Short Deck No Limit
'Short deck hold'em' is much like No Limit Texas Hold'em but with one key difference - all of the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s are removed from the deck. Pot Limit Omaha 50bb 500z rake; SPINS. 8bb HU Spin N Go; 10bb HU Spin N Go; 12bb HU Spin N Go; 15bb HU Spin N Go; 20bb HU Spin N Go; 25bb HU Spin N Go; 3 Max. 8bb 3-way Spin N Go; 10bb 3-way Spin N Go; 12bb 3-way Spin N Go; 15bb 3-way Spin N Go; 20bb 3-way Spin N Go; 25bb 3-way Spin N Go; SHORT DECK. HU ShortDeck 10ante; HU. Short Deck is a simpler game than No Limit Hold’em or PLO, and that makes it a bit easier for new players to get into.” Living at the Mandarin, just a few steps away from the PokerGO Studio and ARIA’s Ivey’s Room, Robl’s always amidst the biggest action no matter what the game of the day might be.
Table Of Contents
The first championship event in the 2020 GGPokerWorld Series of Poker (WSOP) Online is now complete, with Lev 'LevMeAlone' Gottlieb taking home their first WSOP bracelet after victory in Event #43: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold'em Championship.
He made it through the field of 130 entries on just a single bullet, besting short deck crusher Mikita Badziakouski heads up to win the title along with $276,393 in prize money.
Little is known about the newest bracelet winner. Gottlieb does not appear to have any live cashes, so not only does this look like Gottlieb's first bracelet, but it may well be their first poker cash as well.
Follow all the latest from the WSOP - LIVE!The cards are in the air in the GGPoker WSOP Online. The PokerNews live reporting team is on top of all things WSOP. Don't miss a beat!
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lev 'LevMeAlone' Gottlieb | Mexico | $276,393 |
| 2 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $210,249 |
| 3 | Sergi Reixach | United Kingdom | $159,933 |
| 4 | Nobuaki 'Sasa JHR' Sasaki | Japan | $121,659 |
| 5 | Dan 'oiltrader' Shak | United States | $92,545 |
| 6 | Chi Zhang | United Kingdom | $70,397 |
| 7 | Bjorn 'wong1324' Li | Hong Kong | $53,550 |
| 8 | Carl 'Swetomir' Schrader | Germany | $40,735 |
| 9 | Ami Barer | Canada | $30,987 |
The Day's Action
Action got underway at 2 p.m. Eastern time today with just 20 players in the field. Among the early entries were GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos, Jason Koon, Christopher Brewe, and the runner up of last year's Short Deck Championship, Thai Ha.
The field grew quickly during the four hour late registration period, with new entries, as well as rebuys. By the time registration was done, 130 entries had been recorded for the event, 16 more than the inaugural 2019 Short Deck Championship won by Alex Epstein. That put $1,261,000 in the prize pool, and meant that 17 players would get a piece of it.
Among the players that took a stab at the championship bracelet but fell short were Canadian high stakes regulars Lucas and Sam Greenwood, as well as Michael Watson. Isaac Haxton, George Wolff, and Martin 'FuTimReilly' Zamani represented the United States, and internationally, Joao Vieira, Sergey Lebedev, Danny Tang and Jesus Cortes, among others, rounded out the field of players who didn't quite make the cut.
Registration Closes
After registration closed, they played about three hours before getting down to the bubble. During much of the post-registration period, it looked like Ramos might make a deep run, but the GGPoker ambassador ended up as the hard bubble spot, going home empty handed in 18th place.
Japanese grinder and organizer of the Japan High Roller Festival, Nobuaki 'Sasa JHR' Sasaki, was the beneficiary of Ramos' bad luck. He had been the short stack, and doubled up just prior to Ramos busting, putting him in the cashing spots. He then turned that chance into a 4th place finish worth more than $100,000.
Once the bubble burst, it went crazy. It took less than an hour to play down to the final table, and it was six-handed less than half an hour later after Canada's Ami Barer, Germany's Carl 'Swetomir' Schrader, and Hong Kong's Bjorn 'wong1324' Li went out in rapid succession.
READ MORE: Negreanu Twitch Ban Overshadows his Superb WSOP.com Showing
Pace of Play Slows
Play slowed down considerably at that point, with six-handed play going on for almost an hour before Chi Zhang got his small stack in against Gottlieb and couldn't get there, ending his run in 6th place for $70,397. It took another half hour before Dan 'oiltrader' Shak took 5th place for $92,545. Most of the damage done to Shak was the result of Sergi Reixach's ace-king getting there against Shak's pocket kings.
Short Deck No Limit Rules
After barely surviving the bubble with one of the shortest stacks, Sasaki spun it up to make the final table, but finally ran into a wall for 4th place. It happened in a hand against Badziakouski where they both flopped two pair, with Sasaki on the best of it, before a dirty river nine gave the boat and the pot to Badziakouski.
They played three-handed for almost an hour with Badziakouski mostly holding a dominating stack. Reixach and Gottlieb were trading the short stack back and forth until Gottlieb finally got the best of his opponent. Reixach got it in good with kings, but the ace-jack of Gottlieb spiked trip jacks on the turn to eliminate Reixach in 3rd place for $159,933.
Heads-Up Play
That set up an epic heads up match that went on for nearly four hours before the game was decided. Badziakouski came into the heads up with a big chip advantage, but Gottlieb fought his way back to take the chip lead after the first hour or so of play. The two then traded the lead back and forth, with the small stack always winning heads up.
