Caribbean Stud Rules
The rules are the same as Caribbean Stud, but with one exception: the player is allowed to exchange cards before the raise/fold decision. You can switch cards at the following rates/prices: 1 card = 1x the ante; 2 cards = 2x the ante; 3 cards = 3x the ante; 4 cards = 2x the ante; 5 cards = 1x the ante; If you switch all five cards, you must. The first rule of Caribbean Stud Poker is that there is to be only one hand per player and players are not able to wager or hold on multiple hands at the table. Also, during the game players are not allowed to talk or communicate in any way to the dealer or the other players about the hand. Caribbean Stud Rules: How to Play. The game begins after you have placed the ante. You and the dealer will be dealt five cards. All cards are dealt face down apart from on dealer card which is dealt face up. After seeing your cards, you will have to raise or fold.
Caribbean Stud Poker Rules
Sit back and enjoy our detailed video which explains the rules of Caribbean Stud Poker.
Caribbean Stud Poker is a casino table game offered by many land-based and offshore casinos and at virtually every internet casino. In some cases the game is played under alternative names such as Cyber Stud Poker, Stud Poker, Caribbean Poker and Tropical Poker. No matter what the name, the rules are the same.
How it Works
To begin with, like blackjack it is a heads-up casino table game. What I mean by this is each person is playing against the house; not against each other. Both the player and the dealer receive a 5-card poker hand, all cards are face-down except one of the dealer’s five cards; that single card is turned face-up for all to see. To explain the game in the simplest terms: there are two ways to lose which are mentioned below.
- If you fold your hand, you lose your ante bet. To play, you need to add an extra bet equal to twice the ante. So by folding, you save 2/3 the cost, resulting in a 1/3 loss.
- If you stay in, the only way to lose is for the dealer to show a hand which is at least Ace-King high that ALSO beats your hand.
The ways to win are as follows:
- If the dealer does not have A-K high or better: you win 1/3 the size of your total bets.
- If he does have A-K high, a pair, or better, and you beat him, you are paid even money on 1/3 your bet and paid the other 2/3 based on the pay-table to the right.
Strategy Tip: Optimal Strategy is to fold any hand that is not at least Ace-King-Jack-Eight-Three. If your hand does not match or beat that hand folding is most often the best move.
Progressive Side Bet
Another element to the game is a 1 chip drop bet, which is optional; 1 chips means 1 unit of currency (example $1/€1/£1). This single bet qualifies for a chance at the progressive jackpot. If you’re dealt a straight flush you receive 10% of the jackpot and if dealt a royal flush 100% of the jackpot. There are three other hands that get paid a fixed amount which are four of a kind, full house and a flush. While the payouts vary greatly between casinos, four of a kind often pays 500 chips, full house pays 100 chips, and a flush either 50 or 100 chips. To be clear: the dealers hand is not a factor in the progressive side bet.
How to Play?
At the start of each hand, each person is dealt five cards. The dealer is also dealt five cards. The player’s cards are dealt face down, but the dealer has one card exposed. In live casinos there are as many as seven seats, most online casinos deal the game heads up between a player and dealer although www.888casino.com offers a three-handed version, and Cryptologic Casinos offer the same with five hands.
To start off, a player posts an ante. The ante must be neither more nor less than the posted betting limits. The player also has an option to play for the progressive jackpot by betting a set amount that goes towards it. You may only bet one unit on the jackpot bonus, typically that is $1, €1 or £1 depending where played.
After the player is dealt five cards, the player decides whether they would like to raise or fold. If the player folds, they lose their ante and jackpot bet. If the player would like to play the hand, they raise. A raise is equal to double the amount of the ante. If the ante is £10, the raise would be £20, for a total bet of £30.
After the player has made their decision to fold or raise, the dealer exposes their hand. If the dealer does not have an Ace-King high or better, the dealer fails to qualify. The ante bet wins, but the raise bet pushes. The jackpot bonus bet is paid, regardless of whether the dealer qualifies or not. If the dealer does have an ace king or better, the player must beat the dealer to win their ante and raise. The ante is paid even money. The raise is paid based on the table payout. The jackpot bonus bet is paid regardless of whether the player beats the dealer. If the dealer and player push, both the ante bet and the raise are returned, much like a push in blackjack.
Live Play
In the live version, it is important to avoid showing your hands to other players or discussing your hand with another player. Many casinos will void your hand and you will lose your bet. If you continue to discuss your hand at the table, they may even remove you from the game. Discussion of hands has sometimes been linked to collusion. Even if that is not your goal, it is important not to talk about the cards while players are deciding whether to fold or raise.
