How to Play Caribbean Poker From Nucleus Gaming
If you like to play poker, then you’ll probably enjoy poker table games at Australian online casinos. One poker table game that’s growing in popularity is Caribbean Poker. The game is similar to 3 Card Poker and Caribbean Stud but with one difference that benefits the player. Let’s learn more about this game and some strategies to win more.
How to Play Caribbean Poker
Caribbean Poker is a simple poker table game offered by Nucleus Gaming at most online casinos in Australia. The game looks like Five-Card Stud and pays like video poker. The object to make a better poker hand than the dealer. Prior to receiving cards, you must make an Ante bet. After you make the bet, you and the dealer will receive cards. The first card will be exposed for the dealer.
Here is where you will make the only decision of the game. You will either fold or play your hand. When you fold, the hand is over, when you decide to make the Bet, your will place a bet double that of your ante. For example, if you Ante $5, your bet will be $10.
After you make your bet, the dealer will show his hand. For the Bet to pay offer, the dealer must qualify with A-K high or better. If he does not qualify, the Bet pushes and you’ll be paid 1 to 1 on your Ante.
Note that the rank of your hand does not matter when the dealer does not qualify. For example, if you have A-J-10-9-8 and the dealer has A-Q-8-7-6, you will still get 1 to 1 on your Ante because the dealer did not qualify. This is different than standard Caribbean Stud Poker
Payouts for Winning Bet
When the dealer qualifies with A-K or better, the highest hand wins. If the dealer qualifies, and you win the hand, you will get 1 to 1 on your Ante and the Bet pays off based on the following paytable:
- Royal Flush – 200:1
- Straight Flush – 50:1
- Four of a Kind – 20:1
- Full House – 7:1
- Flush – 5:1
- Straight – 4:1
- Three of a Kind – 3:1
- Two Pair – 2:1
- One Pair or High Card – 1:1
You’ll notice that the Royal Flush pays double what you normally see for Caribbean Stud. This actually helps to lower the house edge by .01%.
Caribbean Poker Strategy
Caribbean Poker strategy is the same type of strategy you will use for most Caribbean Stud games. As such, you will raise anytime you have a hand higher than A-K high and fold anytime you have a hand lower than A-K high.
So what do you do when you have A-K as your hand. It depends on the situation. Here’s how you will play A-K high hands:
- Raise when you have A-K and you have a card in your hand matching the dealer’s upcard.
- If the dealer’s upcard is an Ace or King, only raise if you have A-K-J or A-K-Q.
Don’t play hoping that the dealer fails to qualify. While it is true your ante will win automatically if the dealer fails to qualify, you’ll lose a lot more money long-term making this play.
It is important that you use strategy for this game as the house edge is higher than most games. Even if you play with a strategy, the house edge will be 5.21%. In some cases, you may be better off playing online pokies.
If you have an option between playing Caribbean Poker from Nucleus Gaming or Caribbean Stud Poker, pick Caribbean poker. The increased payout for the Royal makes the game slightly better.