Fun in the Stud
One just can’t get enough of poker. That’s why there are so many spin-offs the classic game has. They enrich and spice up the regular poker experience a great deal.
Caribbean Stud’s basic rules, odds and gameplay are identical to the classic poker ones. At Caribbean, you play against the dealer only. The game is exclusively one-on-one and no other players involved. That certainly simplifies the gameplay making it more clear for the newbies. Another great feature is that bluffing is not allowed at Caribbean Stud.
Well, you wouldn’t need bluffing if there are no other players involved. Pretty obvious. The gameplay is the same: you and the dealer get 5 cards each. You see yours right away, but you see only one of the dealer’s cards, the rest are hole. The idea is to get a better combination than the dealer, or to outrank his hand if no combos were made.
How does it work? First, you make an obligatory bet called Ante. To make this bet, choose one of the chips on the control panel, in the lower left corner of the screen. The chips are available in several values: 0.10, 1, 5, 10, 25, or 100. So pick whichever you like the best and place your ante. After, press the ‘Deal’ button. It’s in the middle at the bottom of the screen. Check your cards. Remember, you won’t be able to draw new cards in place of the discarded. You have to play with what you have got.
So, see if there is a combo? If you are feeling lucky with what you have on your hands, go on playing. To do so, raise the bet. Press the corresponding button right next to the ‘Deal’ button. Your Ante will be doubled instantly. If you win, you get paid according to the paytable. If the dealer has a higher hand, well, bad luck and you lose your Ante and Raise.
Don’t forget, you may always fold the cards, if you don’t see any combo-potential in them. If you fold, you lose the Ante only and may go on dealing in no time. Another great trick: don’t panic if you have no good cards on your hand. The dealer qualifies if he has an Ace or a Kind only. If he doesn’t, you get an easy win! If you and the dealer have equal hands, it is a stand-off. It’s usually paid even money.
Speaking of the winnings, they are quite generous at Caribbean Stud. The lowest combo is One Pair is paid 1:1. The highest hand paid 100:1. All the hands are classic poker combos. If you ever played poker, you would know what to do instantly.
As we have said, the game is pretty basic, so is its layout. On the screen there is a green-felted table with the spots for placing Ante and Raise bets. Some chips are stacked on the opposite side of the table. On your side, there are some basic control buttons, including the betting chips, Deal, Raise and Fold. The table limits are specified in the widget in the upper left corner of the screen. The minimal bet is 0.10, the tops is 300.00.
All the hands and their payouts are also on the screen. There is a special widget for them. What we didn’t find at this game is a Help or an Info section. The rules are no rocket science, but we’d love to look up the stand-off winnings, for instance. Another feature we’d love to have is the widget with a win from the hand. There is a balance widget, right! But you have to calculate your winnings from the hand yourself. Annoying and unnecessary if you ask us! A separate widget would be perfect here.
Is Caribbean Stud better than the original game? Not sure! The classic game has so much to it, it’s hard to get enough, even if only the classic gameplay is involved. What makes Caribbean Stud so appealing is a chance to get a new experience with the same basic rules and odds. It’s much faster than the regular game and has its perks, like a bluffing ban.
Some new players sometimes find it quite hard to bluff at poker. It passes eventually, but Caribbean Stud might be a good playground for the newbies who are too shy to bluff, don’t know the rules and make their first steps in serious poker.
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