Caribbean Stud Poker is one of the most popular and fun casino table games available to play online or in a brick and mortar casino. However, it can also be one of the most profitable games as well. Just as with every table game in the casino, there is an optimal way to play Caribbean Stud Poker to maximize your profitability. When you play with an optimal strategy and limit your common mistakes, you’ll be playing with a much better chance to win and win big. Employing an optimal strategy in Caribbean Stud will cut the house edge to about 5%. However, eliminating common mistakes with proper play can cut the edge down to 2.5%. While it’s true the games such as Blackjack and Craps have a lower house edge, they do not pay out as much as Caribbean Stud. To increase your chances, learn the strategies and reduce the mistakes. Here, we have compiled a list of the most common mistakes made to help you avoid them while playing Caribbean Stud.
Not Knowing the Rules
Of course, this sounds like an easy one. However, you would be surprised at how much not knowing the rules can cost you. Many people feel because they understand poker, they will understand every variation of poker. It should be pretty easy to see how this is flawed logic. Playing Caribbean Stud is simple. Take the time to learn to play and never take the “learn as you go approach.” When players do this, they are simply throwing their money away.
Not Playing Good Hands
When you are playing Caribbean Stud and all you have is a low hand such as a pair of threes, many inexperienced players may fold as they would when playing Texas Hold’em or some other poker variety where you play other players. This is not a good idea in Caribbean Stud as you are not playing against other players, you are playing the dealer. The dealer may not have a better hand than you do. Even if they do, their hand may not qualify, which is not all that rare in Caribbean Stud. The dealer will not make a qualifying hand 44% of the time. This is a big advantage to any player with any hand, low or high. This means even a hand as low as a pair of twos still has over a 50% chance of beating the dealer.
Not Knowing How to Play Ace Combinations
As with other common mistakes, not knowing how to play ace combinations comes from other poker games and their strategies. This is why it is important to understand Caribbean Stud as its own type of poker game with its own type of poker strategy. For instance, during a hand of Caribbean Stud, many players will instinctively think that a hand featuring an ace-queen is a very good hand with plenty of potential. This is true in other poker games, but not Caribbean Stud. In Caribbean Stud, in order for the dealer to qualify, they must have an ace-king or better. If you are playing with an ace-queen, you are already down. In other games, keep the ace-queen and see what happens; in Caribbean Stud, chuck it immediately because you won’t have a chance.
Ace-king combinations in Caribbean Stud can be a bit more complicated. As you know, in order to qualify or “open,” the dealer must have an ace-king or better. This makes all the other cards that much more important, especially the dealer’s up card. Folding your ace-king can be costly, as can playing it out without knowing the proper strategy. The best way to approach this dilemma is to assume the dealer has a hand, they consider the other three cards in your hand. Do they match up will with the dealers up card? If it does, continue to play. If not, quickly chuck the hand. These are some of the toughest hands to play in Caribbean Stud and they do come about quite often. Stay consistent with how you play them and you will win them more than lose them.
Playing at the Wrong Online Casino
Caribbean Stud is such a popular casino table game, every casino- online or otherwise- is going to have it available. However, just because the game is available does not mean it is the best place to play, especially online. When it comes to online Caribbean Stud you want to be sure you are playing one on one with the dealer to ensure position of progressive jackpots. These progressive jackpots pay out big if you hit them, however, sometimes it depends on where you are sitting on the table. This doesn’t matter when playing one on one with the dealer. Of course, there are other factors to consider when choosing an online casino, including bonuses and rollovers, but when playing Caribbean Stud you want be sure you are one on one.
