How to play Caribbean Stud Poker

Caribbean Stud Poker is fast becoming one of the most popular games in online casinos as players realise the enjoyment value in a quick-paced game that relies on a combination of chance and skill.

Much like normal poker the idea is to win with as strong a hand as possible, betting on the supposed dominance of your hand-of-five against others. What makes Caribbean different, however, is that you play the house – not others – and so bluffs and tactical folding are not necessary.

For first-timers Caribbean is a great way to develop your knowledge of card and betting values without having to compete with players of greater experience and many new gamers join the Betfair Caribbean Stud Poker community to develop their skills.

The rules of the game are easy to pick up. First you put an initial blind bet down (called the ante) before being dealt five cards. Examine and study your cards carefully. If you think you have a strong hand then stay in the game by at least matching your initial ante bet, or if not you can fold and lose it.

By matching your ante, you make the dealer turn their hand of five over and whoever has the strongest wins.

This may sound easy but there are tweaks to the rulebook that aid your chances of winning. For a start the dealer must have an Ace/King combination or better to qualify. If they don’t, you win even money from your ante and your other bet goes back into your account (effectively a 50% gain if your bet matches the ante).

However, should the dealer have a qualifying hand that you can still beat you win even money on the ante plus whatever other bets are on the paytable.

So, for example, if you have a hand of off-suit K-8-6-K-K and the dealer has an off-suit A-3-5-4-A you stand to win a lot of money as your three Kings beats two Aces.

What makes Betfair Caribbean Stud Poker so fun is that while playing you can also contribute to a community pot called the progressive jackpot. Each contribution costs £1 and is an accumulation across all players who opt in, meaning if you hit a flush or better you can win a very sizeable bonus.