Caribbean Stud Poker

A variant of the classic table game five-card draw, Caribbean Stud Poker is based on the worldwide phenomenon Texas Hold’em Poker which has been played in land-based casinos for decades.

Rules

Caribbean Stud Poker follows many principles as five-card draw but in a marked difference, here players compete against the house/casino, and not each other - rendering bluffing a futile exercise in Caribbean Stud Poker.

After placing an ‘Ante’ bet, a game round begins with players receiving five cards while the dealer draws one card face-up. Players may view their cards at this point, and must decide whether to continue/play, or forfeit/fold your hand.

Should the player decided to advance with their hand, they must indicate this by placing a bet in the box marked ‘Bet’ / ‘Play’ or equivalent, while their wager is collected by the dealer in the instance that they fold.

Once all players have acted, the dealer proceeds to reveal their remaining four cards and their final holding then compared against every player’s individual hand. The dealer’s hand only qualifies if they hold a King and an Ace or higher. Should the dealer’s hand not meet the minimum criteria, the player wins their wager.

If the dealer continues and their hand turns out to be stronger than the player’s, then the player loses and their stake is collected.

In the event of a tie - where a player holds a hand of equal value to the dealer, then the current bets remain in place for the next hand.

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Hand Rankings

Here are all the hands in Caribbean Stud Poker in descending order of rank:

Royal Flush - five cards running from 10 to Ace of the same suit (eg. 10-J-Q-K-A of Hearts)
Straight Flush - five cards in sequential order of the same suit (eg. 4-5-6-7-8 of Spades)
Four of a Kind - four cards of identical value (eg. K-K-K-K-9)
Full House - three cards of identical value plus a pair (eg. 7-7-7-Q-Q)
Flush - five cards of the same suit in any order (eg. 2-5-9-J-A of Diamonds)
Three of a Kind - three cards of the same value (eg. 10-10-10-3-8)
Two Pair: two pairs of identical value (eg. J-J-4-4-3)
High Card: when none of the above hands qualify, the player is left with a hand of High card ranking (eg. A-Q-8-7-2)

The Chris Moneymaker Effect

Poker enjoyed a worldwide renaissance during the 2000s, coinciding with the real-life story of guy-next-door-cum-world poker champion, Chris Moneymaker.

Moneymaker, a US accountant by trade, turned an $86 online ‘satellite’ seat into the Main Event title, glory and over $1M prize money at the 2003 World Series of Poker - inspiring a generation of new players to take up the game.

Likened to a poker fairy tale, his achievement heralded the dawn of a lucrative ‘poker boom’ that saw millions in sponsorship and TV money poured into the game, with superstars made out of the game’s elite roster of players.