FB777 Caribbean Stud Poker: Ante, Raise and the Qualifier

Caribbean Stud Poker is five-card stud played against the dealer rather than against other players, so every hand comes down to one decision: fold or raise. The rules below are the standard ones, and the rooms listed under FB777 Card Games are where you check which tables run it and on which paytable before your first ante.

How a Caribbean Stud Poker Hand Runs

1. Ante. You post the ante before the deal.
2. Deal. You get five cards; the dealer gets five, one face up.
3. Decision. Fold and lose the ante, or raise exactly 2x the ante.
4. Qualify. The dealer shows all five cards and needs Ace-King or better.
5. Settle. The ante and the raise are paid, pushed or lost as the next section shows.

What Happens When the Dealer Qualifies or Does Not

Dealer hand	Your hand	Ante	Raise
Below Ace-King	Any	Wins 1:1	Returned
Ace-King or better	Beats the dealer	Wins 1:1	Paid by the paytable
Ace-King or better	Loses to the dealer	Lost	Lost
Ace-King or better	Ties the dealer	Returned	Returned

The first row catches most new players out: a strong hand against a dealer who fails to qualify earns only the ante, because the raise is simply handed back.

The Common Caribbean Stud Poker Paytable

The raise is paid by your hand’s rank. This is the paytable most tables print, but a table can set its own, so read the paytable panel on the table before you post an ante.

Your hand	Raise pays
One pair or less	1:1
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

When to Raise and When to Fold

The widely used rule of thumb is simple enough to apply on every hand:

1. Raise with any pair or better.
2. Fold anything weaker than Ace-King.
3. With Ace-King exactly, raise when your hand holds a card matching the dealer’s up card, and fold otherwise.

Played this way, the house edge on the ante sits at about 5.2%, which is higher than several other table games. Treat the ante as the price of each hand rather than a stake you expect back.

Caribbean Stud Poker Compared With Other Card Formats

Format	Opponent	Your decision
Caribbean Stud Poker	The dealer	Fold or raise once
Tongits	Other players	Draw, drop, fight or call
Blackjack-style games	The dealer	Hit, stand, double, split

Tongits works the opposite way, since you play other people, as the tongits strategy for drop-or-fight calls shows. And because most online tables reshuffle before every hand, the ideas behind Hi-Lo card counting at a shoe table give Caribbean Stud Poker players nothing to work with.

Side Bets You May See on the Table

Some tables add a progressive side bet, a separate small stake paid on high hands such as a flush or better. It runs on its own paytable, so read three things on the table’s rules screen before you add it:

1. The fixed cost of the side bet per hand.
2. The lowest hand it pays on, and what it pays.
3. Whether the top prize is a fixed multiple or a share of a progressive pool.