Caribbean Stud Las Vegas 2016
Caribbean Stud is a casino card game based loosely on poker. The goal of the game is to win money by getting a better 5-card poker hand than the dealer. If you are successful, you will receive a payout based on the strength of your final hand. The better your hand is, the more you get paid. The basic rules of Caribbean Stud are fairly simple. Tag: Caribbean stud poker. Hotel, Casino & Club News. Progressive Poker-Variant Jackpot at The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas. By: VegasNews.com-September 15, 2014.
By Henry Tamburin
Ten years ago you couldn't find a Caribbean Stud Poker table in any casino in the USA. Nowadays, virtually every major casino has at least one Caribbean Stud Poker table and in fact, mostcasinos have two or more tables. What led to its explosive growth? First, it's based on the All-American game of five-card stud poker that is familiar to most players. Secondly, allplayers compete against the dealer which eliminates the intimidation of playing against other players that occurs in regular table poker. Thirdly, the game features a progressive jackpot thatsometimes reaches $100,000 and more. And fourthly, and most importantly, the game is easy to play.
- Answer 1 of 5: 1. Does anybody know if there if any of the Casinos in Las Vegas have Caribbean Stud Poker machines and where are they located? I read somewhere there are only few tables of Caribbean Stud Poker left in Vegas. And where are they.
- Caribbean Stud Poker is a poker-based card game played one-on-one between the player and dealer that is often tied to a progressive jackpot bonus. It is often referred to in the UK and Europe as Casino Five Card Stud Poker.There are some variations on classic poker in this game, but the goal of the game is the same - beat the dealer by forming the better hand.
Objective: To beat the dealer's five-card poker hand. There are no draw cards in Caribbean Stud Poker. Every player and the dealer are dealt five cards and if your five-card hand has ahigher poker rank than the dealer's five-card hand, you win.
Play of the Game: The game is played on a table similar to a blackjack table with up to seven player spots. One standard deck of 52-cards is used. The cards are usually shuffled byan automatic shuffle machine which speeds up the game (while one deck is being used, the other deck is being shuffled by the automatic shuffler). There are two betting areas in front ofeach player. One is labeled ante and the other is labeled bet. Above the ante bet is a slot where players can drop a dollar coin to become eligible for the progressive jackpot.
Play begins with all players making the mandatory ante wager and, if they wish, dropping a coin into the progressive jackpot slot. The dealer deals five cards face down to each player and tohimself, four cards face down and one card face up for all players to see. Each player then picks up his five cards and based on the strength of his hand and the value of the dealer's upcard,makes one of two decisions.
Decision one: If the player does not believe he will beat the player's hand, he can fold by laying the cards face down on the layout. When a player folds, he automatically loses hisante bet and the dealer will remove the cards from the layout (without facing them).
Decision two: If a player decides to play out his hand because he thinks he has a chance to beat the dealer, the player must make a call bet equal to twice the amount of the ante. Forexample, if your ante was $5, your call bet must be $10.
After all players have decided to either fold or call, the dealer exposes his cards on the layout. Now comes the most important rule in Caribbean Stud Poker. In order for players to winboth of their bets, the dealer's hand must qualify. This occurs if the dealer's hand contains at least an ace and king or better. This is an important rule because based upon whether thedealer's hand qualifies or not determines how the round is brought to closure.
If the dealer's hand does NOT qualify: Players who did not fold win even money on the ante bet. The secondary call bet is returned (a push). The dealer removes all the players' cardsfrom the layout without facing the cards. Essentially the dealer folds and there is no comparing of the dealer's hand vs. the player's hand to see which hand is the highest.
If the dealer's hand does qualify: If the dealer's hand contains at least an ace and king, he will 'call' all the player's hands. Player's lay their cards on the layout and the dealercompares his hand with the players hands to determine which hand has the highest poker rank. If the dealer's hand is higher than the player's hand, the dealer wins both the player's ante andcall bet. If instead the player's hand out ranks the dealer's hand then the player wins even money on the ante wager and the call bet is paid according to the following payout odds.
