In February, the iPoker Network launched a new type of poker game, Six-Plus Hold’em, that first gained popularity in Macau’s famous high stakes cash games. The action-packed Hold’em variant has proven quite popular. So popular, in fact, that the network has added two more stakes levels, NL50 and NL100.
As often happens when new online poker games are introduced, the network or poker room keeps the stakes low, giving players a chance to try out the new games with little risk. The network, in turn, can keep tabs on the game’s popularity and get feedback from players. Thus, when Six-Plus Hold’em was introduced, it was only at NL4, NL10, and NL20 stakes (€0.02/€0.04, €0.05/€0.10, and €0.10/€0.20). It looks like things have been going well, though, so the network has increased the stakes, though not to levels that would be called “high stakes” yet.
Contrary to what some think when they see the name Six-Plus Hold’em, it is not some sort of six card Hold’em variant. The “Six-Plus” refers to the cards in the deck. In this game, the twos, threes, fours, and fives are removed from the deck, leaving only cards with values of six or greater. Hence, the Six-Plus name. Aside from that, the game plays exactly like Hold’em.
Well, almost exactly. The resulting 36-card deck creates a much more action-heavy game as players are dealt more playable hands than in regular hold’em. Just think about it for a second: without all those low cards, the cards that players will be dealt will be closer together in value and with fewer cards in the deck, there is a better chance to pick up that pair or set.
Because of the new math, the hand rankings in Six-Plus Hold’em are different than in regular Hold’em. Take a gander:
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 better than a full house and a straight is actually worse than a three of a kind. Again, logic dictates, without even doing the math, that this makes perfect sense. A flush still requires five suited cards, but there are now fewer cards of each suit available, making the flush more rare. Conversely, because there is a smaller spread between card values (now six to Ace instead of two to Ace), straights will become more plentiful. And by the way, the Ace can still count as the low end of the straight, so A-6-7-8-9 is Six-Plus Hold’em wheel.
Six-Plus Hold’em has been an attractive game to recreational and serious players alike because players get playable hands much more often, creating more action both before and after the flop. Seasoned players, in particular, can possibly reap the benefits of Six-Plus Hold’em in the short-term, as there will likely be plenty of novice players trying out the game who don’t realize that the hand rankings have changed. Lots of “What the hell? I had a straight!” may be lighting up the chat window.
