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Caribbean Poker Strategy
Betting and Payoff
There are two phases of betting in Carribbean Poker. In the first phase, you ante in, before the dealer deals the cards. After the dealer deals cards to you and itself, and reveals one of its cards, you either place a "call" bet or surrender.
Payoff gets interesting, when the dealer qualifies and you get even money for your ante and your "call" pays out as follows:
| Casino War House Edge |
| Hand |
Payoff |
Progressive Payout |
| Royal Flush |
100:1 |
100% Pot |
| Straight Flush |
50:1 |
10% Pot |
| 4 of a Kind |
20:1 |
$250.00 |
| Full House |
7:1 |
$150.00 |
| Flush |
5:1 |
$100.00 |
| Straight |
4:1 |
- |
| 3 of a Kind |
3:1 |
- |
| 2 Pair |
2:1 |
- |
| 1 Pair |
1:1 |
- |
The Odds
The house has a 5.2% edge over you, which is about as bad as it gets at a casino!
The house edge on a progressive bet (a common online option) is around 22% or more. So beware!
In general, though, remember that the dealer will only qualify 56% of the time, so that 46% of the time you'll only get paid for your ante bet. So beware!
Strategies
The core assumption is that you will lose money in Caribbean Poker. So the best strategy is to minimize your losses! The basic strategy is to raise on Ace-King-Jack-8-3 or better, and surrender otherwise. That is the "beacon hand", and it is the lowest break-even hand in the game. The dealer must qualify in order for you to get payoffs, and this rarely happens in Caribbean Poker. With all this in mind, if you enjoy losing for the occasional great payoff.
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