Big pairs are slightly weakened, though still powerful. Overall, preflop equities run much closer in Short Deck Poker. It’s best to raise big preflop or limp re-raise if you can, since you’re likely to get outdrawn if you’re seeing the Flop multiway. Pocket Aces are still a force to be reckoned with, despite the drops in equity. Pocket Aces Preflop Equities – NLHE & Short Deck Matchup You’ll still be happy to pick up pocket rockets, but beware it’s not quite as strong as it used to be. And even when you run into a big pair, you’re usually not in terrible shape. With Jack-Ten It’s often correct (but not always) to call an All-In preflop depending on the pot-odds, since most of the time you’ll find yourself up against AK. However, Jack-Ten does poorly against Queens, since Queens blocks a lot of the straights it can make. It still has a fantastic 42% equity against AJ, a hand which has it dominated. Even against Aces it still has a whopping 35% equity and it’s also basically a coin flip with AK. Jack-Ten is never really in a bad position preflop. Jack-Ten Preflop Equities – NLHE & Short Deck Matchup It sees massive jumps in preflop equities against a variety of different hands. Jack-Ten Becomes a Versatile, Powerhouse Handĭue to it’s ability to make a variety of nut straights, Jack-Ten becomes a borderline premium hand. But overall, it’s strong enough to push All-In preflop and even call other All-ins pretty comfortably. However, it’s advantage versus other unpaired hands, like Ace-Queen and Jack-Ten are reduced. It’s now at a smaller disadvantage against Kings, and actually a tiny favorite against Queens. Ace-King Preflop Equities – NLHE & Short Deck MatchupĪce-King is only ever in a bad position preflop against pocket Aces exactly. See the table below to understand how Ace-King’s equities improve from NLHE versus common match-ups. Though already a powerful hand in No Limit, Ace-King actually becomes even stronger overall in Short Deck Poker. Ace-King Becomes Relatively Stronger Against Pocket Pairs It’s important to understand the new hand equities to help guide your decision of raising All-In before the flop, or knowing whether you have the rights odds to call another player’s All-In. Though pocket Aces and Kings are still the best preflop starting hands, there are notable changes in preflop strength in other common playable hands, especially in Ace-King and Jack-Ten.

Short deck poker best starting hands