Caribbean Stud Poker has only recently come upon the scene in American casinos. And yet within the span of ten years almost every large casino offers at least one Caribbean Stud Poker table. You are probably wondering how it became so popular so quickly. One of the primary reasons is that it is very like the All-American five-card stud poker known to the majority of poker gamblers. Another reason is that rather than play against themselves, players play against the dealer which is less daunting than the usual poker game. Then, the game is attractive because its jackpot is progressive and sometime exceeds one hundred thousand dollars. Lastly, this poker game is simple to play and this is the probably the most significant reason.

Aim of the Game: thrashing the dealer’s five-card poker hand is the game’s goal. In the game of Caribbean Stud Poker you don’t draw cards. The dealer and each player are dealt five cards and if a player’s hand ranks higher than the dealer’s hand of five cards then the player is the winner.

Playing Caribbean Stud Poker: A maximum of seven players participate in this poker game, who sit around a table comparable to a table for blackjack. Only one regular fifty-two card pack is used. An automatic shuffler is generally used for accelerating the game, which shuffles one deck while simultaneously another is in use. Facing each player are two betting sections. Ante is the name of one section, and bet is the other. A slot is located above the ante bet where those players wanting a progressive jackpot drop coins of one dollar.

You begin playing by making a obligatory ante bet and if you are interested in the progressive jackpot you can put a coin in the slot. Now five cards are dealt by the dealer to himself and to the players, of the dealer’s cards one is open and the others are dealt face down. Now, after picking up the cards, according to the dealer’s exposed card and the player’s hand’s value one of two decisions is made by the player.

The first decision: This is the option to fold by placing the cards face down on the table is open to a player who thinks that he has no chance of beating the dealer’s hand. On folding, the dealer takes away the player’s cards without exposing them, and the player loses not only the round he plays but the ante bet too.

The second decision: This option relates to the situation when the player believes he can beat the dealer. In this case, the player, when calling, has to wager double the ante sum. Thus if your ante sum was two dollars then you call a bet for four dollars.

When each player has made his or her decision to call or fold only then does the dealer display his cards on the table. If players are to win the two wagers, then you should know that the dealer’s hand has to qualify - and this is the most significant ruling in Caribbean Stud Poker. Qualification happens when a minimum of an ace, king or better comprise the dealer’s hand. This ruling is of great importance because closing the round is determined by whether the dealer has a qualifying hand or not.

What happens if the dealer’s hand doesn’t qualify? In this case those players still in the game and who didn’t fold profit from the ante wager by winning even money. And a push, namely, the second called wager is paid back. All the players’ cards on the layout are now taken back by the dealer without exposing them. What in actual fact happens is that the dealer folds and he doesn’t contrast his cards with the players’ cards to find out the best hand.

What happens if the dealer has a qualifying hand? In this case, a minimum of an ace and king for calling all the other hands has to be in the dealer’s hand. When this happens each player puts his cards on the table and the dealer contrasts his hand with the player’s to rank the highest poker hand. The dealer wins not only the call bet but the player’s ante too if his hand is higher than the player’s. However, if it happens that the player’s ranking is greater than the dealer’s hand then the player wins the ante with even money and the call bet on the basis of following payoffs: a royal flush is awarded a one hundred to one odds; a straight flush gets fifty to one odds; a four-of-a-kind is awarded a twenty to one odds; a flush get five to one; a four to one goes to straight; three to one odds go to three-of-a-kind; two pair is awarded two to one odds; one pair gets one to one odds, and an ace king is awarded a one to one odds.

Understanding the Progressive Jackpot Wager: This is an option which is not connected to the call bet and ante and is not dependent on the dealer’s hand. This means there is no relevance to whether the dealer has a qualifying hand or not or his hand ranking. On condition you make a wager on the jackpot you can be awarded a payout providing you receive a hand comprising one of the following: royal flush awards one hundred percent jackpot; straight flush provides a ten percent jackpot; four of a kind gets you a five hundred dollar payoff; full house pays you one hundred dollars and a flush pays fifty dollars.

Regarding the payoffs for four-of-a-kind, full house and flush, it’s worth noting that the jackpot payouts vary somewhat among the assorted casinos. Some twenty five to seventy five cents for every dollar are returned to the jackpot kitty by the casino and as players’ coins are dropped into the jackpot slot so the sum increases.

Learning Strategy: Very often you find players making several bad moves. One wrong move is to fold when holding a low pair, and another wrong move is trying to pretend to the dealer by making a call bet when holding a low hand. So the first thing to remember is, don’t fold on low pairs. Some forty two percent of the dealt cards will be pairs and it’s more profitable or less disadvantageous over the long term to make call wagers rather than fold, as the house edge on folding players is some seven percent. In addition, don’t try to bluff the dealer when you have a low hand by making call bets and think you can get away with it. These players think that if the dealer doesn’t qualify, he pays out the ante bet to players remaining in the game, those making the call bet, without any connection to the type of player’s hand. This type of strategy is faulty because when the dealer does qualify, which is about fifty six percent of the time, the losses are on both the ante and the call wager which is equal to double the sum of the ante wager. By bluffing, statistically, a weak hand loses twenty five percent of his ante wagers in the long term than when folding. So stop bluffing and pretending – it just doesn’t pay.

Strategic Fundamentals: And after all that talk on strategy it’s recommended you begin with these basic moves: First, if you have an ace-king or under then fold. Second, make call wagers with the following hands: a minimum of any pair or greater; a minimum of an ace-king and a card identical to the dealer’s face card.

Always bear in mind that 5.2% is the house’s edge according to the ante wager played by the player, or in other words, a 2.6% edge founded on the call bet and the ante. In summarizing we recommend the following: if after reading all this you are interested in playing Caribbean Stud Poker then use your head to play with intelligence, that means, base your playing on the strategic rudiments we have outlined. Keep away from bluffing when you’ve got a weak hand and when you’ve got low pairs don’t fold. And lastly, regarding the jackpot: only if the accumulated jackpot sum is worth betting on don’t wager on the progressive jackpot bet.