REAL POKER MASTERY

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.



stud poker

Will Win asked:


Up to this point we’ve talked about Caribbean Stud Poker’s layout basics, typical hand play and some other entry-level information. Today, we’ll continue the discussion by venturing into payouts. After all, that’s the best part, right? We’ll start with Caribbean Stud Poker hand payouts and finish with a segment about progressive payouts. Let’s get started.

As you know from our previous segment, the dealer must qualify for you to be paid on your raise wagers. Antes are always paid even money. Here’s a handy listing of what raise wagers are paid when the dealer’s hand rank is an Ace-King or better.

One Pair: paid even money. Ex: $10 is paid $10.

Two Pair: paid 2x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $20.

Three of a Kind: paid 3x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $30.

Straight: paid 4x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $40.

Flush: paid 5x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $50.

Full House: paid 7x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $70.

Four of a Kind: paid 20x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $200.

Straight Flush: paid 50x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $500.

Royal Flush: paid 100x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $1,000.

Here’s an important note. These payouts are not globally applied. Each casino may have different payouts. For instance, I once saw an online casino that paid 200x on the Royal Flush and 6x on a Full House. Shop around. That’s vital for the progressives.

The real money in Caribbean Stud Poker is won via the progressives. These payouts vary from casino to casino, so shop around to find the best deal. Some will pay less on a Royal Flush, but a lot more on a Four of a Kind. Also keep in mind that these payouts are always made regardless of the dealer’s hand. It’s $1 per hand to get locked into the progressives.

Here’s an example setup for a Caribbean Stud Poker progressive:

Flush: Payout of $50 – $100.

Full House: Payout of $75 – $250.

Four of a Kind: Payout of $100 – $500 (see, shop around).

Straight Flush: 10% of the current progressive jackpot amount. Ex: progressive is $50,000 so the payout would be $5,000.

Royal Flush: The big boy. It pays the whole progressive.

If you read any decent book on casino gambling, it will probably tell you that the progressive is a bad wager. But, they obviously haven’t been sitting at a Caribbean Stud Table and received a Four of a Kind only to see the dealer not qualify. To me, it’s a small price to pay for insurance.

In our last part of this series, we’ll talk about hand rankings and perhaps look at some strategy for winning.



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Will Win asked:


Caribbean Stud Poker is variation on the standard five-card poker that can be found both in brick and mortar casinos and online. Here is a brief rundown on how the game is played. Each player starts by making a wager with the option to make an additional wager on the progressive side.

In Caribbean Stud Poker the player can make a side bet of $1 that pays out for hands of a flush or better. Payoff tables vary but always feature a progressive jackpot that pays the whole jackpot for a royal flush and 10% for a straight flush. If two players had a royal flush in the same hand the player closest to the dealer’s right wins the jackpot and the second wins whatever the jackpot is dropped to. In most casinos, the second jackpot is $10,000. This is done because the order of play is from the dealer’s right to left. If two players score a straight flush, the player to the dealer’s right gets 10% of the jackpot and the other player gets 10% of what is left over.

While it may seem like a good investment to lay down one dollar in the chance of winning over ten thousand the chances are stacked very high that you will never see your dollar again.

Players are then dealt five cards each, as is the dealer. All cards are dealt face down with the exception of one of the dealer’s cards that is dealt face up.

After checking their cards players must decide to raise or fold as usual for poker games. Players that fold forfeit their cards and all wager placed on the game. To raise a player must wager twice the game ante.

The dealer turns over his remaining cards and compares them with the players. Card ranks are the same as regular poker with the additional condition of the dealer ‘qualifying’. This is where the Caribbean poker comes into it’s own.

The dealer must be showing an at least an ace and a king or higher to qualify. If the dealer does not qualify the player wins even money on his ante wager and the raise is pushed. On the other hand if the dealer qualifies he beats the player and both the ante and the raise go to the house. If however the dealer qualifies but still loses to the player, then the ante pays even money and the raise pays according to the house pay table. Pay tables can vary to be sure to check it before you play.

If the player and dealer tie then both the ante and raise are pushed. The progressive side bet is paid out based on the value of the players hand. The pay out tables for the progressive bet can also vary.

Caribbean Stud strategy is complicated and only the most skilled players can apply one. As a general rule though you should always raise if you have a pair or higher and always fold if you have less than required qualifying hand for the dealer.



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