Carribean Stud Poker Guide

Enjoying Caribbean Stud Poker

This amazing and enjoyable game was born on the Caribbean islands. Just how it got to the rest of the world is an easy tale. The primary vehicle was cruise ships. Soon, passengers were learning this game and before too long, it appeared in many casino pits. What’s amazing is that the game survived, so you know it’s good. Many games have been tried in casino pits and almost all fail.

Caribbean Stud Poker is popular because it’s so darn easy to learn and it’s fun. The game is played with a regular 52-card deck on a blackjack-style table. Each table holds up to 7 players. And of course, you can play at online casinos. Some online casinos have multi-player Caribbean Stud Poker. Even if you’re playing by yourself, it’s still a fun game.

When you look at a Caribbean Stud Poker table you’ll notice five main areas of interest to the game. The closest to your seat is the card area where you’ll receive your cards each hand. The dealer also has a card area. These are the two main focal points during a hand.

Following that up are the three betting areas in Caribbean Stud Poker. First, there’s the Ante spot. This is where you place your first bet for each hand. It’s required to play. The second betting spot is the progressive slot. If you slip $1 into the progressive slot before each hand, you’ll be qualified to win one of the progressive jackpots should you receive the proper hand. More on this later. And the last betting spot is the Raise wager spot. This is a required bet to stay in the hand after you’ve received your cards. We’ll discuss all of this in more detail shortly.

Seeing the betting options should put your mind at ease about this game. It’s not complicated. You bet, get your cards, bet a fixed amount to stay in, and win or lose. It’s very simple. Heck, even a child could pick up Caribbean Stud Poker to a degree and play. Perhaps the “biggest” item to learn is the hand ranking. But, if you already play poker or video poker, you know this. And if not, it’s fairly easy-especially online where they have help menus.

Next part of our Caribbean Stud Poker series we’ll talk about the action of a hand from start to finish. Later in the series, we’ll talk about payouts, hand ranking, and progressives, which vary from casino to casino. Some call Caribbean Stud Poker a “carnival” game, because the house advantage is high. Still, it’s a great game to break up the monotony and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying yourself every now and then.

How to play a hand of Caribbean Stud Poker

I told you that Caribbean Stud Poker was a fun and exciting game and we have went over some of the layout basics and the game setup. Now, we will continue the discussion by going over game play from start to finish. You know the setup of the game, so now it’s time to play a hand of Caribbean Stud Poker.

First, placing a wager on the Ante spot is mandatory. Don’t place it and you can’t play. Most tables have a $5 or $10 minimum wager, so this would be the lowest you could go on your ante. You basically have up to three decisions to make each hand and deciding to play by placing the ante is the first one.

Once you’ve anted up, it’s time to make your second playing decision of the hand. Do you want to play the progressive? If so, you need to place $1 into the progressive slot. By doing so, you’re qualified for all the progressive payouts should your hand qualify.

After that’s settled, the cards are dealt. Once you’ve analyzed your hand, the last decision that you’ll make on each hand is whether to fold and call it a day or to stay in and play. If you want to fold, you lose your ante and progressive and the hand is over. Should you stay, you must place a Raise wager. This wager is always double your ante. For instance, let’s say you anted with $10, your raise would be $20. It’s never more or less.

Let’s back up for a minute. After you ante and decide on the progressive, the dealer will deal you five cards. And these are your only cards of the hand (unlike draw poker). The dealer also gets five cards. Your goal is to beat the dealer’s hand. If you think you can beat the dealer’s hand, that’s when you raise and stay in. The dealer’s hand will reveal one card to you.

So let’s imagine that you’ve stayed in the hand. It’s time to evaluate all hands to see who wins. The dealer must have an Ace-King hand or better to qualify. If not, all bettors win their Ante bet only and all raises are simply returned. However, all progressives are paid. We’ll talk about hand rankings and payouts in the next segment of this series.

The downside about qualifying is felt when you have a good hand, like a four of a kind. If the dealer doesn’t qualify and you have a four of a kind, you’d be paid even money on your ante wager, say $10, and that’s it. By the way, antes are always paid even money. The raises are paid based on the hand ranking only if the dealer qualifies.

