REAL POKER MASTERY

Will Win asked:


This amazing and enjoyable game was born on the Caribbean islands. Just how it got to the rest of the world is an easy tale. The primary vehicle was cruise ships. Soon, passengers were learning this game and before too long, it appeared in many casino pits. What’s amazing is that the game survived, so you know it’s good. Many games have been tried in casino pits and almost all fail.

Caribbean Stud Poker is popular because it’s so darn easy to learn and it’s fun. The game is played with a regular 52-card deck on a blackjack-style table. Each table holds up to 7 players. And of course, you can play at online casinos. Some online casinos have multi-player Caribbean Stud Poker. Even if you’re playing by yourself, it’s still a fun game.

When you look at a Caribbean Stud Poker table you’ll notice five main areas of interest to the game. The closest to your seat is the card area where you’ll receive your cards each hand. The dealer also has a card area. These are the two main focal points during a hand.

Following that up are the three betting areas in Caribbean Stud Poker. First, there’s the Ante spot. This is where you place your first bet for each hand. It’s required to play. The second betting spot is the progressive slot. If you slip $1 into the progressive slot before each hand, you’ll be qualified to win one of the progressive jackpots should you receive the proper hand. More on this later. And the last betting spot is the Raise wager spot. This is a required bet to stay in the hand after you’ve received your cards. We’ll discuss all of this in more detail shortly.

Seeing the betting options should put your mind at ease about this game. It’s not complicated. You bet, get your cards, bet a fixed amount to stay in, and win or lose. It’s very simple. Heck, even a child could pick up Caribbean Stud Poker to a degree and play. Perhaps the “biggest” item to learn is the hand ranking. But, if you already play poker or video poker, you know this. And if not, it’s fairly easy-especially online where they have help menus.

In the next part of our Caribbean Stud Poker series we’ll talk about the action of a hand from start to finish. Later in the series, we’ll talk about payouts, hand ranking, and progressives, which vary from casino to casino. Some call Caribbean Stud Poker a “carnival” game, because the house advantage is high. Still, it’s a great game to break up the monotony and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying yourself every now and then.



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PKR Poker asked:


If you want to become a serious poker player online or offline, you need to know the poker, hand rankings or you not know if you have a good hand or a bad hand. Of course, if you are use to playing with friends at home, you are more than likely not playing by the rules that are seen at casinos. All casinos, poker rooms online, and offline play by the same rules.

The first thing you must know is that all 52 cards are used to play poker in most cases; however, the joker may or may not be used. The joker is often only seen in Draw Poker games and is not used in Texas Hold’em, other hold’em games, and stud poker.

Cards are ranked from highest to lowest with the Ace at the top. The King, Queen, and Jack come next in that order and then 10 all the way down to the 2 often referred to as the deuce. The Ace can be used at the top or the bottom as a one for straights or even for the lowest card.

In practically all poker games, only the five best cards are counted even if you are playing a seven-card game. Here is the breakdown so you will know if you have a good hand.

If a joker is in play, the best hand a person can have is a five of a kind with five Aces at the top of the list. If no joker is in play, the best hand is the straight flush. A straight flush is five cards of the same suit such as all spades, all hearts, all clubs, or all diamonds. Of course, the cards must be in order to be a straight such as five diamonds from 5 to 10. A Royal Flush is the best hand, which includes the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten.

Four of a kind comes next. All four cards must be the same card, such as all tens, kings, etc… with the higher the card ranking the better. The best of course would be four Aces.

Next is the Full House. A full house is three cards that have the same rank and then a pair. The higher the three cards the better such as 3 Kings and 2 5’s. Of course, the person with the higher three cards will beat other players.

The flush is next. A flush is cards of the same suit, but not in order. This means you can have five hearts of any rank. The person with the highest rank card will win if everyone has a flush.

The straight is next with five cards in order from various suits. This means you can have 1 ace space, 1 diamond king, 1 heart queen, 1 club jack, and 1 spade 10. The suit does not matter.

Three of a kind means the same card such as all three kings. The next is a two pair of the same such as 2 Aces and 2 fives. The last one is one pair such as 2 tens.

Of course if no one has any of the above, the person with the highest card will win the hand.



Caffeinated Content

Will Win asked:


It’s time to close out our series on Caribbean Stud Poker. We’ve looked at layout issues, hand play, the basics of the game and payouts. In this final installment, I’ll go over hand rankings and briefly touch on strategy.

It’s not wise to play the game without knowing how it works, so let’s go over hand rankings. If you’ve played poker of any kind, you probably know this already. It’s fairly simple. Here is the Caribbean Stud Poker hand-ranking list. I’m starting with the lowest hands first.

High Card: This is the hand you have when you can’t make any hand. Your highest card is your hand.

One Pair: Having two cards of the same rank, such as two Kings.

Two Pair: When you have two cards of one rank and two more cards of an additional ranks, such as two Kings and two Queens.

Three of a Kind: When you have three cards of the same rank, such as three Jacks.

Straight: When you have five cards all in sequential orders, such as 6, 7, 8 ,9 and 10. As a note, the Ace can be used before the 2 or after the King.

Flush: All five of your cards are the same suit, such as five clubs.

Full House: You have three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank, such as three Jacks and two Aces.

Four of a Kind: Four of your cards are the same rank, such as four 7s.

Straight Flush: This is the same as the straight except all five cards are the same suit, such as hearts.

Royal Flush: This is the granddaddy of the them all. It’s a straight flush that has the cards 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. Think the progressive is a waste of $1? Imagine you have this hand and the dealer doesn’t qualify. You’d be paid even money on your ante bet only.

Let’s close with a little strategy talk. Strategy is all over the place in this game. Since the dealer doesn’t qualify a good amount of time, I have two strategy ideas to present with you.

First, if you’re playing $10 or higher hands, bet the progressive. At $10 antes, the progressive is a 10% add-on, so it’s not too much. And you’ll be glad when you have a decent hand and the dealer doesn’t qualify.

Second, stay in hands when you have a hand. If all you have is a high card, you have to pray the dealer doesn’t qualify. I don’t think it’s worth risking 2x your ante for a shot in the dark.

Either way, Caribbean Stud Poker is a great game to play. I hope you’ll give it a try.



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