Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy 2
Part 2
The House Edge vs. the Jackpot
Playing Caribbean Stud Poker with a perfect strategy is almost impossible. The house edge is relatively high compared to most other casino games, and there's not much you can do to decrease it. The game is based on a five-card poker hand and uses the standard poker hand ranking, but this is where the similarities with regular poker end. To make up for the poor odds, however, practically all Caribbean Stud games have a progressive jackpot. If the jackpot is monstrously large, it can reduce or even nullify the house edge.
The Dealer's Qualifying Hand
The dealer will never fold, so you can't bluff in this game, but he needs a qualifying hand consisting of at least an ace and a king to be able to win. Just like in blackjack, the dealer has one of his cards showing, which can be a little bit helpful in some scenarios. If the dealer's upcard matches one of the cards in your hand, for instance, it slightly reduces the chance of the dealer having a pair.
Basic Strategy
The player acts first by placing an ante on the table, and has to choose between raising and folding according to the hand's strength. This is the first and the only decision the player makes during a hand and it's obviously important. A basic strategy is to:
1. Fold any hand without a pair or better that doesn't contain at least an ace and a king - same as the dealer's qualifying hand.
The folding part is easy enough - it's the unpaired ace-king hands that are difficult to play. As a rule of thumb, you want the dealer's upcard to match one of the cards in your hand in order to raise.
2. Raise with any pair or better - even the small pairs, even though they have a small chance of winning if the dealer qualifies.
You want to raise with the small pairs because the dealer only qualifies less than half of the time, and you will win both the bet and the ante when the dealer has an ace-king hand.
Also, if the game has a huge jackpot, don't forget to post the optional progressive side bet.
