How to Best Play Caribbean Stud Poker?

We continue to get questions about how to win on slot machines.  No matter how often we tell our gamers that there is no surefire winning strategy for slots, since slots are a pure game of chance, we feel that we should do a very quick review about slots strategy before we get into a much more interesting subject, namely, how to win at Caribbean poker?

The Random Number Generator Knows All

All video slots games are run by a random number generator which is simply software that tells the reels when to stop spinning.  Whatever shows up on the screen when the reels stop spinning determines if you win or lose and how much you win.

The random number generator doesn’t know what happened on the last spin or the one before that or the thousands of spins before that.  So, there is no such thing as a hot slot machine or a cold one.

The Only Reliable Strategy for Slots

Since slots are a game of chance, the only really viable strategy is to play them within your means.  The fun side of slots increases as gamers play knowing that they are playing with a reasonable budget.

The fun side of slots is enhanced at Jackpot Capital online casino because you can play every one of our slots from the comfort of your desktop or sofa without ever giving up your seat!

Finally, the fun side of slots is increased as you try out as many slots as possible up to every one of the slots we offer.

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Caribbean Stud Poker

Now let’s get into strategy for Caribbean Stud Poker.  We will talk about Caribbean Hold’em in our next article.

Caribbean Stud Poker is a poker variation with a voluntary progressive jackpot as a side bet.  It is poker in the sense that the same hierarchy of hands in poker applies to Caribbean Stud.  But this is a game in which you have to consider what the dealer might have and to decide whether or not to continue.

After the Player Antes, The Dealer Deals out the Cards

In the online version, the player gets five cards face up and the dealer gets five cards only one of which is face up.  Since the player has placed a bet, she has to decide how to proceed.  If she wants to continue, she has to raise with a bet that is double the ante bet.  If she folds, she loses the ante bet.

If The Player Continues, She Can Win Even with a Bad Hand

Now, here is where strategy comes in.  If the player raises, the dealer still has to “qualify” for the game to go the limit.  If the dealer doesn’t qualify, the player wins the ante bet and the raise is a push.  So, the first aspect of Caribbean Stud strategy is to know what the chances are that the dealer will qualify.

The dealer has to have at least an ace and a king to qualify.  Since only one card in the dealer’s hand shows, it is impossible for the player to know if the dealer qualified.  Therefore it is very hard for the player to determine if she should continue or not.  The alternative to continuing is a kind of surrender. 

What if the Dealer Wins?

If the dealer qualifies and wins, she wins the ante and the raise.  What if the dealer loses?  If the dealer qualifies and loses, the player wins both the ante and the raise.  The raise pays according to the value of the winning hand.

The pay scale goes up based on the general hierarchy of poker hands.  The highest payout is 150x the raise bet for a Royal Flush.  Since this is a rare hand indeed, players will play for the much more common hands.

The Strategy is Based on Whether or Not to Raise

Even the best statistician in the world of gaming, The Wizard of Odds, says that he thinks that no one in the world knows the best strategy for Caribbean Stud perfectly!

However, he does divide the best basic strategy into two simple formulas:

• Always raise with a pair or better
• Always fold with a hand that is weaker than the dealer’s qualifying hand, ace and king.

This strategy keeps in mind that while the dealer cannot win with a hand weaker than ace/king, you can!  You don’t need to have an ace/king to win if the dealer doesn’t qualify.  If you have the worst hand in the world but the dealer doesn’t qualify, you win the ante bet and the raise is a push! 

The Wizard of Odds tells gamers to fold with less than ace/king and to raise with an ace/king if the following three elements appear:

• Raise with ace/king if the dealer isn’t showing either an ace or a king and one of her cards matches one of yours.  That reduces the chances that dealer will have a pair.
• If the dealer shows an ace or a king and you have exactly an ace/king hand, you should raise if you also have a queen or a jack.  That means that you’ll have a good chance to win with a high kicker.
• This last strategy item is truly bizarre.  Raise with an ace/king if you also have a queen, and the dealer doesn’t match any of the ranks in your hand and if the dealer’s up card is less than your fourth highest card.  How he devised such a statistical strategy we cannot fathom!

The Progressive Jackpot

This is a side bet.  You can win a percentage of the progressive jackpot with a string hand and you’ll win the entire jackpot with a Royal Flush.

Why are the Caribbean Poker Games Called Caribbean?

These poker variations originated in casinos in the Caribbean!  That’s really the only element in these games that is truly Caribbean!  In our next article, we’ll talk about strategy for Caribbean Hold’em and then we’ll segue into a discussion of the best features of a Caribbean vacation.

The coronavirus pandemic is slowly winding down so people can once again begin to think about and talk about vacations.  So, our little talk about vacationing in the Caribbean which we will write about next time, will be a welcome addition to the neo-vacationers’’ vacation talk!

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