Caribbean Stud Poker strategy
Although the rules are easy to comprehend, the Caribbean Stud Poker strategy is actually quite difficult. But the good news is: after studying the poker strategy extensively, you'll see that the solution is in fact much easier.
The Caribbean Stud Poker strategy
The strategy for Caribbean Stud Poker looks rather complex, but we've been able to reduce it to two simple but very important rules:
- Always call at a pair or higher
- Always fold if your cards are lower than the hand that is qualified by the dealer (Ace-King and up)
Playing the ace-king
It gets tough when you have an ace-king yourself. You will need to pay attention to your remaining three cards, and the card shown by the dealer. A good strategy when playing ace-king, is made by the Wizard of Odds. He claims to call with ace-king if one of three following rules applies:
- If the dealer’s card is a two or a queen, and if you’ve got this card yourself (then it’s less likely the dealer makes a pair)
- If the dealer has an ace or a king, and you have a queen or a jack in hand (odds are you still make a better hand, because the value of your three remaining cards is higher)
- If the dealer shows a card you don’t have, you have a queen in your remaining cards and the dealer’s card is lower than the value of your fourth highest card.
The casino’s advantage
There actually is a perfect Caribbean Stud poker strategy, but it is too difficult to explain. Scientific research has been done to further determine this strategy. It's simply impossible to discuss all relevant articles and researches. The result of all research is that the casino’s advantage, at the ideal strategy, is 2.55% (calculated with an average of 2 x ante, considering a player will raise 50% of the time and fold the other 50%).
The jackpot
As is usually the case with jackpots, the stud poker jackpot is primarily intended to fund the casino's bank account. The casino’s advantage for an average jackpot value is about 26.5%. If the jackpot continues to rise, the house’s advantage will decrease, but the jackpot has to rise to incredible heights to make it profitable to bet. Only if the jackpot crosses the $250.000 limit, it becomes interesting to invest in it.
Enough about stud poker strategy: time to play!
Read enough about Caribbean stud poker strategy and rules? Time to play Caribbean stud poker online! You can check out our casino reviews to see which casino suits you best, or you can try Caribbean Stud Poker for free on our website. Enjoy!
