Caribbean Stud Poker

This game has been around for over 20 years and other games like Three-Card Poker and Let It Ride are based on this game. This is another relatively simple game to learn and play. You are competing against the dealer's hand and the house edge is a little over 5%.

To start off, each player must make an ante wager and will receive five cards in return, all face down. The dealer will also receive five cards, one of which will be face up.

At this point, you have two options: fold or raise. If you fold, you lose your orignal ante bet. If you raise, you will have to make a bet that that is twice your Ante bet in the appropriate area. If you raise, the dealer will turn over her hand and will need at least an ace-king to qualify.

If she doesn't have an ace-king or better, you are paid even money for your Ante bet and your raise bet are returned to you (you don't win anything on your raise bet). If the dealer's hand qualifies and beats your hand, you lose your ante and raise bet. If the dealer's hand ties your hand, you get your ante and raise bet back. If the dealer qualifies and loses to your hand, which is what you want, you will be paid off according to a pay schedule (see below for a typical payout).

Strategies:
Raise if you have an ace, king, jack or any pair.  

Progressive:
As the typical table progessive goes, you have to make a $1 bet to qualify for the progressive payout. The minimum winning hand is a flush or better. The house edge on the progressive runs over 25% and should be avoided. With that said, I see many players make this bet and lose and a few that have actually won.

The typical progressive payout schedule: