Caribbean Poker is an offshoot of normal stud poker, however instead of playing against other gamblers, you are playing against the house.

Caribbean Poker originates from the island of Aruba. It was first played in the late 1980s at the Holiday Inn and Casino, which, incidentally, hosted the World Poker Tour Tournament in 2005. The game spread rapidly through the Caribbean and made it to casinos in Nevada in the early 1990s.

It is now played worldwide, and is also popular on online poker sites. It was quickly decided that the game was not rewarding enough to players, so the Vegas version of the game now has a sweetener in the form of a Progressive Jackpot which offers prizes under certain circumstances regardless of the outcome of the hand.

The name Poker comes from the French word ‘poque’, which itself is derived from the German word ‘pochen’ – meaning ‘to knock’.

How Caribbean Stud Poker is Played
The rules for Caribbean Poker vary depending on where in the world you are playing – the main difference is in the payouts on the Progressive Meter, which can be, for example $500 for Four of a Kind in the USA, and $5000 for the same in Macau.

A Typical Game of Caribbean Poker:
1. The dealer counts out five cards for you, and five for himself.
2. You look at your hand, and the first card of the dealers hand.
3. You must decide to either call the bet, and increase your stake by double your ante amount, or surrender and lose the ante to the house.
4. The dealer’s cards are shown. To win, the dealer’s hand must ‘qualify’ and your hand must beat the dealer’s hand.
The dealer’s hand qualifies if it includes an Ace and a King. If it does not qualify, you are paid evens on your bet, and your ante is returned to you.
If the dealer’s hand qualifies and your hand beats the dealer’s, then you are paid different odds depending on the content of your hand.

• One Pair or Less - Even
• Two Pair – 2 : 1
• Three of a Kind - 3 : 1
• Straight - 4 : 1
• Flush – 5 : 1
• Full House - 7 : 1
• Four of a Kind - 20 : 1
• Straight Flush - 50 : 1
• Royal Flush – 100 : 1

In certain casinos, a player has a chance before they place their ante to put a chip into the Progressive Meter. If they do this, then, should their hand be a Flush or greater, they will win a certain amount at the end of the turn, no matter what the outcome of their bet is. Players who have chosen to take part in the Progressive Jackpot can win large prizes on a Straight Flush or Royal Flush, which pay out a percentage of the contents of the progressive meter.

Caribbean Poker is played in many casinos, and can also be played online. There are many online poker sites that offer the game, and playing online is a good way to increase your chances as the majority of strategies are quite complex. When using a common strategy of raising when you have Ace/King/Jack/8/3 or better, the house edge is 5.316%.

If you can see other players cards, and are able to use some software to track what cards have been dealt, you can increase the odds to 2.3% in your favour – this is not possible in a casino, however, where information sharing is prohibited.

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