Caribbean Stud rules

Key points

• You play one-on-one against the dealer with five-card hands, and no cards are exchanged. Place an Ante, look at your five cards (only one of the dealer’s is face up), then make one choice: Raise (add twice the Ante) or Fold (lose the Ante).
• The dealer qualifies with ace-king high or better. If not, the Ante wins 1 to 1 and the Raise bet is returned.
• The Raise is paid by your hand (one pair 1 to 1, two pair 2 to 1, flush 5 to 1, royal flush 100 to 1, and so on). The Ante pays 1 to 1.
• The house edge with best play is about 5.224% per Ante.

How a hand goes

1. Place an Ante (required). The Progressive (a side bet on a growing jackpot) is optional
2. From one deck, you and the dealer each get five cards. One dealer card is face up
3. Decision: Raise (put twice the Ante on RAISE) or Fold (lose the Ante). This is your only decision
4. The dealer turns over the other four cards and qualifies with ace-king high (an ace and a king) or better
5. Settlement

Example. Ante 10. You hold 8♠ 8♦ K♣ 5♥ 2♠ and put 20 on RAISE. The dealer has A♥ K♠ 9♦ 4♠ 3♦ and qualifies. Your pair of 8s is higher, so the Ante of 10 wins 1:1 and the Raise of 20 wins 1:1 for a pair.

The dealer qualifies

The dealer qualifies only with a pair or better, or a hand holding both an ace and a king. The lowest qualifying hand is A-K-4-3-2; the highest non-qualifying hand is A-Q-J-T-9.

Hands rank as in Texas Hold’em. From strongest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.

Payouts

Raise: when it wins (the dealer qualified), it pays by your hand.

Sources

Checked: 2026-09-29 (the date every page was confirmed to open)

• Wizard of Odds “Caribbean Stud Poker”
• N.J.A.C. 13:69F-16.10