Game Rules

Caribbean Stud Poker

Caribbean Stud Poker is a card game that pits players against a casino dealer. The object of the game is to beat the dealer's five-card hand according to the ranking of cards used in Poker.

Players make an Ante wager to get into the game and then a Bet wager if they want to stay in the game and compete against the dealer. No one can compete against the dealer, however, unless the dealer's hand qualifies with an ace and a king or higher. If the dealer's hand does not qualify, all Ante wagers still in play receive even money, no matter how bad the hands may be. And all Bet wagers are returned without payoff, no matter how good the hands may be.

For some players, the greatest attraction of Caribbean Stud Poker is the optional wager on the bonus jackpot. For just a $1 side bet, a player stands to win thousands of dollars. Before betting on the bonus jackpot, however, consider the odds. The top payoff, for a royal flush, is $200,000, but the odds of getting a royal flush are 1 in 649,739!

How the Game Is Played

Caribbean Stud Poker is played on a customized blackjack table, using a single deck of cards. In front of each player are betting areas marked "Ante" and "Bet." There’s also a small unmarked drop slot for the bonus jackpot.

Before any cards are dealt, players place their mandatory Ante wagers in their Ante

areas. If you intend to bet on the bonus jackpot, now is the time for that, too: put a $1

coin or chip into the slot in front of you.

When all bets are in, the dealer deals each player five cards face down. The dealer

takes five cards and turns one of them face up.

Look at your cards and compare them to the customary ranking of Poker hands:

• Straight flush

• Four of a kind

• Full house

• Flush

• Straight

• Three of a kind

• Two pair

• Pair of 10s or better

Considering your own cards and the dealer’s upturned card, you have this choice: fold,

or stay in the game by doubling your Ante.

Fold if you have no hope of beating the dealer’s hand. By laying your cards face down

on the table, you automatically lose your Ante bet.

Stay in the game if you think you can beat the dealer’s hand. Place chips equal to twice

your Ante bet in the Bet area. If your Ante was $5, for example, make a Bet wager of

$10. (Your total wager for the hand is now $15, excluding the bonus jackpot bet.)

All of the dealer’s cards are now revealed, and play is over.

How Payoffs Are Made on Ante and Bet Wagers

What happens to your Ante and Bet wagers depends on the dealer’s hand and

whether it “qualifies.” To qualify, the dealer’s hand must include at least an ace and a

king, a pair, or better. For example, a dealer’s hand containing A-K-3-7-10 or 3-3-7-9-2

qualifies whereas a hand containing A-Q-2-4-8 does not. Remember, too, your hand

competes only with the dealer’s hand, not with the hands of the other players.

What happens to each player’s Ante and Bet is summarized in the following table:

Dealer’s hand is better: Dealer’s hand does

not qualify: No

Dealer’s hand Player loses both the matter which hand

is better: Ante and the Bet. is better, player

Player’s hand Player wins even money wins even money

is better: on the Ante and wins on on the Ante, and

the Bet according to the the Bet is returned

Bet payoff schedule without payoff.

Hands tie: Both the Ante and the Bet

are returned without payoff.

Playoffs made on Ante wagers are always even money. Payoffs on Bet wagers are

made according to the following schedule.

Hand Payoff

Royal flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 to 1

Straight flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 to 1

Four of a kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 to 1

Full house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 to 1

Flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 to 1

Straight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 to 1

Three of a kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 to 1

Two pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 to 1

Pair of 10s or better . . . . . . . . . . . even money

How Payoffs Are Made on Bonus Jackpot Bets

By placing a $1 chip into the slot for the bonus jackpot at the beginning of the hand,

you are wagering that you will get a flush or better in your hand, regardless of whether

or not the dealer qualifies.

If you end up with a flush or better, you win. The amount of your payoff depends on

the size of the bonus jackpot pool. In Hoyle Casino, this is always $200,000. In real

casinos, the jackpot increases as people play, and resets to a base amount when

someone wins the top prize.

Hoyle Casino Payoffs on the Bonus Jackpot

Hand Payoff

Royal flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100% of jackpot

Straight flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10% of jackpot

Four of a kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $500

Full house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10

Flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50

Basic Strategy for Winning at Caribbean Stud Poker

The only critical decision in Caribbean Stud Poker comes when you decide whether to

make the Bet wager or fold and forfeit your Ante wager. It’s a simple decision for which

experts offer many strategies, some of them complex. As different as these strategies

may be, however, they all agree on one point:

• Make a Bet wager when your hand includes a pair or better. This strategy is

good, but there are times when you should make Bet wagers even when you hold

cards that rank below a pair. Unfortunately, experts do not agree on a single

strategy to cover these possibilities.

Probably the easiest comprehensive strategy is advanced by Andrew Brisman in

American Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways. This is Brisman’s

strategy:

• Make the Bet wager with a hand of A-K-J-8-3 or better. Fold otherwise.

Following this strategy, you would make a Bet wager whenever you have cards such

as A-K-Q-8-3 or A-K-J-9-3, and you would fold with cards such as A-Q-J-8-3 or A-K-J-

6-3. Of course, you would still wager on a hand with a pair or better.

Other strategies concentrate on hands with an ace and a king. On the Web site

www.smartgaming.com, for example, Henry Tamburin advocates a Bet wager

whenever you have a hand with an ace and a king and one of your other cards is of

the same rank as the dealer’s revealed card.You would also wager with a pair or

better, of course, but fold with anything less than ace-king.

Almost any book on Caribbean Stud Poker puts the house edge at an unfavorable

5.224%. On his Wizard of Odds Web site (www.thewizardofodds.com), however,

mathematician Michael Shackleford argues that house edge is not a fair way to

measure Caribbean Stud Poker.

Instead of house edge, which compares lost money only to Ante wagers, Shackleford

compares lost money to all wagers, Bet as well as Ante. This ratio, which he calls

“element of risk,” is a more respectable 2.56% and compares favorably with the

element of risk for Let It Ride (2.85%) and Three Card Poker (2.01%).

A Strategy for the Bonus Jackpot

Many of the same experts who disagree on the fine points of making Bet wagers are

completely in agreement on a strategy for the bonus jackpot: Don’t.

With odds like 1 in 649,739 for a royal flush and a house edge that can hover at 20%

and higher, it’s not hard to understand this opposition to the bonus jackpot. “Sucker

bet,” says Shackleford. “Yes, it beats the lottery, but not by a whole lot,” advises the

Game Master Online Web site (www.gamemasteronline.com).

If you can’t resist the temptation, understand that the size of the jackpot affects the

house edge for the bonus jackpot bet. In Hoyle Casino, the payoffs are $500 for four of

a kind, $100 for a full house, and $50 for a flush. According to Shackleford’s

calculations, the break even point for Hoyle Casino would be a jackpot of $218,047.

Since Hoyle Casino’s jackpot is always $200,000, the odds are slightly against you in

the long run.

Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy Highlights

• Make the Bet wager with a hand of A-K-J-8-3 or better. Fold otherwise.