Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy

• Caribbean Stud Poker Las Vegas
• How To Play Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy

In Caribbean Stud Poker is game of chances, almost like a roulette. It is a classic table casino game that is mainly used to make money casino. It, therefore, has a house edge on the casinos’ side. Similarly, there is no optimal strategy to beat the game. However, if you follow the advice below, it will help you to lose less in the long run.

Caribbean Stud Poker Las Vegas

In Caribbean Stud, the player plays his/her five card hand heads up versus the dealer. Although the player is only playing against the dealer, there may be up to seven other players in the game (live Caribbean Stud mainly).

• Know the Basics. This page assumes you already know the basic rules and gameplay for.
• Players that read our Caribbean Stud strategy have also found our Top 10 Caribbean Stud Poker Tips helpful. We have also noted that to somewhat reduce the house edge in Caribbean Stud, we recommend that a player takes advantage of a Caribbean Stud poker bonus as it can offset losses and show a greater return on action.

In other words, the dealer plays his hand individually versus all the players sitting at the table. For more detailed rules on Caribbean Stud take a look at our detailed Caribbean Stud rules page.

Being a house game, the casino will always have a small edge. However, like in any casino game where the odds favor the house, there are best practice strategies in place that can be utilized to minimize the house edge and provide the best opportunity to make a profit. Players that read our Caribbean Stud strategy have also found our Top 10 Caribbean Stud Poker Tips helpful. We have also noted that to somewhat reduce the house edge in Caribbean Stud, we recommend that a player takes advantage of a Caribbean Stud poker bonus as it can offset losses and show a greater return on action.

Caribbean Stud Strategy – The Basics

Before presenting a strategy on playing Caribbean Stud, we will look at a few factors in the game which will influence your strategy.

How To Play Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy

• Where standard rules apply, the house has a 5.25 edge over any player.
• Players cannot bluff as such; the dealer has to play A-K (Ace King high) or better and your hand is showdown regardless.
• The dealer will be dealt a pair or better about 42% of the time
• The dealer has one card face up which gives away information about his hand.

The general strategy we recommend is to raise with any pair or greater, and fold with anything less than A-K. Some strategies will recommend folding small pairs and A-K hands, which means that when you play a hand you are more likely to win, but it is still not optimal strategy, as there is value in playing small pairs and A-K vs. the dealer’s hands. Basically, playing the more conservative strategy does not mean you will win more in the long run.

Caribbean Stud Strategy – Advanced

There are arguments for playing A-K when certain conditions are present.

• If the dealer’s face up card is an Ace or King, you should raise if you have a A-K-Q or A-K-J in your hand as statistically, you are more likely to have the best A-K hand.
• Raise if the dealers face up card is a deuce through to a Queen and you have that card in your hand as he is less likely to make a pair with that card due to card removal.
• If the dealer is showing a low card, deuce through five, and you have A-K-Q, raise as you are ahead of his A-K hands a lot and also beat his non qualifying hands.

Playing A-K hands in Caribbean Stud is the most complicated part of optimal strategy. By playing A-K hands correctly, the house edge can be significantly reduced. Overall, it is estimated that the house edge is lowered by up to 2.5% using the strategy outlined above.

Caribbean Stud Progressive Jackpots Strategy

Caribbean Stud progressive jackpots are one of the biggest attractions to playing at an online casino. Remember, with a progressive jackpot, players have historically won over seven figure sums. Yes, that is correct! Players have won over $1 million dollars after being dealt that sweet hand in Caribbean Stud. The progressive jackpot is an optional side bet of $1 that is placed every hand and the maximum payout is distributed to a player if he/she is dealt a royal flush. There is also a payout for players who get dealt straight flushes and quads and sometimes more hands depending on the casino.

We have a page specifically dealing with Caribbean Stud progressive jackpots that will teach you all you need to know about this side bet. If you would also like to find out a full list of payouts at different Caribbean Stud poker progressive jackpots, check out our Caribbean Stud poker payout odds page.

This American casino game, also known as Caribbean Poker or Cyberstud Poker, is not really a poker game since players play against the bank rather than against each other. The adjective 'stud' is also misleading, since players receive all five cards before betting, not one card at a time with a betting round after each as in real stud poker.

Note. Gambling can be dangerously addictive. You can find information and advice on our Responsible Gambling page.

The players each place an ante and the players and the bank are dealt five cards each from a standardc international 52-card pack. One of the banker's cards is dealt face up. After players have seen their own cards and the banker's face up card, each player in turn must either

• make a call bet, increasing their stake by an amount equal to twice their original ante, or
• surrender, in which case the bank wins the ante.

There is then a showdown.

• If the bank does not have A-K or better the player's ante and call bet are returned, plus an amount equal to the ante.
• If the bank qualifies by having A-K or better, a player wins if the player's hand beats the bank's (see poker hand ranks). The bank pays out even money on the ante plus fixed odds on the call bet as follows:
  • evens for a pair or high card
  • 2-1 for two pairs
  • 3-1 for three of a kind
  • 4-1 for a straight
  • 5-1 for a flush
  • 7-1 for a full house
  • 20-1 for a four of a kind
  • 50-1 for a straight flush
  • 100-1 for a royal flush
• If the bank has A-K or better and the player's hand is worse than the bank's the ante and call bet are both lost.
• If the player ties with the bank it is a 'push': the ante and call bet are simply returned to the player.

In addition there is usually a progressive jackpot into which a player can pay a fixed stake on each deal. Part of all of the jackpot is paid out to any player who is dealt a flush or better.

Optimal strategy for Caribbean Stud Poker is complex and difficult to apply without using a calculator tool to deduce the correct decision. When applied, fully optimal strategy results in a House Edge of 2.56%. A simplified strategy would see the player Call with any hand of AKJ83 or stronger. While not entirely optimal this will result in a House Edge within 0.1% of the optimal strategy. To save time the hands that are worth checking are any AK high hand.

The Pogg provides a comprehensive guide to Caribbean Stud Poker rules, variants and strategies.

The Caribbean Stud Poker page of beatingbonuses.com has a good summary of strategy and how it varies according to the payouts offered.

The Carribean Stud section of Casino Advisor has rules and information. The advice on this site is relevant mainly to land-based casino rules and should be used with caution, especially if playing online where payout tables may vary widely between oprators.