It was a poorly-kept secret for months, but on Tuesday PokerStars finally launched “6+,” a game also known in poker circles (and on the PokerStars blog) as 6+Hold’em. 6+ Hold’em follows several novelty cash games from 2018, though PokerStars has not said if it will temporary like its predecessors.
6+ Hold’em gets its name from the factor that makes it unique: all cards lower than Six have been removed from the deck. The games at PokerStars are six-handed (coincidentally) and everyone posts an ante. Additionally, rather than there being a big blind and small blind, the button posts a single blind. 6+ Hold’em is a game certainly built for action.
“6+ is an exciting poker variant that often produces big hands and a lot of action, so we’re excited to bring it to the tables”, said Chris Straghalis, Director of Poker Product at PokerStars, in a press release issued Tuesday. “While the format has proven popular with high stakes players, the range of stakes available on PokerStars and similarities to hold’em mean that it should appeal to those who may want to try a new game but don’t want something too different. We’re looking forward to seeing what people think.”
Pokerstars 6+ Hold'em Cash Out
Fewer Cards Means New Hand Strengths
And Straghalis is correct – it’s not too different than regular Hold’em, aside from the lack of sixteen cards. It still plays the same. Because of the elimination of low cards, though, hand strengths have changed. Now the rankings of hands looks like this:
Pokerstars 6+ Holdem The 6+ Shortdeck Holdem was introduced recently and gets a lot of attention and increasing traffic on Pokerstars Do you mind, integrating it into HM2? The hands are not importing into HM2, I assume the handhistory format is not know by Holdem Manager. 6+ Hold’em is played six-handed and uses a Button Blind – a unique feature to PokerStars This is the same format used in the high stakes short deck games. PokerStars is the only place that uses that format online. Available exclusively at PokerStars 6+ Hold’em is your chance to play an action-packed variant loved by high-stakes players around the world. The Rules of 6+ Hold’em All 6+ Hold’em games use a 36-card deck (with all cards lower than a 6.
This is a discussion on Pokerstars 6+ Holdem within the online poker forums, in the Poker Rooms section; Hello everyone, I wanted to know what they think about this new way of playing. Pokerstars 6+ Hold’em Spin and GOs were launched on July 25, 2019. The 6+ Hold’em Spin & Go’s are available in 5 different buy-ins: $1, $3, $15, $30, and $100. The $100 buy-in comes with a potential first-place prize of $1 million.
Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Flush
Full House
Three of a Kind
Straight
Two Pair
Pair
High Card
As you can see, a Flush is now stronger than a Full House and a Straight (Aces still play high or low) is weaker than a Three of a Kind. Flushes are now stronger because there are fewer cards of each suit, therefore making a Flush more difficult to hit. On the flip side, with Twos through Fives gone, the range of cards is more compact, this making Straights easier to make.
6+ Hold’em, while new to PokerStars, is not a new game to the poker world. It has been popular for several years in the high stakes cash games of Macau (those players love their action) and was talked up by Phil Ivey. About three years ago, the iPoker Network introduced 6+ Hold’em on its skins.
The idea behind 6+ Hold’em for the poker room is obviously to generate big pots through furious action. Strong hands are easier to make, causing players to stay in hands longer, and everyone has to post an ante, giving them incentive to at least see a flop. It is also a novelty game that is easy for novice players to understand, since it plays exactly like regular Texas Hold’em, except for some shuffling of hand rankings. While strategy definitely needs to change, an inexperienced player can still follow what is going on quite easily. I would not be surprised if 6+ ends up being a permanent fixture at PokerStars.
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.
The Rules of 6+ Hold’em
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.
Pokerstars 6+ Hold'em
Learn How to Play 6+ Hold'em for Free
If you want to learn how to play 6+ Hold'em, then Registration 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.
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