David Sklansky Claims to Have Invented the Game. Before poker pros like Dan Harrington and Barry. The History of Caribbean Stud Poker Caribbean Stud Poker is one of the newest innovations in casinos gambling. The game came about in the 1980s, but there are several ideas as to how it came about and more than one person wanting to take the credit for the game. Like Caribbean stud, there is also an opportunity to make a $1 bonus bet that pays off 20,000 to 1 for a royal flush and less for other good hands. Pai-gow poker is a house-banked even-payout game. Each player is given seven cards, as is the dealer.

• General principles
  • Betting limits
• Principal forms
  • Stud poker
  • Community-card poker
  • House-banked games

The play and betting in Omaha are similar to Texas hold’em. However, instead of two hole cards, Omaha players are dealt four hole cards to start the betting. Then there is a flop of three community cards before the last round of betting. Furthermore, players must use only two of their hole cards and all three community cards to make their hands. Omaha is often played lowball. Because flushes and straights are not counted in Omaha lowball games, the best hand is A-2-3-4-5, suits not being considered. There is also a game called Omaha high-low split pot. With two pots there are two winners, one having the best high hand and the other the best low hand. Omaha games are quite popular and are played in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), described below.

Dealer’s choice

Caribbean Stud Poker Odds

In informal poker games, each successive dealer is usually permitted to dictate the variant of poker that will be played. This privilege is most often expressed by the dealer selecting one of the forms of poker described above. The dealer may also designate certain cards to be wild or certain nonstandard hands to be counted, such as “big tiger” (king high, 8 low, no pair), “little tiger” (8 high, 3 low, no pair), “big dog” (ace high, 9 low, no pair), and “little dog” (7 high, 2 low, no pair), which rank in the given order and beat any straight but lose to any flush; “blaze” (five face cards), which beats two pairs and loses to three of a kind; and “four flush” (four cards in one suit), which beats one pair and loses to two pairs. Sometimes it is agreed that the dealer can select or invent any variant he wishes, subject to only two restrictions: the dealer cannot require any player to ante more than any other player, and if the game requires a minimum to open and is passed out, the same dealer deals again.

House-banked games

Poker-type games have also been developed to allow a player to make wagers against a casino. Winnings may be given if the player has a better hand than a casino dealer, or they may be given to players who have specific hands.

Caribbean stud poker

In Caribbean stud poker each player pits a five-card stud hand against the dealer’s hand. First the players make an ante bet. Then the dealer gives the players and himself five cards each. Four of the dealer’s cards are dealt facedown and one faceup. The players look at their cards and then either fold or bet an amount double their ante. After the players have finished betting, the dealer looks at his cards to determine if he has a “qualifying hand.” A qualifying hand is ace-king high or better. If the dealer’s hand does not qualify, the dealer folds and pays each remaining player the amount of the ante; the second bets are ignored.

However, if the dealer’s hand does qualify, each player either loses (if the dealer has the better hand) or wins an amount equal to the ante plus an amount on the second bet according to the following schedule: ace-king high or one pair, 1 to 1; two pair, 2 to 1; three of a kind, 3 to 1; straight, 4 to 1; flush, 5 to 1; full house, 7 to 1; four of a kind, 20 to 1; straight flush, 50 to 1; and royal flush, 100 to 1.

Caribbean Stud Poker History Games

There is another side bet that the player may make at the beginning. The player may bet $1 on the value of his hand and can win a special payoff for staying in the betting, even if the dealer’s hand does not qualify. The casino will have a progressive jackpot for this bet. A flush will get $50, a full house $100, a straight flush 10 percent of the progressive jackpot, and a royal flush the full jackpot. The jackpot keeps growing until there is a winner.

Let it ride

Let it ride is a five-card stud poker game. There is no dealer’s hand in this house-banked game. Each player lays three equal bets on the table before receiving three cards facedown. Then each player may let his first bet stay on the table, or he may withdraw it. A community card is then dealt faceup, and each player decides whether to withdraw his second bet or “let it ride.” His third bet must stay. Then a final community card is revealed. Each player now has a five-card poker hand, which is paid off according to a schedule. If a player does not have at least a pair of 10s, he loses any bets that he did not withdraw. A pair of 10s gets the bettor’s wagers returned to him. Two pairs give him a return of 2 to 1 on bets that he let ride; three of a kind, 3 to 1; a straight, 5 to 1; a flush, 8 to 1; a full house, 11 to 1; four of a kind, 50 to 1; a straight flush, 200 to 1; and a royal flush, 1,000 to 1. Like Caribbean stud, there is also an opportunity to make a $1 bonus bet that pays off 20,000 to 1 for a royal flush and less for other good hands.

