Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy Guide

Caribbean Stud is a five-card stud game against the dealer, who reveals one up-card before you decide. You either fold or call with a bet of exactly twice your ante.

The dealer must have at least Ace-King to qualify; when the dealer doesn't qualify, your ante still wins even money. An optional $1 jackpot bet pays big on premium hands.

How to Play

• Place an Ante (and an optional $1 Jackpot bet). You get five cards; the dealer gets five with one card face up.
• After seeing your hand, fold (losing your Ante) or Call by betting exactly twice the Ante.
• The dealer qualifies with Ace-King-high or better. If the dealer doesn't qualify, the Ante pays 1:1 and the Call pushes.
• If the dealer qualifies, the higher five-card hand wins; on a win the Ante pays 1:1 and the Call pays a bonus per the pay table. A tie pushes both.
• The $1 Jackpot pays on your hand alone per its pay table, regardless of the dealer and even if you fold.

Pay Tables

Strategy

• Always Call with a pair or better. Always fold with less than Ace-King-high.
• With exactly Ace-King-high, Call if the dealer's up-card matches one of your cards, or if you also hold a Queen or Jack when the dealer shows an Ace or King.
• Simplest near-optimal rule: Call with a pair or higher, otherwise fold — folding ace-king costs only a fraction of a percent versus perfect play.
• The $1 Jackpot has a high house edge; treat it as a lottery-style flyer, not a value bet.

House Edge

With optimal strategy the house edge is about 5.2% of the ante, or roughly 2.6% of total action (element of risk). The $1 jackpot bet is a high-edge flyer.

Tips

• Always call with a pair or better; always fold worse than Ace-King — that captures nearly all of the optimal strategy.
• Don't fold ace-king-high reflexively; raise it when the dealer's up-card pairs your hand or sits below your cards.
• The $1 jackpot is a lottery bet — fun, but not a value play.