And that leads us into our next segment, hand payouts and progressive payouts.

Payouts in Caribbean Stud Poker

Up to this point we’ve talked about Caribbean Stud Poker’s layout basics, typical hand play and some other entry-level information. Now, we’ll continue the discussion by venturing into payouts. After all, that’s the best part, right? We’ll start with Caribbean Stud Poker hand payouts and finish with a segment about progressive payouts. Let’s get started.

As you know from our previous segment, the dealer must qualify for you to be paid on your raise wagers. Antes are always paid even money. Here’s a handy listing of what raise wagers are paid when the dealer’s hand rank is an Ace-King or better.

  • One Pair: paid even money. Ex: $10 is paid $10.
  • Two Pair: paid 2x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $20.
  • Three of a Kind: paid 3x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $30.
  • Straight: paid 4x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $40.
  • Flush: paid 5x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $50.
  • Full House: paid 7x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $70.
  • Four of a Kind: paid 20x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $200.
  • Straight Flush: paid 50x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $500.
  • Royal Flush: paid 100x your raise. Ex: $10 is paid $1,000.

Here’s an important note. These payouts are not globally applied. Each casino may have different payouts. For instance, I once saw an online casino that paid 200x on the Royal Flush and 6x on a Full House. Shop around. That’s vital for the progressives.

The real money in Caribbean Stud Poker is won via the progressives. These payouts vary from casino to casino, so shop around to find the best deal. Some will pay less on a Royal Flush, but a lot more on a Four of a Kind. Also keep in mind that these payouts are always made regardless of the dealer’s hand. It’s $1 per hand to get locked into the progressives.

Here’s an example setup for a Caribbean Stud Poker progressive:

  • Flush: Payout of $50 – $100.
  • Full House: Payout of $75 – $250.
  • Four of a Kind: Payout of $100 – $500 (see, shop around).
  • Straight Flush: 10% of the current progressive jackpot amount. Ex: progressive is $50,000 so the payout would be $5,000.
  • Royal Flush: The big boy. It pays the whole progressive.

If you read any decent book on casino gambling, it will probably tell you that the progressive is a bad wager. But, they obviously haven’t been sitting at a Caribbean Stud Table and received a Four of a Kind only to see the dealer not qualify. To me, it’s a small price to pay for insurance.

Next, we’ll talk about hand rankings and perhaps look at some strategy for winning.

Rankings and strategy

We’ve looked at layout issues, hand play, the basics of the game and payouts. In this final installment, I’ll go over hand rankings and briefly touch on strategy.

It’s not wise to play the game without knowing how it works, so let’s go over hand rankings. If you’ve played poker of any kind, you probably know this already. It’s fairly simple. Here is the Caribbean Stud Poker hand-ranking list. I’m starting with the lowest hands first.

  • High Card: This is the hand you have when you can’t make any hand. Your highest card is your hand.
  • One Pair: Having two cards of the same rank, such as two Kings.
  • Two Pair: When you have two cards of one rank and two more cards of an additional ranks, such as two Kings and two Queens.
  • Three of a Kind: When you have three cards of the same rank, such as three Jacks.
  • Straight: When you have five cards all in sequential orders, such as 6, 7, 8 ,9 and 10. As a note, the Ace can be used before the 2 or after the King.
  • Flush: All five of your cards are the same suit, such as five clubs.
  • Full House: You have three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank, such as three Jacks and two Aces.
  • Four of a Kind: Four of your cards are the same rank, such as four 7s.
  • Straight Flush: This is the same as the straight except all five cards are the same suit, such as hearts.
  • Royal Flush: This is the granddaddy of the them all. It’s a straight flush that has the cards 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. Think the progressive is a waste of $1? Imagine you have this hand and the dealer doesn’t qualify. You’d be paid even money on your ante bet only.

Let’s close with a little strategy talk. Strategy is all over the place in this game. Since the dealer doesn’t qualify a good amount of time, I have two strategy ideas to present with you.

First, if you’re playing $10 or higher hands, bet the progressive. At $10 antes, the progressive is a 10% add-on, so it’s not too much. And you’ll be glad when you have a decent hand and the dealer doesn’t qualify.

