DAILYJILI Caribbean Stud: Hands, Raise and Paytable
In Caribbean Stud you ante, get five cards, then fold or raise by exactly twice your ante.
Key facts and contents
- Step 1
- Place your ante
- Step 2
- Look at your five cards
- Step 3
- Fold or raise
- Step 4
- Watch the dealer qualify
- Step 5
- Collect on your hand
Caribbean Stud is a five-card poker game played against the dealer, not against other players, and a live table runs it in a streamed studio. Everything below on ranks, the dealer rule and the paytable is the land-based regulator’s wording, stated as that regulator’s rules, so you know exactly what a standard hand looks like before you sit down. Limits are set per table, which is why the table limits on each live tile matter before your first ante.
How a hand of Caribbean Stud plays out
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission rules set the order of a round, and a live table follows the same shape. Work through it in this order.
- Place your ante. The ante is the initial wager made before any card is dealt.
- Receive five cards face down. The dealer also gets five: one face up and four face down.
- Look at your hand and choose. Fold and forfeit the ante, or place a bet wager.
- The bet wager is exactly double your ante, placed before the dealer’s hole cards are exposed.
- The dealer turns the four hole cards and forms the best five-card hand.
- Ante and bet wagers are settled against the dealer’s hand as the qualifying rule below describes.
New Jersey’s regulation describes the same game in one line: players bet against the house, make an ante to receive five cards, then decide whether to continue with an additional wager. The decision point in both texts is the same: after you have seen your five cards, you either raise or fold.
Caribbean Stud hand rankings
The ranks come from N.J.A.C. 13:69F-16.5 and the Massachusetts rules, which list the same nine hands in the same order. Ace is high, and an ace may also complete a straight or straight flush with 2, 3, 4 and 5.
| Rank | Hand | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | Ace, king, queen, jack and 10 of one suit |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five cards of one suit in sequence |
| 3 | Four-of-a-kind | Four cards of the same rank |
| 4 | Full house | Three-of-a-kind and a pair |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in sequence, any suits |
| 7 | Three-of-a-kind | Three cards of the same rank |
| 8 | Two pairs | Two different pairs |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of the same rank |
When two hands share a rank, the highest card that the other hand does not hold decides it. If they are still identical, the round is a push, meaning a tie.
The dealer qualifying rule
The dealer must show a hand of ace-king or better to qualify, which the Massachusetts rules call a qualifying hand. Evolution’s own game page for its live version says the same: the dealer needs an ace and a king or higher. This rule changes what a raise is worth on any given round.
| Dealer hand | Your ante | Your bet wager |
|---|---|---|
| Lower than ace-king | Paid at 1 to 1 | Returned |
| Ace-king or better, you rank lower | Collected | Collected |
| Ace-king or better, you rank higher | Paid at 1 to 1 | Paid by the paytable below |
| Ace-king or better, equal rank | Returned | Returned |
A non-qualifying dealer is the round where a weak hand still pays something on the ante. It is also why folding a hand that looks poor costs you the full ante for nothing.
The paytable under the regulator’s rules
Section 10 of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission rules fixes the ante at 1 to 1 and pays a winning bet wager by hand rank. This is the regulator’s paytable for the land-based game. Your live table’s own paytable is on its info panel, so read it there before you play.
| Hand | Bet wager pays |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| A pair or less | 1 to 1 |
A worked example with round numbers
This is arithmetic, with stakes chosen for the example. Say you ante ₱100, so the raise is ₱200, and the dealer qualifies.
- You hold a flush and beat the dealer. The ante pays ₱100 at 1 to 1.
- The bet wager pays 5 to 1 on ₱200, which is ₱1,000.
- Your profit on the round is ₱1,100, and your ₱300 of stakes come back.
If the dealer does not qualify with the same hand, you win ₱100 on the ante and the ₱200 raise returns untouched. If you fold, you lose the ₱100 ante and nothing more.
Caribbean Stud side bets
Evolution’s page for its live version names two optional side bets: a Progressive Jackpot bet that grows with each round until a royal flush wins it, and a 5+1 Bonus bet with a top prize of 1,000 to 1. Both pay whatever the dealer holds, so a side bet can win on a round your main hand loses. In the Massachusetts rules a player who places a side bet but does not raise forfeits the ante and the progressive wager, while the five-card hand bonus stays alive.
The Massachusetts rules list several pay tables for the bonus and progressive wagers and let the casino select one, so read the side-bet figures on the panel of the table you open rather than assuming them.
Finding the paytable and limits at your table
Use the lobby’s own screens, not a remembered chart. Work through it like this.
- Open the Live tab on the home page. The lobby lists Evolution among its Live vendors.
- Pick the table and open its info panel to read the paytable, side bets and the limits printed for that table.
- Compare the panel with the Massachusetts table above. Where they differ, the panel is the one that decides your round.
If you also play baccarat, see how the payouts differ in the Super Six baccarat payouts compared, and if you wonder whether any of this changes with counting, read whether card counting is illegal. For the studio behind the tables, the Evolution live table studio page lists what this site records about it.
FAQ
Does the dealer have to qualify in Caribbean Stud?
Yes. Under the Massachusetts Gaming Commission rules the dealer qualifies with ace-king or better. If the dealer's hand is lower, your bet wager is returned and your ante is paid at 1 to 1.
How big is the raise in Caribbean Stud?
The Massachusetts rules define the bet wager as double your ante, placed after you have looked at your five cards and before the dealer's hole cards are shown. Fold instead and the ante is forfeited.
What does a pair pay on the bet wager?
Under the Massachusetts paytable a pair or less pays 1 to 1 on the bet wager, two pair pays 2 to 1 and a royal flush pays 100 to 1. Your live table's own paytable is on its info panel.
Where do I read the paytable of the live table I am sitting at?
Open the table from the Live tab, where the lobby lists Evolution among its vendors, and open its info panel. The panel carries that table's paytable, side bets and limits.