Under PokerStars’ published 6+ Hold’em rules, a flush beats a full house and A-6-7-8-9 is a straight. The deck has 36 cards: ranks 6 through ace in four suits. This reference applies to that named rule set, not every possible short-deck home game.
PokerStars 6+ ranking chart, strongest first
| Order | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 | Straight flush (including royal flush) |
| 2 | Four of a kind |
| 3 | Flush |
| 4 | Full house |
| 5 | Straight |
| 6 | Three of a kind |
| 7 | Two pair |
| 8 | One pair |
| 9 | High card |
Ranking order under the cited rule set
Strongest to weakest: straight flush (including its royal-flush case), four of a kind, flush, full house, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. PokerStars states that all other hand rankings remain the same as standard Hold’em.
The key category swap is flush over full house. Do not carry the standard Hold’em order into this game. Confirm your actual venue’s published rules before comparing a short-deck showdown.
A comparison that changes the winner
Consider A♥ Q♥ J♥ 8♥ 6♥ against K♠ K♥ K♦ 9♣ 9♠ as two separate five-card examples. The first hand is an ordinary flush and the second a full house. The full house wins under standard high Hold’em rules; the flush wins under the cited PokerStars 6+ order.
These examples contain only ranks present in the 36-card deck. They are standalone comparison hands, not a shared-board deal.
How the low ace works
A♠ 6♦ 7♣ 8♥ 9♠ forms a nine-high straight under these 6+ rules. The ace bridges below six because the ranks two through five are absent. The ace can also be high in 10-J-Q-K-A. Q-K-A-6-7 is not a five-card consecutive run.
Straight flushes use the same sequence idea with one suit. A royal flush is still the ace-high straight flush; it is not made more valuable by the suit name.
Use the right deck for calculations
A 52-card outs chart or equity calculator cannot be reused unchanged for a 36-card game. Known-card counts, available outs and category order can differ. Hold’em Sim’s trainer and calculators use standard 52-card Hold’em; this page is a rules reference, not a new short-deck game mode.
Related tools and practice
Use the play-chip training table to review standard six-handed Hold'em decisions. The trainer does not play short deck.
Named rules checked on 30 October 2026. Original card comparisons are provided to show the difference in category order. PokerStars’ current 6+ Hold’em rules AI-assisted explanations and calculations reviewed 30 October 2026. No result guarantees a profitable decision.