Call Bet | Payoff Odds |
Royal Flush | 100 to 1 |
Straight flush | 50 to 1 |
Four-of-a-kind | 20 to 1 |
Full House | 7 to 1 |
Flush | 5 to 1 |
Straight | 4 to 1 |
Three-of-a-kind | 3 to 1 |
Two pair | 2 to 1 |
One pair | 1 to 1 |
Ace-king | 1 to 1 |
Progressive Jackpot Bet: This optional bet is separate from the ante and call bet and independent of the dealer's hand. In other words, no matter what the rank of the dealer's hand orfor that matter even if he qualifies, you will be eligible for a payout if you make the optional dollar jackpot bet and are dealt one of these hands.
Typical Progressive Jackpot Pay Schedule
Royal Flush | 100% of jackpot |
Straight flush | 10% of the jackpot |
Four-of-a-kind | $500 |
Full House | $100 |
Flush | $50 |
Please note the jackpot pay schedule may be slightly different from one casino to the next especially in the amount of the payoff for the four-of-a-kind, full house, and flush. The jackpotgrows as players feed coins into the jackpot slot (casinos put anywhere from 25 to 75 cents out of every dollar bet into the jackpot pool). The house edge for the Progressive Jackpot isroughly 25% and this bet should be avoided.
Playing Strategy: Two of the most common playing mistakes made by players is to fold when they have a small pair or to bluff the dealer by making a call bet when they have a weakhand.
First, never fold your small pairs. You will be dealt a pair about 42% of the times and you'll win more (or lose less) in the long run by making the call bet rather than to fold (the casino hasabout a 7% edge against players who fold on small pairs). Also, never try to bluff the dealer! Some players mistakenly believe they can win more hands by making the call bet when they have aweak hand. They figure that the dealer who doesn't qualify pays off the ante wager for player's who stay in (i.e. make the call bet) regardless if the player has a strong or weak hand. Theproblem with this strategy is that when the dealer does qualify (and he will about 56% of the time), the player loses not only the ante bet but also the call bet (which is twice the ante bet).Mathematically a player who bluffs with a weak hand will lose 25% more of his ante over the long run than if he folded. Bottom-line - don't bluff!
Here is a simple basic playing strategy to get you started.
Basic Playing Strategy
- Fold if you have less than Ace-King.
- Make a call bet if:
- You have at least any pair or higher.
- You have at least an Ace-King and one of your other cards is the same as the dealer's face card
The casino's edge is about 5.2% based on the player's ante wager (or 2.6% based on the ante and call bet).
If you want to play Caribbean Stud Poker, remember to play it smartly by following the basic playing strategy, avoid bluffing on weak hands & folding on low pairs, and do not make theprogressive jackpot bet unless the amount of the jackpot justifies it.
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I know I’m getting long in the tooth, but realizing that many of my favorite casino table games are on the decline is still a kick in the… well, the teeth.
I came up playing advantage games like online blackjack and online video poker, and indeed, these skill-based games are still my bread and butter. But in between the intense, brain-draining sessions trying to grind out a living on those tables, I always found time to blow off some steam playing less demanding table games.
No, I didn’t “donk” off my winnings playing games of chance like online roulette or online baccarat, I preferred sticking to lesser known skill-games like online Caribbean Stud Poker and online Spanish 21.
After learning to play cards through five-card stud lessons alongside my grandfather, I’ve always been partial to stud variants.
And because five-card stud is just as dead as Gramps, playing Caribbean Stud Poker offered the next best thing.
As for Spanish 21, I’m a blackjack specialist by trade, so relaxing the standard rules and letting players explore a wide variety of new options was right up my alley.
So it was that I spent many a long night alternating between “work” while playing online blackjack and online video poker, and fun sessions for low stakes at the Caribbean Stud Poker and Spanish 21 tables.
Knowing all this, you can imagine my dismay when I landed in Las Vegas recently and headed to my favorite haunts – Caesars Palace, Bellagio, and MGM Grand – only to discover both games have been completely removed from the floor. I mean it, not a single table for either Caribbean Stud Poker or Spanish 21 can be found at those casinos, or any other in Las Vegas for that matter.
Fortunately for me and my fellow old-timers, a pit boss I’ve known for ages clued me in on a little secret.
He’s not supposed to advise players to visit competing casinos, so I’ll keep his name and workplace a secret, but this pal told me to check out the Venetian and Palazzo casinos on the north end of The Strip.
And boy am I glad I did…
Tucked away in a corner of the table game pit was a sight for sore eyes – Caribbean Stud Poker AND Spanish 21 tables running around the clock.
