The Basics

Caribbean Stud Poker, a favorite game aboard cruise ships and in South Pacific clubs, is now a popular online poker game. Caribbean Stud Poker is an easy game to learn and employs many of the skills of standard 5 Card Draw.

Caribbean Stud Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. A player needs to first place an "ante bet". The player and dealer are both dealt five cards each. One of the dealer’s cards is dealt face up. In Caribbean Stud Poker, no additional cards are drawn. The player and dealer compare hands from their five cards.

Playing Caribbean Stud

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.

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.

You need to choose whether to bet and challenge the dealer's hand or to surrender. If you want to challenge the dealer, bet two times the ante. When the bet has been placed, the dealer exposes their remaining four cards and the hands are compared. If you do not want to challenge the dealer's hand, you need to surrender and loose 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.

In Caribbean Stud Poker, the dealer's hand must have an Ace and a King to qualify. If the dealer's hand does not qualify, the player will receive payment on their ante only which pays even money (1 to 1).

If the dealer's hand does qualify the ante and the back bet will be paid according to the winnings table.

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.

When the player and dealer have the same hand value, it is considered a tie or push.  The bet is returned to the player.

Click to read about Caribbean Stud Strategy