Second, stay in hands when you have a hand. If all you have is a high card, you have to pray the dealer doesn’t qualify. I don’t think it’s worth risking 2x your ante for a shot in the dark.

Either way, Caribbean Stud Poker is a great game to play. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Chinese Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker basics

Introduction To Pai Gow: The Chinese Version of Poker

This game is probably close to universally accepted as being the best game for a beginner to cut their teeth on, the advanced player will eventually want to branch out and learn other card games. Some obvious choices for branching out include Omaha, Seven Card Stud and their Hi/Lo and lowball counterparts, but a game that people do not talk about that much is Chinese Poker.

It is rather unfortunate that not that many people know how to play Chinese Poker because as a game it is one of the most challenging card games on the face of the planet.

The Basic Premise of Pai Gow

The basic premise of Chinese Poker is that you are dealt 13 cards and play against the person sitting across from you. You can play the game with two or four players, but the best Chinese Poker games are played with four so that the adversarial relationships can be switched around as the game goes on.

With the 13 cards that you are dealt, you need to make one hand of three cards and two hands of five cards. These are known as the front, middle and back hands respectively.

There are not that many restrictions in making these hands, but you do need to make sure in the hand construction that the front hand is smaller than the middle hand and the middle hand is smaller than the back hand. If you are not familiar with Pai Gow Poker you will recognize this stipulation as a running theme through all versions of Oriental poker games.

Once you have set your hands, you compare them to your opponents and score a point for each hand of yours that is higher than your opponents. A clean sweep would score 3 points, a win on two of the hands and a loss on the other would score 1 point and of course you can also lose 1 and lose 3 points to your opponent if the opposite scenarios take place.

Over the course of the game the point differential will switch based on each new hand and at the end of the game the loser is required to pay the winner an amount of money equivalent to the point differential multiplied by whatever monetary value had been attached to each point at the start of the game.

Advantages of Chinese Poker

The main advantage of the game is that there are not a lot of casino players that know how to play chinese poker. For this reason if you are able to get really good at the game you can easily beat other players and win money from them.

For the people that enjoy the challenge, chinese poker also allows for exercising your critical thinking skills on a large level that dwarfs Texas HoldEm or any of the other currently popular poker variants and that in turn means that you get a lot more out of the challenge if you are the type of person that enjoys it.

Play Sic Bo Online

Playing The Sic Bo Game

Sic Bo (pronounced see bo), is a Chinese game that is played at online casinos all over the world. It is a simple game of betting on the result on the roll of the three dice. Various combinations are used like two or three dice. Sic Bo is played on a table with 50 admissible bets and their pictorial representations. Sic Bo has payout ranging from 180 is to 1 to 1 is to 1. Payouts include guessing single numbers, specific triples or specific doubles or the sum of three dice.

The dealer rolls the dice. When the rolling stops, the dealer declares the results. The winning combination is punched and lit before being displayed on the table. Players can use many kinds of bets according to their convenience. One can bet on any number between 1 and 6. If that single number appears once, the payout so 1 to 1. If the number appears twice, the payout is 2 to 1. If the number appears thrice, the payout is 3 to 1.

The bets

Bets can be placed on 4 or 5 or 6 with payouts of 60 to 1, 30 to 1 and 17 to 1 respectively. If the bet is placed on 7, the payout is 17 to 1. One can also place bets on all individual numbers till 17 with different pays.

Sic Bo bets can also be classified as Small bets and Big Bets. Small bets can be won if the sum of the dice ranges between 4 and 10. However, this excludes a triple of 4 and 5. The pay rate is 1 to 1. Big Bets are won if the sum of the dice ranges between 11 and 17. These bets too exclude triples of 4 and 5. The payout is again 1 to 1.

Two of a kind bets can be used. Players have to choose from the 15 probable two dice combinations. The payout is 5 to 1. For double bets, players have to choose a particular pair of number that can come as results. The payout is 10 to 1.

One can also place bets on specific triple and get paid at 180 to 1. In this case, players win only if all three numbers match. Bets with payout of 1 to 1 are considered to be the best. Sic Bo is a game where players can bag a lot of money with a wide range of payouts.