Modified Rules
In live casinos of Eastern Europe, and online at Pinnacle Casino, a similar game is offered called Oasis Poker. Here all the rules are the same, except when here you have the options to “fold”, “raise” or “DRAW”. If you choose one of the first two options the game is played just like Caribbean Stud Poker. If you choose to draw, generally one card cost one times the ante, two cards twice the ante, three cards three times the ante, four cards one or two times the ante (this varies) and all five cards one times the ante.
The Caribbean Stud Poker rules and best strategy are easy to remember. Free games are available at some of the online casinos for practice. Caribbean Stud odds are a little heavy in favor of the house (about 5.2%), so look for the payouts that are shown below. If you play the optional jackpot and catch a few more big poker hands than usual, you can win quite a bit of money in a short time. This is one of the more exciting table games. Caribbean Stud is a five card stud poker game played on a blackjack type table with a standard 52 card deck. The cards are normally dealt from a multi-deck 'shoe' or by an automatic shuffling machine that deals in groups of five card hands. Players try to beat the dealer with the best poker hand.
Each seat at the Caribbean Stud table has a player's layout and chip slot like the drawing at the right. The slot fixture has small lights that light up when a chip that has been placed in the slot is allowed to fall through for collection by the dealer. Always watch the lights to make sure your jackpot bet is indicated, before the hand is dealt. Sometimes they don't work properly and that could cost you a lot of money.
Caribbean Stud Poker Rules and How to Play Procedure
Caribbean Stud Poker Rules
Before any cards are dealt, you place a bet in the 'ante' box in your table layout. This ante bet can be any amount within the posted table limits.
With each hand you may also play for the optional progressive jackpot. If you want to do this, you place a $1.00 chip in the chip slot in front of you. When all the players that want to play for the jackpot have their bets down, the dealer presses a button allowing all the $1.00 chips to drop through the slots for collection. The lights on your slot fixture are activated by the chip drop and stay illuminated until the hand is over to show that you made the jackpot bet.
The dealer then gives five cards, face down, to all the players and gives himself four down and one up. You then look at your cards and decide to either play or fold. If you choose to fold, you lose your ante bet. If you choose to play, you place double the amount of your ante in the 'bet' box. This is your 'call' bet.
| Poker Hand | Full Pay Call Bonus Table | Full Pay Jackpot Table |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 100 to 1 | 100% Total Jackpot |
| Straight Flush | 50 to 1 | 10% Total Jackpot |
| 4 of a Kind | 20 to 1 | $500 |
| Full House | 7 to 1 | $100 |
| Flush | 5 to 1 | $50 |
| Straight | 4 to 1 | - |
| Three of a Kind | 3 to 1 | - |
| 2 Pair | 2 to 1 | - |
| Pair or less | 1 to 1 | - |
If the player made the $1.00 jackpot bet and has a flush or higher, he or she receives payment for the hand, in accordance with the jackpot payout schedule. When players are eligible for jackpot payouts they must announce that they have a jackpot hand to the dealer, as soon as they see it and before the hand is over. This is to protect your hand from the dealer accidentally scooping it up and mixing it in with the dead cards. Protect this hand and never take it off the table or out of overhead camera sight. If you do, the casino has the right to enforce the game rules and not pay you for it. The progressive jackpot bet is a separate side game. The player wins whether he or she beats the dealer or not.
Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy and Tips
The percentage crunching experts will advise you not to play the jackpot game because the house advantage is too high. But I'll bet that even they will slip a coin in the jackpot slot when they think nobody is looking. Without the jackpot bet feature, the game of Caribbean Stud would soon be history. Just about everyone plays for the big progressive jackpot payouts.
The Progressive Jackpot
Actually the experts are sort of right when they complain about the jackpot odds, especially when the player is getting the common 50/75/100 payout and the progressive starts out at $5,000. But when you factor in a full pay schedule with some progressives reaching over $600,000 the picture starts to look pretty good for the player. With an average or near to average run of cards, you probably won't win at Caribbean Stud. However, if you are playing the progressive when the poker gods bless you with some unusually powerful hands or an unusually good run you can win a lot!
Optimal Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy
Always call bet when you have:
- A-K-J x x or higher
- A-K and the dealer's up-card denomination (for example you hold A-K-2-9-5 and the dealer's up card is a 5)
Caribbean Stud Rules
So to give you the best shot at some nice winnings follow these tips: look for full pay games, large progressive jackpots and always play the optimal strategy.