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Caribbean Stud Poker Rules: How to Play, Payouts and Strategy

Caribbean Stud pits your five-card hand against the dealer. Learn the ante-and-call sequence, how qualification affects settlement, why payout tables differ, and what strategy figures actually assume.
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Caribbean Stud is a house-banked poker game: you play your five-card hand against the dealer, not against the other players. You place an ante, then—after seeing your cards and the dealer’s exposed card—fold or make a call wager worth twice the ante. The dealer usually needs ace-king or better to qualify. The exact payouts and strategic advice depend on the operator’s rules and paytable, so check those before playing.

How a hand of Caribbean Stud Poker works

The game uses five-card poker hands. In PokerStars’ published live-game rules, each player and the dealer receive five cards, with one dealer card exposed. After looking at your hand and that upcard, you decide whether to fold or continue.

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  1. Place the ante. This is your initial wager for the hand.
  2. Review your five cards and the dealer’s upcard. The upcard gives you partial information about the dealer’s hand.
  3. Fold or call. Folding forfeits the ante. Calling requires an additional wager exactly twice the ante.
  4. Compare hands after the dealer reveals the remaining cards. The dealer generally needs ace-king or better to qualify.

Other casinos may use different rules or paytables. The posted rules at the table or in the operator’s game help should govern any particular hand.

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How the wagers settle

Under PokerStars’ cited live-game rules, the ante and call wager are settled as follows:

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Outcome Ante Call wager
You fold Lost Not placed
Dealer does not qualify Pays even money Pushes
Dealer qualifies and beats your hand Lost Lost
Your hand beats a qualifying dealer Pays even money Pays according to the posted hand-ranking table
Your hand ties the dealer Pushes Pushes

“Even money” means a winning wager returns an equal amount in profit, in addition to the original stake. A push returns the wager without a win or loss. These settlement details are specific to the PokerStars rules cited here; confirm the table’s own terms before wagering.

Caribbean Stud payout tables vary by operator

The call-bet payout is not universal. These two published schedules differ, including on straights, flushes, full houses, and four of a kind. Each table should be read as a separate ruleset, not mixed with the other operator’s figures.

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Player hand PokerStars live-game call payout Pagat schedule
Pair or lower 1:1 Even money
Two pairs 2:1 2:1
Three of a kind 3:1 3:1
Straight 5:1 4:1
Flush 7:1 5:1
Full house 10:1 7:1
Four of a kind 25:1 20:1
Straight flush 50:1 50:1
Royal flush 100:1 100:1

The PokerStars figures are from its published live-game rules; that page also reports theoretical RTP of 98.19% for its live game and 91.44% for its 5+1 Bonus. These are operator-specific theoretical figures, not observed results or general values for Caribbean Stud. Pagat’s separate schedule is described on its Caribbean Stud rules page, which cautions that online payout tables vary widely.

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Strategy: use advice only with its assumptions

There is no single decision rule that applies to every version. The paytable and the dealer’s qualification rule affect the value of continuing, and the decision involves comparing the cost of the call wager with the possible outcomes. Treat strategy charts and house-edge figures as tied to the specific rules they analyze—not as a promise of profit.

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What published strategy analyses say

  • Pagat characterizes optimal strategy as complex and difficult to apply without a calculator. For the rules it analyzes, it reports a 2.56% optimal-play house edge. Its simplified “AKJ83-or-stronger” approach is reported to come within 0.1 percentage point of optimal under that same model. Both figures are specific to Pagat’s analyzed rules.
  • Wizard of Odds reports that its optimal strategy raises 52.23% of the time and has an average total wager of 2.045 units. It advises always raising a pair or better, folding below ace-king, and applying additional conditions to ace-king hands. Those conditions and figures belong to its model; consult its full strategy analysis rather than treating the shorthand as a universal rule.

House edge and return figures are not interchangeable: check the paytable, wager basis, qualification rule, and whether side bets are included before comparing them. Pagat’s analysis and rules and Wizard of Odds’ strategy page model their own assumptions.

Optional bonus and progressive bets

Some versions offer an extra wager alongside the main game. PokerStars’ 5+1 Bonus is based on the player’s five cards plus the dealer’s upcard, and its rules say the result is unaffected by the fold-or-call choice. Its published bonus payouts are:

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Hand PokerStars 5+1 Bonus payout
Three of a kind 7:1
Straight 10:1
Flush 15:1
Full house 20:1
Four of a kind 100:1
Straight flush 200:1
Royal flush 1,000:1

This is a separate wager and payout schedule from the main call bet. Progressive jackpot terms also vary: LeoVegas describes a jackpot shared among players who placed the jackpot bet in the winning round, while BetMGM says its paytable displays the current jackpot and potential share. Read the specific operator’s eligibility rules, payout table, and jackpot terms before placing an optional bet.

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What to check before you play

  • Whether the dealer qualifies with ace-king or another specified hand.
  • How the ante and call wagers settle when the dealer fails to qualify, wins, loses, or ties.
  • The exact call-bet payout for each hand ranking.
  • Whether bonus or progressive wagers are optional, what cards determine them, and how their prizes are shared.
  • Which rules and wagers are included in any published RTP or house-edge figure.

For the cited PokerStars game details and theoretical figures, see the operator’s Caribbean Stud Poker rules page. A deck of standard playing cards is enough to practice hand rankings and the deal sequence; no special deck is required, and practice does not change casino odds.

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