Understand the Live Caribbean Stud Poker game – The best strategy to play and win

Live Caribbean Stud poker is a live casino game where you play and interact with the live dealer. This live game is played just like the standard Caribbean Stud poker game being played at land casinos. Both the player and the dealer each receive five cards. All of the player’s cards are dealt face up, and all of the dealer’s cards except the last card are dealt face down. Players then decide to fold a raise or make a call based on their hand. Like the basic game of five stud poker live Caribbean stud poker is an easy game to play and understand.

How to play Live Caribbean Stud Poker

When you enter the live casino you select the game of Live Caribbean stud poker and you need to note that here you are playing against the Dealer and not the other players.  This live table game is played with a 52-card deck that is swapped after each hand for a freshly shuffled deck. You place an Ante bet which will then be followed by 5 cards being dealt. The dealer will then receive 5 cards but will only show you the first card.

You can then decide on whether to place an additional bet or fold. This in turn will lead to the dealer revealing his remaining 4 cards. The poker hand with the highest value wins.

The Caribbean Stud Ante is a mandatory bet so if you want to play Live Caribbean Stud Poker you have to make the ante bet. The aim of this game is for you to beat the dealer by producing a poker hand that is stronger than the dealer’s. At the beginning of the game, both the player and the dealer will get 5 cards each. While players can have a peek at their cards right away, only one of the dealer’s cards is a hole card. The rules are fairly easy and you can easily improve your chances of winning by applying a few proven strategies.

Bets at Live Caribbean Stud Poker

Caribbean Stud Poker is a poker variant that is friendly to all players with various sizes of bankrolls. There are also a handful of great Live Caribbean Stud side bets available to players, including the 5+1 Bonus Bet. To win, the player’s hand and the dealer’s first face-up card must combine to make a five-card poker hand of at least Three of a Kind or better. The bet panel displays the minimum and maximum stakes permitted on the table in total. You can place the bet in Caribbean Stud Poker between CA$0.1-CA$1000. You will be notified on screen if you attempt to place a bet that exceeds the limit for that type of bet. If you place a bet that is less than the minimum limit, your bet will be rejected when betting time has expired. If you place several bets and only some of them are less than the minimum limit, only the bets that do not meet minimum requirements will be rejected.
To participate in the game, you must have sufficient funds to cover your bets. You can see your current balance on your screen. The traffic lights tell you the current status in the game round by informing you of when you can bet at a green light, when the betting time is nearly over with a yellow light and when the betting time has expired with a red light.

The best strategy to play

The basic strategy to play this game for wins means to follow the three main things. You need to avoid folding small pairs as it is one of the most common mistakes beginners make. In the case of Caribbean Stud Pokers, players more often than not will find themselves getting pairs often. In the long run, these small pairs tend to be extremely valuable which means folding them can end up costing you money.

Also, avoid playing weak hands as with weak and unplayable hands players must at all costs fold otherwise, you will lose money in the long run. You must fold if you have a hand weaker than the Ace and King combination.

Play the Ace and King combination properly because if you get this two-card combination then you should only play if the other card in your hand matches the dealer’s face-up card. You must be sure that your hand is always strong enough to beat the dealer

Always raise a hand comprising of pairs or better and fold hands that are lower than Ace and King. If you find that your first two cards are an Ace and a King, then raise only if your third card is a Queen or a Jack and if the dealer’s face-up is a King or an Ace or raise only if the dealer’s face-up card is a Queen or lower and which forms a pair with a card in their hand and raise if their third card is a Queen and their fourth card is better than the face-up card of the dealer.

Rules of the game

Caribbean Stud Poker is played with one standard 52-card deck (Jokers are excluded) as said above. Only one game is played with one deck of cards, and cards are shuffled after each game round.

• To start the game round, place your initial bet in the Ante spot. The dealer will deal five face-up cards to you and one face-up card plus four face-down cards to himself/herself.
• You must decide whether to call or fold. Choose a call to continue the round by placing a Call bet equal to double your Ante. Choose fold to end the round, thereby forfeiting your Ante.
• After you have made your decision, the dealer will reveal his/her four remaining cards.
• To decide the winner, the highest-ranking hand that can be formed from your five cards is determined and compared with the dealer’s hand.

Winning Hands in Caribbean Stud Poker

For winning hands players cards are ranked in descending order: Ace (high or low), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2.  An Ace can be the highest value card in a Straight of A, K, Q, J, 10 or the lowest value card in a Straight of 5, 4, 3, 2, A.

Also possible hands from the highest payouts to the lowest where the Royal Flush is a straight flush involving the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 all in the same suit.

• Straight Flush is a hand that contains five cards in sequence, all of the same suit, for example, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six and Five, all Hearts.
• Four of a Kind is a hand that contains all four cards of one rank and any other card. For example, four Aces in your hand would be Four of a Kind. Quads with higher-ranking cards defeat lower-ranking ones.
• Full House is a hand that contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank, e.g. three Kings and two Sixes. Between two full houses, the one with the higher ranking of three cards wins.
• Flush is a hand where all five cards are of the same suit, but not in a sequence, e.g. five cards that are all Clubs. Two flushes are compared as if they were high card hands; the highest ranking card of each is compared to determine the winner. If both hands have the same highest card, then the second-highest ranking card is compared, and so on until a difference is found.

• Straight is a hand that contains five cards of sequential rank in at least two different suits, e.g. Nine, Eight, Seven, Six and Five in two or more suits. Two straights are ranked by comparing the highest card of each. Two straights with the same high card are of equal value, as suits are not used to separate them.
• Three of a Kind is a hand that contains three cards of the same rank, plus two cards that are not of this rank or the same as each other. For example, a player having three Kings in their hand would have Three of a Kind. Higher-valued Three of a Kind defeat lower-valued Three of a Kind. If two hands contain Three of a Kind of the same value, the Kickers are compared to break the tie.
• Two Pairs is the hand that contains two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of another rank that match each other but not the first pair, plus any card not of either rank.
• Pair is a hand that contains two cards of one rank like two Kings, plus three cards that are not of this rank or the same as each other. Pair is the lowest hand you can be paid out for. Higher-ranking pairs defeat lower-ranking pairs. If two hands have the same pair, the Kickers are compared in descending order to determine the winner.
• High Card is a poker hand made of any five cards not meeting any of the above requirements. Essentially, no hand is made, and the only thing of any meaning in the player’s hand is their highest card.

Finally in the game out come the dealer must have at least an Ace plus a King or better card to qualify.  In other words, the lowest qualifying hand would be Ace, King, 4, 3, 2; and the highest non-qualifying hand would be Ace, Queen, Jack, 10, 9. If the dealer does not qualify, you win even money on your Ante and the Call bet is returned to you.
If the dealer qualifies and beats your hand, you lose both your Ante and Call bet.  If the dealer qualifies and your hand beats the dealer’s, you win even money on your Ante, and the Call bet pays according to the posted pay table.  If you and the dealer tie, both your Ante and Call bet are returned to you.

Where to play Live Caribbean Stud Poker

Live Caribbean Stud Poker is played at live Canadian-friendly casinos. You can try your luck at  Platinum Play Casino and others. You need to register yourself at the casino if not previously a member of the casino, make a real money deposit, grab the awesome bonus and select the game to play.