you want to know before the flop, not at showdown.

Where to try it

The Short Deck tables at 7XL Poker are a good place to practice at low stakes. If you like to compete, the Short Deck daily leaderboard rewards consistent play. And if you’re new to ranges and reading hands, our guide to poker hand ranges is a useful companion, even though the numbers change for 36 cards.

None of this guarantees you’ll win. Short deck is a high-variance game, so play with money you can afford to lose, and keep your stakes sensible using the advice in our poker bankroll management guide. If gambling ever stops being fun, BeGambleAware offers free, independent support. You must be 18 or older (or the legal age where you live) to play for real money.