Casino Games - How to Play Casino Stud Poker

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Game Summary

Casino stud poker is a variation of poker which is also known as Caribbean stud poker. As the name suggests it originates from the Caribbean islands. Its a very popular game that can be found at the numerous casinos and cruise ships in the Caribbean islands. The game shares many similarities with standard table poker.

Casino Stud is played at a table very much like a blackjack table. The attraction of the game is the high pay-off if you catch a good hand which qualifies. A straight flush which qualifies pays 50-1 and even a lowly two pairs pays double.

The advantage to playing Caribbean poker is it does offer a great payoff, which is why people take their chances and play despite the slim odds of winning.

Basic Play

Each player has two circles on the lay-out in front of him, marked raise and ante. You put the stake you want to play in the circle marked ante. Minimum and maximum bets are displayed at each table.

The dealer then deals five cards to each player and five cards to himself, turning the top card face up. This gives players a clue as to the strength of the dealer's hand.

After the cards are dealt, each player picks up his hand and takes a look to see what he's got. This is the moment of decision!

You have two choices:

1. If you think your hand is a winner and fancy your chances, you can raise. You lay your cards face down in the raise box and place double your initial stake on top of your cards. If your first bet was £10, the raise is £20, making a total of £30 bet.
2. If you feel your hand is likely to be a loser, you can surrender your initial stake right away, by pushing your cards towards the dealer.

When all the players have decided whether to raise or fold, the dealer turns his other four cards over. The rule of Casino Stud is that the dealer must have an ace-king or better for his hand to qualify.

If the dealer's hand does not qualify, the dealer simply pays out all the players still in the hand their ante stake, at even money, without comparing their actual hands.

If the dealer's hand qualifies, he then turns the players' hands over, one by one. If your hand beats the dealer's hand, you win. If the dealers' hand beats your hand, you lose. Ties are a stand off, but all five cards count.

Note that you can raise even on a weak hand, to try and win your ante, because if the dealer does not have a qualifying hand, he folds immediately and pays all the antes. You can play only one hand at a time at Casino Stud. Conferring between players is not allowed.

Payoffs

Hands

Top Tips

• Its always best to raise on a pair, however low it may be. This includes low pairs like a pair of twos or threes, even though these bets are associated with a net average loss. The point is that the net average expected loss for not raising these hands is even higher. So live a little and raise on that pair of twos.
• Fold on anything less than Ace/King. This game is has enough risk involved already.
• Only ever raise on Ace/King when one of your cards matches the rank of the dealers up card.
• Playing a hand with Ace/Queen and three low cards is often a mistake. Inexperienced players call on this hand because under the right circumstances it can look powerful. For example, the hand A-Q-J-10-9, (unsuited) looks strong, but is in reality worthless. Since the only way this hand can win is for the dealer to have nothing, there is no good reason why this play should ever be made.