Great Tips for Caribbean Stud Intermediate Players

Though not as exciting as poker variants such as Omaha, Hold’em, and Stud, poker players still love Caribbean Stud Poker because of its progressive jackpot.

Besides, it is easy to play and players’ odds of winning are quite fair. Since players will be playing not against one another, but against the house, the game is similar to blackjack.

The objective of the game is to create a hand strong enough to beat the hand created by the dealer. To begin with, both player and dealer get a hand of five cards each. While all the hands dealt to players are face-up, only one of the cards dealt to the dealer are face-up. Players will get paid if their five-card poker hand is better than that of the dealers.

Types of Bets

Players can place three different types of bets in Caribbean Poker, as follows:

• Side Bet – This is the most exciting bet because it unlocks the progressive jackpot feature. Players do not have to place the side bet of $1 and they may choose not to place it. However, if they do not place it, they will not win the progressive jackpot even if they create a Royal Flush.
• Ante Bet – This is a compulsory bet that must be placed before the cards are dealt to the players and the dealer. The value of the ante bet must be the minimum mentioned at the table. If players lose the game, they will lose their ante bets.
• Bet – Once the first five cards are dealt to the players and the dealer, players can study the situation and either fold or place a bet. If they choose not to fold, they must place another bet, double the size of their ante bets, to continue playing the game.

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Determining the Winner

Put quite simply, the winner is the player who beats the dealer, but before the dealer’s hand can be compared to the player’s hand, the dealer must have the required Ace and King combination in his hand. If the dealer does not have an Ace and King, players will get back their ante bets. If the dealer’s hand qualifies with an Ace and King, the hands are compared and players will get a payout depending on the strength of their hands.

Strategies for Intermediate Players

Here are some strategies to help intermediate players play a winning game of Caribbean Stud Poker:

• Play hands with small pairs because they will turn out to be profitable in the long run.
• Fold weak hands – Players who insist on playing weak hands will simply lose their money. Expert players say that if players have cards weaker than Aces and Kings, they must fold their hands.
• Players can play a hand with an Ace and King only if they have another card that is a good match for the dealer’s face-up card. This is to make extra sure that they will definitely beat the dealer.
• The most complex aspect of playing Caribbean Stud is playing the Ace and King combination. If players play their Ace and King cards properly, they can reduce the house edge by at least 2.5 percent.

Progressive Jackpot

Several experts feel that the optional side bet of $1, which triggers the progressive jackpot feature, is a sucker bet that should not be placed. If players simply want to place the side bet, they must first ensure that the progressive jackpot is large enough to be worth bothering about. While it is difficult to win the progressive jackpot, it is not something that can never be won.

Players might wonder how the progressive jackpot swells and grows to such gigantic proportions. A portion of the optional $1 side bet is dropped into the progressive jackpot, and this continues to happen till a lucky player wins it, after which it is reset to its seed value.

So, how does one win the progressive jackpot?

• First, place the optional $1 side bet before beginning the game.
• Now create a Royal Flush to win the entire progressive jackpot amount.
• If two players at the table create a Royal Flush, the pot is equally shared between the two.
• A percentage of the pot is also paid to players who create hands such as Flush, Full House, and Four of a Kind.