Caribbean Stud Poker Game Rules

Caribbean Stud Poker is a form of 5-card stud poker, except with a progressive jackpot. In land-based and online casinos, Caribbean stud poker is fast gaining popularity at levels that known poker games like Texas Hold'em, 7-card stud, and Omaha poker have enjoyed.

What makes this casino game so appealing is that it combines the challenge-based aspect of a table game with the luck-based aspect of a progressive jackpot game. With an estimated 50 million players in the United States alone, poker is considered America's most popular card game.

How to Play Caribbean Stud Poker

Caribbean stud poker makes use of a standard deck of 52 cards. The Caribbean stud poker table resembles a blackjack table, with seven spots and three betting spots. One is marked "Bet", another is marked "Ante", and a third one is a drop slot for the progressive jackpot. As in any poker game with an ante, the ante bet is mandatory and must be posted before a game begins.

The progressive jackpot bet is optional. Placing this bet entitles you to winning the progressive jackpot by the end of the game, depending on your poker hand. If you make the jackpot-winning poker hand but did not place the optional bet, you get the regular payoffs but do not win the progressive jackpot.

A game of Caribbean Stud Poker begins when five cards each are dealt to the dealer and the player. The dealer must expose the last one of the five cards he deals to himself, known as the up card. An unexposed card is known as a hole card.

Upon seeing your five cards, you have the option to raise or fold your bet . Raising signifies your wish to proceed with the game while folding signifies your wish to get out of the game. If you raise, you must double the ante by placing a raise bet, which is equal in amount to your original bet. If you fold, you forfeit your ante bet.

Once all players have either raised or folded their bets, the dealer then collects the forfeited antes of those who have folded. Next, the dealer exposes his four hole-cards to continue the game with those who have raised.

To qualify, the dealer's hand must be Ace-King or higher. If the dealer does not qualify, the hand is over. You ante bet is paid even money and your raise bet is returned.

If the dealer qualifies, a showdown takes place, in which all participants expose their poker hands to determine who has the highest hand. If the dealer has a higher hand than yours, you lose both your ante bet and raise bet. If your hand is higher than the dealer's, you win both the ante bet and raise bet. Your ante bet is paid even money and your raise bet gets payoffs according to your five-card hand.

Poker Hand	Standard Payout
Royal Flush	100:1
Straight Flush	50:1
Four of a Kind	20:1
Full House	7:1
Flush	5:1
Straight	4:1
Three of a Kind	3:1
Two Pair	2:1
Ace-King / Pair	1:1

Should the dealer and the player be holding the same hand, the hand having the highest card wins.

If you win and have placed a progressive bet, you are entitled to the following jackpot payouts based on your final hand:

Poker Hand	Progressive Jackpot
Royal Flush	100%
Straight Flush	10%
Four of a Kind	$100
Full House	$75
Flush	$50

Caribbean Stud Poker Betting Strategies

The easy part is when your five-card hand is high or low enough to decide its own fate. If you have a Flush or better, you would want to call your bet. If you have worse than an Ace-King or pair, you would obviously want to fold your bet. Not a lot of internal struggle happens there, and you can rest assured you have done the right thing. The awful, painful part is all the other hands in between. When is it best to risk it and when to drop it?

Pairs. As a rule of thumb, you should always call on all pairs, no matter what the dealer's up-card is, because profitable pairs outnumber unprofitable ones. There are 13 possible pairs in a standard 52-card deck. Seven of those pairs have positive expectations—the high pairs of A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8—and are bound to win more than lose in the long term. Three of those pairs—the middle pairs of 7, 6, 5—have positive expectations provided the up-card is not higher than the pair. Only three of the possible pairs—the low pairs of 4, 3, 2—have negative expectations and are bound to lose more than win in the long term.

Even though the three low pairs are the least profitable, they are less so than forfeited ante bets, which jack the house edge up to a terrible 7%. Also, the odds remain good that your pair will find itself competing with a non-pair. The chances of a pair being dealt is a bit over 42%, which means the likelihood of a non-pair is a bit over 50%. In addition, the odds of the dealer being dealt an Ace-King are no doubt low, at roughly 6%. All these mean that a low pair can lose less money than folding your bet.

Non-pairs. The favored rule is to fold any non-pair without an Ace and a King. Otherwise, the only times to call your bet are as follows:

Player's Hand	Dealer's Up-Card
Any Pair	Any
A-K-Q-J + any card	Any
A-K-Q + any 2 cards	Matches one of the player's cards
A-K-J + any 2 cards	Matches one of the player's cards
A-K-10 + any 2 cards	Matches one of the player's cards

When the dealer's up-card matches one of the player's cards, the dealer is less likely to have a pair, so this is a vital part of the strategy.

Progressives. As a general rule, a progressive jackpot bet should be placed only when the jackpot prize is over $263,000.

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Caribbean Stud Poker Game Rules

How to Play Caribbean Stud Poker

Caribbean Stud Poker Betting Strategies

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