Caribbean Poker

You ante in and the dealer deals five cards to you and five to themselves. The dealer turns one of their cards up. At this point you can make an additional bet -- the "call" bet -- or surrender. If you surrender you lose the hand and your ante.

If you make the "call" bet then the dealer turns over their cards. To continue to the showdown, the dealer must "qualify" by holding at least an Ace-King or better. If the dealer does not qualify, you win the ante but your "call" bet is simply returned, no matter what the cards show.

If the dealer does qualify then it's a good old fashioned showdown, with a catch. If you win, the ante pays even money. But if you win with anything better than a pair, then the house pays you a multiple of your "call" bet based on a bonus ranking. The better your hand, the higher the bonus.

Betting.....There are two betting rounds in a hand of Caribbean Poker. The first is your ante. The second comes when the dealer turns one of their cards face up. If you like what you see and think you're still in the running, you can place a "call" bet -- which is fixed at twice whatever you anted -- and play on. If you don't "call" you surrender and forfeit your ante.

Payoff in Caribbean Poker is very simple. If you place a "call" bet and the dealer fails to qualify, you win even money on your ante and the "call" bet is simply returned. If the dealer qualifies and you win the showdown, you get even money on your ante and your "call" pays out according to the following chart:

Hand	Payoff
Royal Flush	100:1
Straight Flush	50:1
4 of a Kind	20:1
Full House	7:1
Flush	5:1
Straight	4:1
3 of a Kind	3:1
2 Pair	2:1
1 Pair	1:1

If you lose the showdown, the dealer takes both your bets and it's time for another hand.

Strategy

Even played optimally, Caribbean Stud has a house edge of over 5% so it isn't exactly a great returning game.  Buy is you are going to play, then this is how you should do it.

• Raise on A-K-J-8-3 or better.
  
• Fold otherwise.
  
  

A-K-J-8-3 is the lowest break-even hand in the game and is known as the "beacon hand". While this won't make you a long-term winner, it will help slow your losses. It's the paying hands, a pair or better, that will net you the good wins. Trouble is that the dealer must qualify (A-K) in order for you to get the real payoffs and this only 54% of the time.  This means that 46% of the time you'll only get paid for your Ante bet at 1-1 no matter how good your cards are. If you are going to play Caribbean Stud, then good luck you'll need it.

Good luck!