SCOOP 2019 Gives Short Deck Hold’em Its Tournament Debut

Short Deck Hold’em fans have something to look forward to at the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). PokerStars announced that the increasingly popular format will be offered during the tournament which kicked off on May 12.

Also called 6+ Hold’em, Short Deck is a Texas hold’em variant that’s been making waves in the world of poker.

Since last year, leading poker sites have been adding the new format to their offerings. PokerStars introduced its own version of Short Deck back in January.

Starting May 17, 6+ Hold’em MTTs will be offered as side events at the festival, coming in three buy-in levels. Players can choose between buy-ins of $22, $215 and $2,100. Aside from that, the format can also be played in sit and go tournaments with buy-ins starting from $2.50 to $15.

The Short Deck tournaments are expected to draw attention from players, though PokerStars confirmed they won’t be an official part of the SCOOP series. Short Deck games originated in Asia and are highly popular among the high roller community. The format is played in a number of major tournaments, such as the Triton Series.

Going Mainstream

Today, more and more players are becoming interested in Short Deck because of its high action potential. Several online sites have already adopted the new format and not soon enough, it will penetrate mainstream poker. The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is for the first time offering a Short Deck bracelet event. The event will be treated similarly as the other championship events during the festival.

While no further details have been announced yet on the format of the 6+ MTTs, it is likely that they will adopt the same structure as that of the short deck cash games on PokerStars, including the button blind structure.

Short Deck is basically played like the standard Texas Hold’em. The main difference is that the deck is reduced to just 36 cards by removing the deuces, threes, fours and fives. As a result, there are increased chances of making big hands. The unique deck structure leads to varying hand rankings, according to the site that offers the game. The only change at PokerStars is flush beating a full house.

The 2019 edition of the SCOOP festival runs from May 12 to May 27, with a massive $75 million in guarantees up for grabs.