Six Plus Hold’em Makes Its Debut At Bet365 Poker

The last time a brand new version of poker hit Bet365 Poker, it was a huge success as Twister Poker, initially introduced for a limited time, proved so popular with online poker players that it has remained a part of the Bet365 Poker line up ever since.

Twister Poker’s success across a whole host of different sites, not just Bet365 Poker, may have been unexpected but it has shown that there remains a thirst for new and innovative ways to play the game. The great news for Bet365 Poker players is that starting from Monday 22^nd February 2016, there will be a brand new game to play on the site.

The new game is called Six Plus Hold’em and it promises to be equally as popular with punters upon its release.

What is Six Plus Hold’em?

As you will already know, the standard version of Texas Hold’em is played with a typical deck of 52 playing cards. The ten possible hands are ranked in order from best hand to the worst as follows:

• Royal Flush (1) – Straight Flush (2) – Four of a Kind (3) – Full House (4) – Flush (5) – Straight (6) – Three of a Kind (7) – Two Pair (8) – One Pair (9) – High Card (10)

However, there is a big difference with Six Plus Hold’em and that is that the cards numbered from 2 through to 5, of each suit, are removed from the deck, meaning that you play with a smaller deck of 36 cards.

The actual structure of the game itself, remains the same as standard Texas Hold’em. Blinds are paid and the dealer button moves around the table, you are dealt two hole cards, there are rounds of betting that proceed in the usual fashion and after betting you get to see the flop, turn and river cards.

Essentially, you are playing Texas Hold’em as you would on any poker site, but just with a pack of 36 cards. However, changing the number of cards in the pack does have implications on the probability of hitting certain hands and this, in turn, does have an impact on the relative value of the hand rankings in Six Plus Hold’em.

Does having fewer cards alter the hand rankings of the game?

Having fewer cards in the pack completely alters the dynamics of the game in terms of the likelihood of you hitting a premium hand. In short, you are more likely to hit a pair or better playing Six Plus Hold’em than you are the standard game.

However, it must also be remembered that all of your opponents are also far more likely to hit a premium hand too and of course, this has implications for how you would bet when you hold certain hands and especially when you can see some or all of the community cards on the table.

It is not just the chances of hitting a premium hand that are increased in Six Plus Hold’em. The smaller choice of cards means that certain hands are more likely to happen than in the traditional version of the game. This alters how probable it is to hit a certain hand and as such, alters the hand rankings of the game.

When playing Six Max Poker, due to the smaller number of cards, the ten possible hands are ranked as follows (traditional Hold’em rankings shown in brackets) :

• Royal Flush (1) – Straight Flush (2) – Four of a Kind (3) – Flush (5) – Full House (4) – Three of a Kind (7) – Straight (6) – Two Pair (8) – One Pair (9) – High Card (10)

As you can see, it is the middle four hands that are affected by having the smaller number of cards. In Six Plus Hold’em, you are more likely to get a Full House than you are a Flush, thus a Flush ranks higher in the hands. Similarly, you are also more likely to hit a Straight than you are Three of a Kind, so a hand of three of the same card outranks a Straight.

It is therefore imperative that before you play Six Plus Hold’em that you fully understand how the hands rank in this new version of the game, along with the fact that premium hands are more likely for every player at the table and your betting needs to acknowledge that fact.

What other key changes are implemented in Six Plus Hold’em?

The only other change that you need to be aware of is that just as in the standard version of the game, when an Ace can be used as either the High Card in a straight (such as 10, J, Q, K, A) as well as being used as a Low value card too (A, 2, 3, 4, 5). You can use the Ace in the same way in Six Plus Hold’em.

Obviously this means the Ace can be used to finish a high value straight as outlined above, but also that you can use it alongside the 6, 7, 8 and 9 value cards to create a lower value straight of A, 6, 7, 8, 9.

How should I approach playing Six Plus Hold’em?

Although the changes from standard Texas Hold’em to the Six Plus version of the game appear to be quite small, in actual fact they can have a marked impact on how you should approach the game, especially if you are looking at this form of poker as being a profitable option for you.

In addition to the altered hand rankings for the mid-ranked hands, the other key thing to note is that players will have premium hands of a pair or better far more often during Six Plus Hold’em. Not only that, players will land the top ranked hands, Full House, Flushes and higher, more often too.

This means that your betting strategy will need to factor in this information in order for it to be successful. You may well have a Pair of Aces in your hand, but if the flop, turn and river are seen and other players remain active in the pot, the likelihood is that your pocket pair is not going to be good enough to win the hand.

What is true however is that Six Plus Hold’em creates a very action packed game with more players having better hands and thus more action at the tables. This is why it has become one of the most popular versions of the game in the gambling mecca of Macau.

You can play this exciting new version of poker from the 22^nd February at selected iPoker network casinos, including Bet365 Poker, with other casino sites (such as Coral Poker) offering the game from the 29^th February.