Pai-gow poker

Pai-gow poker is a house-banked even-payout game. Each player is given seven cards, as is the dealer. Each then makes his best two-card and best five-card hand. If both of a player’s hands are better than the dealer’s two hands, the player wins an amount equal to his bet, less a 5 percent commission on the winnings. If both of the dealer’s hands are better, the dealer wins the wager. Otherwise, the player takes back his bet. A standard 52-card deck is used along with a joker, which may be used as an ace or to complete a straight or a flush. The best possible hand is five aces.

Three-card poker

Three-card poker is a house-banked stud game in which three cards are dealt facedown to each player and the dealer. Each player makes two initial bets, one bet placed on a centre circle and the other placed on an ante square. The centre circle bet can be won if the player’s three cards show certain values—e.g., the player wins 2 to 1 for a pair or 5 to 1 for a three-card straight. The ante bet places the player’s hand against the dealer’s hand. After the deal the player may choose to drop out by forfeiting the ante or stay by raising. If the dealer does not have an opening, or qualifying, hand (queen high or better), the dealer pays the player 2 to 1 for the ante bet, and the raise is canceled. If the dealer can open, then both the ante and the raise are wagered against the dealer, who either wins both or pays the player 2 to 1 for both. A bonus square may also permit the player to wager for a payoff on a “super” hand, such as three of a kind or a three-card straight flush.

Video poker

Video poker games have very little appeal to serious poker players, because the human element is completely removed from the contest—which thus eliminates bluffing and tells (“reading” other players) as well as most betting strategies. However, video poker machines have become the most popular machines in most casinos. Also, several state lotteries use video poker lottery terminals. Typically, a player is dealt a five-card hand on a video screen and is allowed to ask for one or more new cards as in draw poker. The player may be awarded various winnings according to the value of the final hand.

Long before hybrid table games like Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud, and Three Card Poker revolutionized the gambling industry, it was Caribbean Stud Poker that took casinos by storm.

If you ever gambled during the late 1980s through the 1990s, you’ve probably encountered this simple table game. At one point back in the day, Caribbean Stud was a casino staple.

As the name implies, Caribbean Stud Poker combines the essential elements of traditional Five-Card Stud Poker with house-banked table gaming. Instead of squaring off mano a mano with an opponent, you place your bet(s), take five cards, and assess the situation.

From there, you can elect to raise it up (known as making the “play” bet in Caribbean Stud Poker), or fold your hand away and live to fight another day. Players still have to see their own five-card poker hand prevail against the dealer.

Caribbean Stud Poker only takes a minute to learn, and achieving mastery is attainable after a few sessions. Its simplicity may explain why it has all but died off in recent years. But if you’re interested in learning more, look no further. Below, you’ll find five fun facts about playing Caribbean Stud Poker that even expert players are surprised to learn.

1 – David Sklansky Claims to Have Invented the Game

Before poker pros like Dan Harrington and Barry Greenstein were writing strategy books, David Sklansky was the industry’s most prolific author.

In just two summers between 1982 and 1983, Sklansky bagged three gold bracelets at the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). He went on to write “Hold’em Poker” (1984) one year later, before publishing his masterpiece “The Theory of Poker” (1999) a decade and a half later.

But while Sklansky was busy terrorizing the poker tables in 1982, he found time to invent a completely new way of gambling on table games he dubbed “Casino Poker.”

In Sklansky’s game, players placed an Ante bet before taking five cards at random. The dealer also took five cards, and two of them were exposed to give the player partial information to work off. From there, the player could opt to fold weak holdings, or make a “play” bet for twice the size of their original ante. At showdown, the dealer needed an A-K or better to qualify, which prompted juicy payouts from an escalating pay table.

Sound familiar? Well, it should, because Sklansky says his Casino Poker innovation was the precursor to Caribbean Stud Poker as you know it today.

Back in 2007, Sklansky took to the Two Plus Two poker forum to pen a post titled simply “I Invented Caribbean Stud.” In the post, Sklansky explains how his Casino Poker transformed into Caribbean Stud Poker thanks to a series of unfortunate events:

“In 1982 I invented the game that became Carribbean Stud. I called it Casino Poker. Except for the fact that I exposed one card rather than two, and had no progressive jackpot betting option, the rules were the same. Ante one, bet two more, dealer qualifies with AK. Plus there were bonus pays for high hands.

I was told I couldn’t patent the game but I trademarked the name and put it on trial at Vegas World. I didn’t follow through because my girlfriend died during that time and I wasn’t up to it.

