Caribbean Stud Poker

The origins of Caribbean Stud Poker are not entirely known but the game can be traced back, unsurprisingly, to the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships and casinos in the area first offered the game and it eventually spread to casinos in the United States and across the world. Initially customers met the game with apprehension because of its large house edge but casinos added a progressive jackpot to entice more players. Quickly after that the game grew in popularity and it can now be found in most casinos.

Caribbean Stud Poker Rules

Caribbean Stud Poker is a card game with rules similar to five card draw. The main difference is that in Caribbean Stud Poker, players compete against the house, not each other. If a player ends up with a stronger hand than the dealer, he is paid a fixed amount based on the strength of his hand.

At the beginning of each hand, each player pays an ante plus an optional side bet of $1 for the progressive jackpot. Next each player is dealt five cards face up. The dealer is then dealt four cards face down and one card face up for everyone to see.

The players then examine their hands and the dealer's up card and may take one of two actions: fold or raise. If a player folds, he loses his ante and optional progressive bet and sits the rest of the hand out. If a player raises, he must raise exactly two times the amount of the ante.

After all the players have made their decisions, the remaining players and the dealer flip their cards over. Before the hand goes any farther, the dealer's hand must qualify, that is, the dealer must have a minimum hand of AK or better. If the dealer's hand does not qualify, all of the players' antes are paid back at 1 to 1 odds. All raises are considered a push and returned to the players.

If the dealer's hand does qualify with an AK or better, his hand is ranked according to normal poker hand rankings. Any players with stronger hands than the dealer have their anted paid back at even money and their raise bets paid back at the following odds:

Royal Flush	100 to 1
Straight Flush	50 to 1
Four of a Kind	20 to 1
Full House	7 to 1
Flush	5 to 1
Straight	4 to 1
Three of a Kind	3 to 1
Two Pair	2 to 1
One Pair or Less	1 to 1

Caribbean Stud Progressive Jackpot

Players who choose to make the optional side bet win the progressive jackpot if their final hands qualify. Most casinos use a payout structure similar to the following:

Royal Flush - 100% of the progressive jackpot
Straight Flush - 10% of the progressive jackpot
Four of a Kind - $500 Full House
$100 Flush - $50

Caribbean Poker Strategy

Caribbean Stud is unbeatable in the long run but players can reduce the house edge to just 5.224% by using an optimal strategy. The problem is a perfect Caribbean Stud strategy is complicated to the point of being impractical to use while actually playing at the casino.

A strategy that is simple to remember and is close to optimal is as follows:

Always raise when you have A K J x x or higher.

Always raise when you have AK and one of your cards matches the dealer's up card.

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