Caribbean Stud Poker Guide

Caribbean Stud Poker Intro

Caribbean Stud Poker – An Introductory Guide to Get you Started in your Career of Caribbean Stud Poker!

It seems like only yesterday when this fun game started appearing in Casinos in the United States. As you might expect from the name, Caribbean Stud Poker got its illustrious start in the Caribbean. It eventually worked its way onto cruise ships and one day the game finally docked on U.S. shores.

This exciting game is now offered in just about every casino, both online and in the real world. It’s usually considered a party game, because, like Blackjack, everyone is playing against the dealer.

Caribbean Stud Poker is played on a Blackjack-style table and seats multiple players. If you’re playing the game online, you might be the only one playing-some online casinos are offering multi-player games now.

The layout for the game has three main betting areas. First, there’s the Ante spot, which is where your initial wager goes. Next there’s the Bet spot, which is why you bet to stay in the game-more on this later. Finally, there’s the progressive casino jackpot wager slot. When you drop $1 into this slot, you’re entered into the progressive jackpot.

Quick Game Play

In other articles, I’ll go over the game play and strategy in more detail, but for now, let’s run through the general game play of Caribbean Stud Poker.

Before the hand is played, you must enter a wager. The lowest betting limit I’ve ever seen in the real world is $5. You might find limits lower online. So, let’s imagine that you placed $5 on the Ante spot.

Next, you need to decide if you want to be entered into the progressive jackpot. If so, put $1 into the slot. You can’t be entered into the jackpot after the hand is dealt.

After all players have made these two moves, the hand is dealt. You’ll be given five cards. This game doesn’t have many big decisions. Unlike video poker, there are no draw cards, so these are the only five cards you’ll get. At this point, you need to decide if you think your hand will beat the dealer’s hand or not.

You can choose to fold now and lose your Ante wager, or you can stay in the hand and place a Bet wager. This new wager is equal to two times the Ante wager. So, if you made a $5 wager to start the hand, your Bet wager would be $10.

After all players have decided, the deal flips over his or her hand and bets are either taken or paid. At this time, any progressive winners are paid.

Time to Learn More

This article was just a quick intro to Caribbean Stud Poker. In other articles, I’ll go further into detail about playing the game, including progressive payouts, game decisions, playing strategy and more. For now, I hope I’ve wetted your appetite for this fun game.

Free Let it Ride Game

Let It Ride: A Guide to the Fun and Exciting Casino Table Game

Let It Ride is a casino table game that combines elements of poker with the simplicity and excitement of other popular casino games. It was introduced in the early 1990s by Shuffle Master, a company specializing in casino gaming equipment. The game has since become a popular choice for casino-goers seeking a break from more traditional table games like blackjack and roulette. This article will provide an overview of Let It Ride, including its rules, strategies, and tips for enjoying the game.

The Basics of Let It Ride

Let It Ride is played on a semi-circular table with a layout similar to that of blackjack, accommodating up to seven players. The game uses a standard 52-card deck and features a series of betting spots where players can place their bets.

The objective of Let It Ride is to create the best possible five-card poker hand using three of the player’s cards and two community cards. Unlike traditional poker, players in Let It Ride are not competing against each other or the dealer. Instead, they are trying to achieve a specific hand ranking to receive a payout.

Playing Let It Ride

To begin a round of Let It Ride, each player places three equal bets on the table, usually labeled “1,” “2,” and “$.” The dealer then deals three cards to each player and places two community cards face down on the table.

After examining their three-card hand, players have the option to “let it ride” or “pull” their first bet (labeled “1”). The dealer then reveals one of the community cards, and players have the same option for their second bet (labeled “2”). The final community card is then revealed, and players’ hands are evaluated.