A few years later, a poker player asked me about the game because he knew a casino owner in Aruba. He brought the rules down there, they added the progressive, exposed only one card and got it patented. There is ongoing controversy about that patent and I was asked to give a deposition about it a few years ago.”

Caribbean Stud Poker Rules

While the accuracy of this account can’t be verified, and Sklansky’s name doesn’t appear on the 1988 patent for the game, there’s little reason to doubt his story. Poker players have long been known for dabbling in outside entrepreneurial interests, often with disastrous results due to their lack of business experience and willingness to trust fellow gamblers.

Whether Sklansky truly invented Caribbean Stud Poker will remain an open debate, but in any event, poker players and gamblers alike owe the man a debt of gratitude in more ways than one.

2 – Caribbean Stud Poker Offers Unique Casino Pay Tables

As Sklansky mentions in his post, Caribbean Stud Poker offers “bonus” payouts when your hand beats the dealer’s qualifying (A-K high or better) hand.

These bonus payouts are attached to the “play” bet, which is more commonly known as the “raise” bet amongst regular players because you must double the Ante bet to force a showdown.

And as you can see with the pay table below, Caribbean Stud Poker’s dual pay tables for the ante and raise bet make the game quite unique indeed:

Caribbean Stud Pay Table

*Only paid when dealer has a qualifying hand of A-K high or better

Right off the bat, seasoned table game players will notice some odd stuff going on up there…

First, you don’t even need to make one pair or better to earn a minimum even money payout, just any high-card hand that is better than the dealer.

On the raise bet, bonus payouts stay at even money through two pair, before climbing to 2 to 1 at three of a kind. And of course, that 100 to 1 payout for landing a royal flush is the hook that keeps players coming back for more.

3 – Caribbean Poker Strategy Is Binary, So Its Easy to Master

Far too many table game players pass up on Stud-based games because they conflate “poker” with the Texas Hold’em they see on TV.

But while the tournament heroes and cash game wizards rely on intricate strategies to survive, anyone can learn to play Caribbean Stud Poker perfectly in a matter of minutes.

Here’s how it works..

The basic Caribbean Stud Poker strategy boils down to a binary decision for the vast majority of hands you’ll see:

• With one pair or better, you should ALWAYS raise.
• With anything worse than A-K high (A-Q high, K-high, etc.) you should ALWAYS fold

You’ll see some sites out there offering a detailed strategy chart for playing your A-K high hands, and if you use that resource, the house edge comes to 5.22%.

In other words, when you have A-K-J-8-3 or better, ALWAYS make the raise bet, while hands like A-K-J-8-2 or worse (A-K-10-x-x, A-K-J-7-x, etc.) should ALWAYS be folded.

Using this strategy shortcut increases the house edge ever so slightly to 5.31%, but that difference is statistically negligible over short-term sessions.

4 – Caribbean Stud Poker Has a Cousin Called Caribbean Draw Poker

When playing your favorite online casino, you might see a game labeled as “Caribbean Draw Poker,” and it can be easy to confuse that with Caribbean Stud as described on this page.

But in reality, Caribbean Draw Poker is an offshoot offering slightly different rules and gameplay.

To make a long story short, Caribbean Draw Poker lets players discard two cards from their hand and draw replacements, hence the name, in an effort to improve. Other than that, the games are essentially the same, but that drawing element completely changes basic strategy considerations.

5 – Progressive Side Bets May Be Tempting, But It Was Built for Suckers

This final fact may not be very fun to learn, but it’s important nonetheless: NEVER play the progressive side bet option if you like money.

Caribbean Stud Poker History Site

Sure, when you see a big-time progressive jackpot of six-figures or more advertised for landing a royal flush, tossing a measly $1 chip on the side bet to take a shot seems like a fine idea.

Unfortunately, when using five cards and no draws, you’ll only make a royal flush on 1 in 649,740 deals, or 0.0001% of the time.

Caribbean Stud Poker Practice

That makes the progressive on Caribbean Stud Poker one of the very worst in all of real money gambling, with an obscene house edge of 26.46%. That’s keno territory, so no table game player worth their salt should waste their time or $1 chips on this ultimate sucker bet.

Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy

Conclusion

Caribbean Stud Poker Las Vegas

Caribbean Stud Poker may have seen better days in terms of popularity, but for table game enthusiasts of a certain vintage, it’ll always hold a special place in gambling lore. Game inventors who saw how popular Caribbean Stud Poker became in the 1990s used its Stud Poker structure as the inspiration for classics like Mississippi Stud, Let It Ride, and Three-Card Poker. And as the five fun facts presented here prove, not many casino games have the long and winding history that this one boasts.