At the end of Level 20, they paused the tournament to fix a clock issue. Badziakouski was running low on time bank, and a graphical glitch prevented him from seeing his remaining time. After contacting support, they restarted the tournament with normal time banks instead of the 'chess clock' style typically used for final tables.
The pause lasted a little over 30 minutes, but it didn't speed up when they got back to the felt again. They traded the lead back and forth for another two hours before Gottlieb crushed Badziakouski with jack-six versus ace-ten after they turned trip jacks. That left Badziakouski very short, and it was over soon after with Badziakouski collecting $210,249 for 2nd, while Gottlieb scored $276,393 for the win as well as the first championship bracelet awarded on GGPoker.
2020 Online WSOP Bracelet Winners on GGPoker
| Date | Tournament | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/26/20 | Event #32: $100 The Opener | 29,306 | $2,571,216 | Marcelo Jakovljevic Pudla | $265,880 |
| 7/26/20 | Event #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief | 2,323 | $2,580,853 | Alek Stasiak | $343,204 |
| 7/19/20 | Event #34: $525 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed | 2,214 | $1,107,000 | Shoma 'pp_syon' Ishikawa | $117,650 |
| 7/21/20 | Event #35: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 328 | $1,558,000 | Juha Helppi | $290,286 |
| 7/22/20 | Event #36: $1,500 FIFTY STACK NLHE | 1,342 | $1,912,350 | Michael Clacher | $297,496 |
| 7/23/20 | Event #37: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha | 971 | $971,000 | Hun Wei Lee | $161,886 |
| 7/25/20 | Event #38: $600 Monster Stack 6-Max | 2,007 | $1,143,990 | Aaron 'fishnchip' Wijaya | $171,389 |
| 7/26/20 | Event #39: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | 922 | $1,313,850 | Roberto Romanello | $212,613 |
| 7/26/20 | Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha | 532 | $1,253,500 | Simon Lofberg | $224,493 |
| 7/28/20 | Event #43: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold'em Championship | 130 | $1,261,000 | Lev 'LevMeAlone' Gottlieb | $276,393 |
Sign Up for a GGPoker Account Through PokerNews
If you want to play in the WSOP 2020 Online on GGPoker, you'll need to sign up for an account. By downloading GGPoker via PokerNews entitles you to a welcome bonus worth up to $600. Your first deposit is matched 200% up to a maximum of $600, setting you up nicely in time for the WSOP Online.
The bonus releases into your account in $10 increments each time you earn 6,000 Fish Buffet Points, which is the equivalent of $60 in rake or tournament fees.
PokerNews will be on the virtual floor throughout the 2020 GGPoker WSOP Online, with live coverage here of every event. Stay tuned here to find out who the next bracelet winner will be in 2020.
Related Room
GGPoker
Short Deck Hold’em is also known as 6+ (Six Plus) Hold’em. This No-Limit Poker game is played with a stripped-down deck.
Increasing in popularity
The game is a fast, fun variation of the world-recognised Texas Hold’em format. Short Deck Hold’em originated in Asia a few years back and is gaining increased recognition in Europe.
Due to some recent star-studded High Roller events, the game is attracting growing interest in the USA and is now being played in Las Vegas.
Difference in pack size
All of the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s and 5’s are removed from the standard 52-card pack leaving a game where only 36 cards are used. This means the 6 is the lowest card…. Unless you use an Ace as low.
An Ace has added value
As in traditional Hold’em the Ace can be used as either a High or Low, but in the Short Deck version of the game it can also make up the low and high ends of a straight. As in:
• A 6 7 8 9 is classed as a straight (In this example the Ace is classed as a ‘5’) Cherokee dream catcher.
Hand ranking differences – Let the significance sink in!
While there are only a few differences in the value of a hand between the 2 formats of Hold’em these are very significant and will prove expensive if forgotten.
In Short Deck Hold’em
• A Flush beats a Full House – This is because mathematically it is harder to make a flush than a full house from the reduced deck.
Note: This is the general rule. However, some houses may still have it the other way around – As ever; check the house rules before taking your seat.
Flush possibilities
In regular Hold’em, players with suited hole cards have 9 cards in the deck from which to make a flush. Playing the Short Deck game reduces this to 5 cards. Iceland bingo slots. This means a Flush is far harder to hit.
Easier to hit a set
Playing short deck Hold’em makes it easier to hit a set than when playing the regular game. Short deck players holding a pocket pair have 2 cards remaining from the 34 to give them a set as opposed to 2 cards out of 50 in the regular game.
Short Deck No Limit Hold'em
Short Deck Hold’em strategy
Players who are used to the regular version of Hold’em should be aware of strategy considerations during a traditional game.
What Is Short Deck No Limit Hold Em
Playing the Short Deck game brings a number of changes. Here are just 5 you need to bear in mind:
• The rule of 4 and 2 turns into the rule of 3 and 6
• Stronger Post-Flop hands are needed
• The chance of being dealt pocket Aces are twice as high
• Hands such as top pair and top kicker have a much lower value
• Single pair hands rarely win a pot
Short Deck No Limit Hold'em
Fast, fun & exciting
There is no doubting that Short Deck Hold’em (6+ Hold’em) is making waves in Poker communities across the globe so why not taste the action by giving it a go?
Short Deck No Limit Rules
A final word of caution though: While you are sure to hit far bigger hands than in the regular game this means your opponents will too!