Hand Rankings and Payouts

Let It Ride uses standard poker hand rankings, with the highest-ranking hand being a royal flush and the lowest being a high card. Payouts are based on the final five-card hand, and a minimum hand of a pair of tens or better is required to receive a payout. The payout structure for Let It Ride is as follows:

  • Royal flush: 1,000 to 1
  • Straight flush: 200 to 1
  • Four of a kind: 50 to 1
  • Full house: 11 to 1
  • Flush: 8 to 1
  • Straight: 5 to 1
  • Three of a kind: 3 to 1
  • Two pair: 2 to 1
  • Pair of tens or better: 1 to 1

Let It Ride Strategies

While Let It Ride is largely a game of chance, there are some basic strategies players can use to improve their odds:

  1. Only let your first bet ride if your hand contains a pair of tens or better, three cards to a royal flush, or three consecutive cards to a straight flush.
  2. Only let your second bet ride if your four-card hand contains a pair of tens or better, four cards to a royal flush, or four consecutive cards to a straight flush.
  3. Always pull your bets if your hand does not meet the criteria mentioned above.

Let It Ride offers a unique and engaging alternative to traditional casino table games. Its easy-to-learn rules and relaxed pace make it an ideal choice for players seeking a fun and social gaming experience. By following basic strategies and understanding the game’s payout structure, players can increase their chances of success and enjoy the thrill of Let It Ride.

Rules of Free Let it Ride Game

This is the standard “Let It Ride” poker casino game. Each game is played with a new deck.

  • The player begins by placing three equal bets and optionally a $1 side bet.
  • After placing the bets, the player is given three cards and the dealer is given two cards face down.
  • The player then has the choice to withdraw one of his bets based on his guess whether his cards combined with the dealer’s two cards will form a winning hand.
  • After pulling a bet or “letting it ride”, one of the dealer’s cards is turned face up.
  • The player now has another chance to pull a bet before the final card is shown.
  • When both cards are shown, the player is payed according to the pay table. In case of a winning hand, he is payed for all remaining bets. If the hand is lost, all remaining bets are lost.
  • The side bet is payed according to a separate pay table.
  • The combined win for all bets, including the side bet, is limited to $50,000

How the game is played

  • Choose a chip by clicking on it, and then place a bet by clicking on the bet area on the table.
  • You may also place a side bet by clicking on it.
  • When the bet is placed, click on “DEAL” to start the game.
  • You will see your three cards and have the choice to “PULL” or “LET IT RIDE”.
  • After clicking on one of the buttons, the first of the dealer’s cards will be turned.
  • Now “PULL” or “LET IT RIDE” again.
  • The last card will be turned and any winnings will be given to the player.
Let It Ride Poker Guide

How to Play Let it Ride

Games like Let it Ride are casino games that were invented in the 20th century and in the particular case of Let it Ride the year 1993. It has not been around for a particularly long time, but it has become very popular in the time it has been around. This is because Let it Ride is a game where you do not play against the house and you do not play against the other players and therefore you can easily enjoy yourself while playing the game.

Let it Ride game play

The table used for Let it Ride is basically identical to a blackjack table, with the differences relating to some of the markings that are on the felt. Each player has three circles in front of them corresponding to the markings of 1, 2 and a dollar sign ($). The first move that the player makes in a hand of Let it Ride is to place a bet in each circle, with each bet being equal to each other bet.

Once that happens, the dealer deals each player a three card hand face down and deals themselves a three card hand face down as well, before discarding one of those cards and leaving two face down cards in front of them. The players look at their three card hand and decide whether to take back the #1 bet or to keep it there and ?Let it Ride?

After each player has decided on their first bet, the dealer turns over one card which forms the fourth card in each player’s hand. After that card has been turned over, each player now has the opportunity to take their second bet back or to let that one ride as well. Regardless of what the player does with the second bet, they can not change the action they just took on the first bet.

Once the second round of decisions has been made, the dealer turns up the other card in front of them, completing the five card hand that each player happens to have. Payments are then made based on winning hand tables, with the minimum hand requirement for winning being a pair of tens or better.

Optimal Strategy for Let it Ride

The best strategy to use when playing Let it Ride at an online casino is to let the first bet ride if you have a pair of tens or better, three cards to a royal flush or three cards to a straight flush. Let the second bet ride if you have a pair of tens or better, four cards to a royal flush, four cards to a straight flush, four cards to a flush, four cards ranked ten or above or an open-ended straight draw.

When you play with this optimal strategy, the house edge is approximately 3.5%.