Caribbean Stud poker

The player antes, and is then dealt a five-card hand; the dealer is also dealt five cards of which only one is exposed. Players have the option to play or fold; if they choose to play, they place their bets (twice the amount of their respective ante) in the bet box. If they choose to fold, they forfeit their ante. 
The dealer then reveals his remaining four cards. If the dealer's hand is not Ace-King or better, the player is paid even money on the ante and nothing (i.e., a push) on the bet. If the dealer's hand is Ace-King or better it is said to "qualify" (for play against the player). In that case if the dealer's hand is better than the player's, the player's ante and bet are collected by the house. If the dealer's qualifying hand is worse than the player's hand, the player is paid even money on the ante and an amount on the bet according to the player's hand:

Caribbean stud poker strategy

The dealer will fail to qualify 43.7% of the time, and will qualify with an Ace-King (no pair) 6.4% of the time. This means that an important part of this game is to decide when to bet and when to fold. Below are some basic rules which can greatly increase your winnings.

1. Always raise when you have a pair. Even a very low pair yields an expected profit.
2. Always fold when you don't have at least an Ace or King
3. When you do have an Ace or King, it depends on your other cards when to raise:

• Raise if the dealers upcart is a Queen or lower and equalls one of your own cards
• Raise if the dealers upcart is a King or Ace and you have a Jack or Queen in your hands
• Raise if the dealers upcart does not matches on of your own, on of your cards is a Queen, and the dealer's upcart is lower then your fourth highest card.

These simple rules will bring you close to the optimum strategy. The table below shows the results of three different strategies: