Short Deck Comes to PokerGO at the Poker Masters

Short Deck is the game of the moment and on Tuesday, the new form of poker hits PokerGO for the final table. The $10,000 tournament is the most buzzed over event of the series and is expected to put up numbers similar to the 69-entrant field $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Event 1. Poker Masters and ARIA are the official hosts for the inaugural Short Deck event played in the United States.

The rules for Short Deck are simple enough. All cards ranked deuce through five are removed from the deck and the hand rankings are changed as a result. Three-of-a-kind beats a straight and a flush is better than a full house.

Fewer cards and more strong hands equal great action for players and the PokerGO audience.

ARIA tournament director Paul Campbell looks forward to breaking in the game inside the PokerGO Studio. Short Deck broke through this spring at the Triton High Roller Series and soon became a cash game staple at ARIA.

“I’m excited because the players are excited about it,” said Campbell. “There’s been a lot of talk at ARIA about Short Deck. They’ve been playing it in the cash games recently and the players who have played it have enjoyed it.”

The $10,000 price point is at a High Rolley entry-level level price point to attract players looking for a learning experience difficult to find elsewhere in the United States.

ARIA regular and mixed game veteran Ben Lamb played Short Deck in Korea during a recent Triton Series. Lamb is optimistic about how many players will enter the event tomorrow.

“I think a lot of people are going to play it because it’s a relatively cheap way to learn it and it’s going to be a prominent game in the future,” Lamb said. “It’s one of those games that you learn pretty quick how to not be a completely bad player at it.”

Campbell is confident the ARIA High Roller player pool is going to become accustomed to the game in short order. Pending player feedback, Campbell expects Short Deck to be offered outside of High Roller Triple Crown events.

“I know a lot of people who are playing and it’s literally their first time playing Short Deck,” Campbell echoed. “It’s a lot of action, which these guys love. I’m excited to watch these guys figure it out. Regardless of what they say, they haven’t played enough to be experts in the game. It’s a new game theory puzzle for them to solve and it’s a race to see who can solve it first.”

ARIA High Roller events run as high as $100,000 and Lamb mentioned he would play any Short Deck tournament up to that buy-in size.

Short Deck features an ante-only structure which viewers will see for the first time when the final table starts at 4 PM ET on Tuesday on PokerGO.

Campbell suggests the final table action will feature more “flip” situations than the standard No Limit Hold’em event.

“The players are going to be more aggressive in being the first player to put their chips in the pot. You’re going to be seeing more multi-way pots than you would in regular Hold’em.”