You should’ve seen me that night, like a kid on Christmas morning rushing across the room to open my new gifts. I hadn’t played the games in quite some time, so I was a little rusty at first, but I picked things up just like riding a bike.
And wouldn’t you know it? This old gambling man wound up winning a decent sum when it was all said and done.
I know I can’t be the only online Caribbean Stud and/or Spanish 21 fan still pining for the good old days, so I wrote this post for anybody who prefers obscure table games over the latest hot ticket. Below you’ll find a guide to playing both Caribbean Stud Poker and Spanish 21 at the Venetian and Palazzo casinos, which just so happen to be my new favorite haunts while visiting Las Vegas.
Playing Caribbean Stud Poker at the Venetian and Palazzo
Caribbean Stud Las Vegas 2016 Calendar
If you’ve never played online Caribbean Stud Poker before, just take a gander at this dual-rate pay table to see why my generation took a liking to it:
Caribbean Stud Pay Table
| HAND | ANTE | RAISE* |
| Royal Flush | 1 to 1 | 100 to 1 |
| Straight Flush | 1 to 1 | 50 to 1 |
| Four of a Kind | 1 to 1 | 20 to 1 |
| Full House | 1 to 1 | 7 to 1 |
| Flush | 1 to 1 | 5 to 1 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 | 3 to 1 |
| Three of a Kind | 1 to 1 | 2 to 1 |
| Two Pair | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
| One Pair | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
| High Card | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
*Only paid when dealer has a qualifying hand of A-K high or better
You can give the game a whirl by trying the Caribbean Stud Poker training tool that is available online for free. Before long, you’ll be playing like a real pro!
Over at the Venetian, you’ll find two tables spreading this classic casino offering. Both tables utilize a $15 minimum bet for the Ante, so be prepared to fire $45 total should you make the 2x-sized Raise bet to reach the showdown. High rollers can always up the ante too, all the way up to $500 per Ante bet.
And speaking of high rollers, the Palazzo has a single Caribbean Stud Poker table on hand with the same $15 minimum and a juiced up $2,000 max-bet limit.
Playing Spanish 21 at the Venetian and Palazzo
After I cleaned up at the Caribbean Stud Poker tables, I moved on to Spanish 21, still one of my favorite blackjack offshoots of all-time.
Things get froggy in a hurry thanks to several player-friendly rules. In case you’re unfamiliar with the liberal rules and gameplay, check out the laundry list of additions to standard blackjack used to create Spanish 21:
Spanish 21 Rules That Favor the Player
- “Charlie” hands – meaning any five, six, or seven cards without a bust – count as sure winners. Even if the dealer makes blackjack, you’ll still win with a Charlie.
- If the dealer makes a multi-card 21 (or a non-blackjack 21), any 21 you make still counts as a winner
- After doubling down once, you can then “redouble” by making a third bet and taking another card.
- After splitting any pair, you can then double down on the new hands created by the split.
- After splitting two Aces, you can then “re-split” should another A-A combo appear.
- Any five-card 21 is good for a 3 to 2 payout. Six-card 21s count for a 2 to 1 winner, and seven-card 21s produce a 3 to 1 payout.
- Landing a 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 on your first three cards, in different suits, is good for a 3 to 2 payout.
- Landing any suited 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 counts for a 2 to 1 winner
- Landing a 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 specifically in spades ups the payout to 3 to 1
- Landing a suited 7-7-7 with a 7 for the dealer up card triggers a $1,000 jackpot on any bet of $25 or less
- Landing a suited 7-7-7 with a 7 for the dealer up card triggers a $5,000 jackpot on any bets over $25
That’s a lot to digest for standard blackjack fans, so head over to try online Spanish 21 out for yourself, free of charge.
The Venetian spreads Spanish 21 using an 8-deck shoe on three different tables.
The Palazzo has a single Spanish 21 table with an 8-deck shoe.
Caribbean Stud Las Vegas 2016 Tickets
And under the house rules for both games, which match those listed above, you’ll face a reasonable house edge of just 0.76 percent.
Conclusion
Boy am I glad I always tip generously and make conversation with the pit bosses. If I didn’t, I probably would’ve found myself leaving Las Vegas under the mistaken belief that both Caribbean Stud Poker and Spanish 21 were dead forever. These obscure table games may be in a state of decline – who among us isn’t, am I right? – but as long as the Venetian and Palazzo are still standing, gamblers with a taste for the old-school like me can still enjoy their favorite games in style.