Players place their ante bet to begin the game. They may also place a progressive side bet if they wish. If a player hits a royal flush their progressive payout will be huge.

How to Play Caribbean Stud Poker

To start off, each player receives five cards dealt face down while the dealer receives five cards with the last card face up. Players examine their cards and decide whether to play the hand or not.

If a player wants to continue to play, he must place a bet twice that of his ante in the raise/play box. If he doesn’t want to continue the hand, he loses his ante bet.

The dealer reveals his hand first. The dealer only qualifies with A-K or higher. If the dealer has a hand lower than this, players automatically win even money on their ante bet and the raise/play bet is returned.

If the dealer qualifies, he then goes on to compare his hand with the players’. If the player wins, he receives even money on his ante and raise/play bets plus a fixed odds payout on the raise/play bet depending on the level of the hand.

Fixed Odds Payout Table for Caribbean Stud Poker

A regular payout table will look like to this:

One Pair: 1-1
Two Pairs: 2-1
Three of a Kind: 3-1
Straight: 4-1
Flush: 6-1
Full House: 8-1
Four of a Kind: 25-1
Straight Flush: 50-1 (including 10% of progressive jackpot)
Royal Flush: 200-1 (including 100% of progressive jackpot)

Basic Strategy for Caribbean Stud Poker

The basic strategy for Caribbean Stud Poker is always to play (raise) with a Pair or higher and always fold with less than A-K-J-8-3.

It is not a good idea to play the progressive side bet as the chances of winning this are incredibly low at 649,760 to 1, the true odds. Some say only to play the progressive bet if the jackpot meter reads $263,000 or higher.

Overview