Trying to get an edge and keep your money in Caribbean Poker (a.k.a. Caribbean Stud) is no small feat. The house has a solid edge backed up by a couple rules that will prove frustrating if you play for very long or for serious money.

Despite its name, Caribbean Poker is a table game, more akin to Blackjack than Poker. But don't think that Caribbean provides the same opportunities for the shrewd player that Blackjack does, 'cause it most certainly does not. The house has a solid 5.2% edge over the player and that's close to the worst odds you'll find in the casino. (See The Wizard of Odds Caribbean Strategy for a different perspective on these odds). As to its relation to Poker, the only thing they have in common is that Caribbean uses the Poker hands for scoring.

There are only three decisions a player needs to make in Caribbean Poker. The first is how much to bet. The second is whether to Raise or Fold after the dealer's one-card flop. And the third is whether take the Side (a.k.a. Progressive) Bet.

Betting

There are a few factors in this game that recommend the smart player place small bets. The first is the house edge which there is simply no getting around and in the long run that means you're going to lose money. Better to lose small than big, no? The second is that most Caribbean tables limit the payout. You may bet $100 a hand and Raise your $200 and think you've hit a $6,000 jackpot when you come up with 4-of-a-Kind with its 20-1 payout. But if the Maximum Payout at your table is $5,000 then that's all you're going to get. So know your table's Max and bet accordingly.

Basic Strategy

Simply put, the basic strategy in Caribbean Poker is to Raise on A-K-J-8-3 or better and Fold otherwise. That is called the "beacon hand" and it's the lowest break-even hand in the game. While this won't make you a long-term winner, it will help slow your losses. It's the paying hands, a pair or better, that will net you the good wins. Trouble is that the dealer must qualify (A-K) in order for you to get the real payoffs and those opportunities are annoyingly infrequent in Caribbean Poker. More on this later.

If you've spent any time looking around, you'll know that there are many varieties and variations of this strategy. Using them will help you shave the house edge by teeny amounts, but they're hardly worth the effort. Even if you played the mathematically optimal strategy you'd only improve over the basic strategy by a few tenths of a point. Is it worth it? On paper maybe, but the bottom line is that you're playing a losing game so getting deep into it in order to shave a couple tenths is an effort of dubious worth.