Carribean Stud Poker Strategies
Caribbean Stud Poker is one of
the few table games, along with Let It Ride, that have been
able to claim a share of the increasingly small space casinos
give to table games. Casinos prefer slots, because they don't
require trained dealers or close eye-in-the-sky supervision.
Caribbean Stud is loosely based
on the classic American poker game, 5-card stud, although it
requires none of the skills that let Edward G. Robinson defeat
Steve (The Kid) McQueen in "The Cincinnati Kid." If you know
poker hand values, you can play Caribbean Stud.
When you begin Caribbean Stud,
you will be asked to make an ante bet. This creates much of
the house edge because you have to make the bet before you see
any of your cards.
You're also given the option of
dropping a dollar in a slot to become eligible for a
progressive jackpot. This progressive jackpot bet is where
most of the rest of the house edge comes from. For the
progressive jackpot to be a good gamble, it needs to be upward
of $400,000, and no one reading this column has probably ever
seen it climb that high.
Still, just as with Let It Ride,
many players drop the dollar anyway, figuring it's only a
dollar, and fearing the nightmare that they might hit a
five-card royal flush and not have played the progressive
jackpot. Let's keep the math simple and say that you could
play Caribbean stud four hours a day, five days a week, for
the rest of your life, and you'd still be a HUGE underdog to
catch that five-card royal. Just relax and play the game
without the dollar.
Assuming you can resist the urge
to play the progressive jackpot bet, you're halfway home in
your Caribbean Stud Poker Strategies. All you need do to play
perfectly is to not play unless your starting hand is
A-K-J-8-3 or better.
That means you should play if
your hand is any pair (or better) or if your hand is
A-K-J-9-2. Don't play if your hand is A-K-J-7-6, or
A-Q-J-10-9.
If you do play, you must post a
bet that is twice the size of your original ante, and if you
look down at your hand and see something like 5-5-5-3-3, you
happily stick that money out there, because you have a full
house, and you will be paid a multiple of your bet -- maybe.
Here's the other problem with
Caribbean Stud, and one reason why some players prefer Let It
Ride. If the dealer does not qualify, that is, make a hand
that is at least A-K or better, you don't win anything but
your ante bet.
The nice multiple you were
expecting for your full house doesn't get paid if the dealer
turns over something like K-Q-6-5-3. You just win your ante
bet, and get the other money returned to you.
Because you always win the ante
if the dealer fails to qualify and you have stayed in the hand
by making the double-ante bet, many poor Caribbean Stud
players will make the double ante wager with horrible hands,
hoping that they will collect because the dealer fails to
qualify.
This is a dangerous way to play
Caribbean Stud, because you have to risk double your original
bet just to try to win the ante. It's much better just to give
up the ante bet when you don't have the minimum I've set out,
and wait for another hand. Unlike real poker, where folding
often means a wait of several minutes before another hand gets
dealt to you, you'll get another hand almost faster than you
can blink in Caribbean Stud. Fold the losers, play the decent
hands, and you'll have a decent chance.
You will still be an underdog to
the house, but you won't be a sucker, either.
*The following online
casinos are highly reputable, and we recommend them for trying
out our carribean stud poker strategies, whether you want to
play for free/fun, or if you want to play for real money. Good
luck!
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