Short Deck starting hands: the top 20, by the numbers
Short Deck (also called 6+ Hold'em) removes every 2, 3, 4 and 5, so you play with 36 cards instead of 52. The rules look familiar, but the maths is different. Hands run closer together, draws come in more often, and in most rooms a flush beats a full house. Here are the 20 strongest starting hands and how often each one wins.
Numbers from the Preflop Edge Monte Carlo simulation set · all-in preflop equity, rounded to the nearest whole percent.
The top 20 starting hands
| # | Hand | vs 1 opponent | vs 5 opponents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AApair | 74% | 34% |
| 2 | KKpair | 71% | 30% |
| 3 | QQpair | 68% | 27% |
| 4 | JJpair | 66% | 25% |
| 5 | TTpair | 63% | 23% |
| 6 | AKssuited | 62% | 26% |
| 7 | AQssuited | 62% | 24% |
| 8 | AKooffsuit | 61% | 23% |
| 9 | KQssuited | 60% | 24% |
| 10 | AJssuited | 60% | 24% |
| 11 | ATssuited | 59% | 22% |
| 12 | AQooffsuit | 59% | 23% |
| 13 | JTssuited | 59% | 24% |
| 14 | KJssuited | 59% | 24% |
| 15 | QTssuited | 59% | 23% |
| 16 | KTssuited | 58% | 23% |
| 17 | AJooffsuit | 58% | 21% |
| 18 | KQooffsuit | 58% | 22% |
| 19 | QJssuited | 58% | 24% |
| 20 | KJooffsuit | 58% | 21% |
Win % = how often the hand wins all-in preflop against random hands (ties split). “vs 5 opponents” is a full six-handed Short Deck table.
A flush beats a full house, and why it matters preflop
Removing 16 low cards leaves only nine cards in each suit. That makes flushes rarer than full houses, so most rooms rank the flush above the boat. (A-6-7-8-9 also counts as a straight, because the ace plays low.) The rankings are explained in full in our Short Deck hand rankings guide. For preflop play, the point is this: suited hands chase a flush that wins more often at showdown, and connected cards hit straights more often because the deck is so dense.
Everything is closer to a coin flip
Pocket aces win about 74% heads-up in Short Deck. In Hold'em they win about 85% (see our AA page). The whole top 20 sits between 58% and 74%. Big pairs still top the list, but nothing is a lock. Short Deck players get it in light for that reason: the favourite is rarely a big favourite.
AK and the hands that climb in a crowd
Ace-king offsuit is the 8th-best hand heads-up, at 61%. Against five opponents it falls to 13th among these 20, and pocket tens drop from 5th to 12th. Jack-ten suited does the opposite. It is only 13th heads-up, but it rises to 6th at a full table, ahead of AKo and TT, and queen-jack suited jumps from 19th to 7th. That is the Short Deck pattern: multiway, connected suited cards that make straights and flushes gain value, and unpaired high cards lose it. If you play Short Deck like Hold'em, you will overvalue offsuit broadways and fold the hands that win big pots.
Get all 81 hands, against 1 to 8 opponents
- The full Short Deck equity matrix: every hand, every table size
- Range explorer and Short Deck cheat sheet
- Built from the same Monte Carlo simulation set as this page
Keep reading
FAQ
What is the best starting hand in Short Deck?
Pocket aces. In our simulations AA wins about 74% of the time all-in preflop against one random hand, and about 34% against five random hands.
Why does a flush beat a full house in Short Deck?
With the 2s through 5s removed, only nine cards of each suit remain, so flushes become harder to make than full houses. Most rooms rank the flush higher to match how rare it is.
Is AK better in Short Deck than in Hold'em?
Not in raw equity. Against one random hand AK suited wins about 62% in Short Deck versus about 68% in Hold'em. Every hand is closer to a coin flip in a 36-card deck.