Well This happened in a local card room which I regularly visited:
On Monday they play NLH with a short deck:
remove 2-5,
No joker
A6789 is low straight
Flush is bigger than a full house


So, what game is this and how do I figure out the common odds and probability in a timely manner?


P.S.: I was spending long time during each hands (and being called on clock on many occasions) because I calculate the odds I need on my each hands and I think others never did.
In other words, I was playing poker and others are gambling. Now I want to keep it that way by reducing my thinking period during each hands

It's called 6+ holdem aka short-deck

By playing poker, you were also gambling. So if you are gonna sit in the game, it's not great etiquette to take forever. Do the study away from the table, make your best play in a reasonable amount of time, or don't sit imo

Yeah agree on not taking too much time.

Away from the table you can deal out a full table of hands and think how you would play each one. This really accelerates the learning curve.

As far as figuring stuff out fire up the Excel and crunch numbers. If you are not good in doing that you can pay me to do it for you and I will agree to not publish any of the product for at least a year...

Hey Scotch, I'm not in the market for such a product but a 6+ series in the magazine would be really cool. 6+ poker is quite in vogue right now, especially since the Triton High Roller streams this week.

Thanks for the confidence that I could do a good job handling it but I also have no interest in it.

They should just play with a 52 card deck like everyone else does.

I don’t get the point of the variant other than confuse others regarding hand values. That’s not the real spirit of what Poker should be imo

No one playing that game is confused. The first time you play have a hand ranking chart and you're fine from there. Like I said, I've never played but I have read and watched a fair bit. It seems the benefit is that equities run closer and it can be a lot more profitable/not losing to chase draws, things that favor recreational players and that they enjoy, while also allowing for plenty of skill edge. So basically like PLO. Why not just play PLO? Well because each variant is nuanced and has its own attraction. Currently the highest stakes games in the world are played under this variant, so even if it's a bad game, it's the game that's being played and if you want to play at the highest stakes, you you need to learn it. I expect with all the hype, it's only a matter of time until it trickles down to lower stakes too, and as with any game, it's softest when it first debuts so again it'd be wise to learn. I figure if people are willing to play this game over all others at the highest stakes and work so hard to make it more popular, there's gotta be something good abou t it. As a mixed game player, I never judge a new variant before playing it and am always happy to learn something new.

Sounds like OP was confused enough to have the clock called on him numerous times.

By confusion I meant not simply with what beats what, but rather confusion on initial lack of deeper knowledge and avoiding sucker hands and plays. Royal Hold'em was an extreme version of short deck poker that quickly died out once the suckers got obliterated.

Did Ivey get all of this going once his Full tilt superuser gig ended?

OP was "confused" about strategy which is understandable if you're playing a game for the first time. Consider how in limit games people often make snap decisions in what experienced players consider standard spots but new players might have to take some extra time. Just because a new player who hadn't played before or thought about the game before tanked a bunch their first time playing means it's too confusing of a game? That's honestly ridiculous reasoning. You could literally say the exact same thing for anyone playing any new game, especially some of the newer crazy games like Archie, super-razzdugi, etc. 6+ has got to be one of the easier variants to learn -- probably easier than PLO!

lol at "ridiculous reasoning!", are we arguing about something? Quite simply, I just expressed my initial personal view on the game which is thus not eligible for such rebuke!

When you play a totally different game like Archie or Razzdugi it is certainly obvious that you are playing a completely new variant. And these games are part of mixes that are typically populated by players looking to play something other than NLHE

When you take a current popular game like NLHE and strip the deck it seems like more of a gimmick than a new variant to me. Did Royal Hold'em ever take off? No because after the suckers were fleeced in five minutes it wasn't worth playing. Strip deck is a less radical version of that but the intent seems the same.

As far as I can tell, that's the also the reason that split pot draw games have become so prevalent in mixed games, as well as for having both A-5 and 2-7 in the mix.

ya I know, I have expressed my disdain for Badeucey and Badacey and think they are bad for the health and growth of mixed games.

And having both of them in is terrible.

That said, they are split pot games and handling the aspects of those is a completely new variant

Having both A-5 and 2-7 (or both Badeucey and Badacey) does not seem to provide much purpose other than someone trying to get their favorite games in twice incognito.

Reasons for the introduction of strip deck NLHE is different.

Is the game running on Ipoker at 50,100 stack?

Some of you guys are missing the point.

The high rollers in Asia invented the game bc they love action and this game apparently drives action. It's not super complicated compared to many other games. They know plenty about proper strategy and have plenty of money to splash around with. The game is gaining traction and good players will adapt or get left behind. Who is to say whether it will go the way of Duckflush or become a mix game staple, like badugi? Just bc the game isn't super popular in the West yet, doesn't mean it isn't considered a legit game by many. It's spread online on multiple sites. Fish that have played it seem to love it. Top pros that have played it seem to love it.

To paraphrase one of the best all-around players in the world, Scott Seiver, "To be a top poker player is to be able to play all games at a high level. I never know what will be the next fad, so it's imperative for me to stay ahead of the curve. When open-face was the big thing, I made sure to spend my time studying the game intensely, as huge edges were possible. It's the same w short deck. If I don't put the time in at a game when it first comes out, I lose the ability to make all the money when those games are especially juicy, at inception."

Just bc we might not like a variant does not make it unprofitable or unworthy of being a game of skill played for money.

Seems like it would be tough to include in a mix since it uses a different deck than every other game.

Who said it was unprofitable or unworthy?

Ivey needs something now that he can’t see hole cards on FTP anymore

I don't think it would ever be played in a mix and that's one of the main reasons, though I'm sure they could get around that by just having 2 decks. But it doesn't seem like there is much, if any, mix game action in the big games out East. They like their nosebleeds and their big bet games, it seems.

Whichever casino decided to spread short deck in the West, at 2/5 stakes, w mostly players that barely know the rules, prob did not make the best decision, as per OP's report