6 programs for short deck poker

The popularization of short deck poker began in 2015. By 2019, short deck was introduced in PokerStars, PokerOK, iPoker Network and Partypoker. The newcomer was predicted to be a big success, but hopes were only partially realized: short deck poker is played, but it has not achieved the popularity of fast poker or spins.

The low interest of players was reflected in the attitude of software developers. Few wanted to adapt existing programs or create them from scratch. However, there are still useful tools for poker with a short deck. Among them are trackers, calculators, preflop trainers and even a solver. In this article we'll tell you about them in more detail. Brief information in the table, and the material will tell you more about them.

Trackers

Poker trackers are the most important tool for professional players. They allow you not only to win more with HUD, but also to analyze strategy. There are 2 trackers adapted for shortdeck:

• Hand2Note. It works in 6+ Holdem at PokerStars and in Texas 6+ at Chico Poker. The other rooms at the beginning of 2023 H2N does not support. Explore all the benefits of the tracker in a separate article. The basic version of Hand2Note is distributed free of charge. You can download it from the official website of the developer. There are several HUDs for poker with a short deck. We will talk about them in the final part.
• DriveHUD 2. Fully supports shortened decks from 2019. Works on PokerStars, partypoker, Chico Poker, iPoker Network. Read a detailed review of the tracker on our website. The developer provides a free trial version for 30 days. In the trial all the same features are available as in the license. DriveHUD 2 can be downloaded from the official site.

Many players feel that DriveHUD 2 is better suited for rare games, like shortdeck or PLO5

Holdem Manager 3 and PokerTracker 4 will not suit shortdeck fans. Both classic trackers do not support the format. In response to questions from users, technical support tells about remote plans, but does not name even tentative dates.

Calculators

Calculators, like trackers, are among the most useful tools at the beginning of a career. While trackers record mistakes, calculators help you correct them. You learn from examples and raise your level. For NL Holdem players, Flopzilla is more often recommended. Many consider this particular equity calculator the best. The developer of FZ did not release a separate "Short deck calculator". The niche was closed by two other products:

1. CombCalc6Plus. The calculator shows how a given opponent's range hit the board. In CombCalc6Plus you can save your own ranges. The heat map, where the user can estimate the strength of his hand against the enemy's range, is responsible for the visibility of the results. The calculator also has a "Hotness" scale. It shows how the equity of the hand changes depending on the turn or river card. The developer provides a free version of the calculator for 2 weeks.

The developer of the calculator is proud to say that one of the winners of the Triton Series uses the CombCalc6Plus

2. Oranges 6Plus Calculator. The calculator allows you to visualize the ranges of your opponents, build and save your own ranges, calculates equity for multi-pots. Oranges 6Plus Calculator shows how the range hits a specific flop, analyzes situations "range vs. range" and "hand vs. range". All the same tools are available in the calculator as in the basic version for NL Holdem. Among them are the range builder, Pot Odds Calculator, Flop Texture Filter and Preflop All-in Helper. The software has a 5-day free trial.

Among the short deck calculators, Oranges seems to be the most technologically advanced

Preflop Trainer

You can create ranges in both CombCalc6Plus and Oranges 6Plus Calculator. But you can't train them in either calculator. The FreeBetRange application will help you with that. The software works in your browser, so you do not need to download and install anything. The great advantage of FreeBetRange is the possibility to use charts right in your session. For example, CombCalc6Plus automatically closes when PokerStars starts. With FreeBetRange there will be no such thing, as it runs in a browser, and poker rooms have nothing against browsers.

To train ranges, you have to create them manually or import them from other calculators. When creating their software, the developer considered poker with a short deck, so when constructing a range you are given a choice between a classic deck and a short deck option. On the matrix of starting hands in the second variant the lowest card will be a six.

An adapted matrix always looks better than keeping all the extra cards from 2 to 5 in your head

The trainer itself provides two types of training: classic and general. In the first case you are dealt two cards and you choose between "Raise", "Fold" and "Call". Each time you get a new hand and decide what range it falls into. General training involves working on a matrix of starting hands. For example, you are asked to specify range of the raise from BTN. You should highlight all of the hands that you open from the position of the button. You must do this on the matrix. FreeBetRange tracks your training progress, so you will always be aware of your skill growth. A full review of the trainer is on our website.

Solvers

Balanced play is a key trend in modern poker. Without knowledge of the GTO it will be difficult to play even at medium limits. That's why every year more and more new solvers appear on the software market. Short deck players have not been left without GTO tools. The developers of GTO+: Short Deck have taken care of this.

Soft adapted for the game with a short deck:

• removed 2, 3, 4, 5 from the deck;
• prescribed the seniority of the flush over the full house;
• added straight A6789;
• made an optional setup with sets that beat the straight.

The short deck solver is easier to work with than the normal solver because of the smaller number of combinations: 630 instead of 1326

Otherwise, it's still the same GTO+ with all its advantages. Among them are fast counting algorithms, advanced decision tree builder, software self-sufficiency in analysis, ability to recalculate the tree from the turn/river, and a database with already considered scenarios. Particular algorithms of working with information allow you to compress the decision tree, so they do not take hundreds of megabytes, but kilobytes on the hard disk. The developer provides the restricted version without any time constraints.

Bonus – HUD

In section with trackers we mentioned that poker with a short deck is supported by Hand2Note and DriveHUD 2. H2N is much more popular software, so a lot of third-party HUDs are created for it. Two of them are designed specifically for the short deck:

1. GT-HUD for 6+ Holdem. The set of statistics includes separate popups with preflop and postflop stats. Reacts to different sizes of Cbet/Fold to Cbet. For each stack automatically shows additional data in the form of charts, indicators of the game against Hero, betsizing and showdowns. On request to support the developer gives you a trial for 14 days. You should write to [email protected].

HUD developers have been paying the most attention to H2N in recent years

2. Hand2Note Pro.Tools Poker6+. The set includes several types of statistical, positional and dynamic HUDs each. The icon system helps to make quick decisions. The set consists of 8,500 stats and 950 badges. On request, the creator of Hand2Note Pro.Tools Poker6+ gives you the opportunity to evaluate the statistical set for free for 20 days.

Why is it profitable to buy at PokerEnergy?

It's profitable to buy in our shop for two reasons:

1. Bonus points. We give bonuses for every purchase. Spend them in the future and save.

2. Software as a gift. At PokerEnergy we have a section with promotions. For the purchase of some items in our catalog others - we give away. For example, we give away a one year license for CombCalc6Plus when you sign up for a one year subscription to Hand2Note.

All catalog updates and good deals are published in our Telegram-channel. Sign up to stay on top of your +EV.