The Rules of Caribbean Poker The game of Caribbean (Stud) Poker originated in the Caribbean Islands, and soon spread to casinos in North America and Europe, becoming increasingly popular. Caribbean Poker is based on the card rankings of five-card stud poker, except that the player bets against the house instead of against other players. Caribbean Poker is played with one 52-card deck with no Joker, and the deck is reshuffled after each hand. The player places an initial wager (ante), and receives five cards face up. The dealer also receives five cards; four cards face down and the final card face up. Now it's the player's turn to decide to stay in the game (raise) or fold. If the player decides to "raise", he/she must place an additional wager, exactly twice the initial "ante" wager. If the player decides to fold, he/she forfeits the "ante" wager. After the player has made his/her decision whether to raise or fold, the dealer reveals the remaining four cards. The dealer must "qualify" to play by receiving a poker hand consisting of an Ace/King or higher. If the dealer's hand does not qualify, the player receives a 1 to 1 payout (even money) on his/her "ante" wager, and the "raise" wager is retuned without additional winnings. If the dealer's hand qualifies, the dealer compares his/her cards to the player's cards. If the player's hand is higher in rank than the dealer's hand, the player wins and receives a 1 to 1 payout on the "ante" wager, plus winnings on the "raise" wager, according to the payout table below. If the dealer's hand is higher in rank than the player's hand, the player loses both "ante" and "raise" wagers. If the dealer's hand and the player's hand "tie" (all five cards are identical in rank - suits are not considered), the "ante" and "raise" wagers are both pushes, and the bets return to the player. Winning Combinations (in case dealer's hand qualifies) Ace/King: A hand consisting of an Ace and King (for example: A,Q,2,K,7). One Pair: A hand consisting of a single pair (for example: A,A,Q,J,6). Two Pair: Two sets of pairs of the same card denomination (for example: Q,Q,3,6,6). Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same denomination (for example: K,K,K,Q,10). Straight: Five consecutive denomination cards of different suit (for example: 6,7,8,9,10. An Ace can be the starting card or the ending card - A,2,3,4,5 or 10,J,Q,K,A ). Flush: Five non-consecutive denomination cards of the same suit (for example: 2,5,10,J,A and all cards of the same suit - Spades, Hearts, Clubs or Diamonds). Full House: A set of three cards of the same denomination plus a set of two cards of the same denomination (for example: K,K,K,A,A). Four of a kind: Four cards of the same denomination (for example: 7,7,7,7,J). Straight Flush: Five consecutive denomination cards of the same suit (for example: 5,6,7,8,9 and all cards of the same suit - Spades, Hearts, Clubs or Diamonds). Royal Flush: Five consecutive denomination cards of the same suit, starting from 10 and ending with an Ace (for example: 10,J,Q,K,A and all cards of the same suit - Spades, Hearts, Clubs or Diamonds). Caribbean Poker Payoff Table Hand Payout Ratio 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 Pair 1 to 1 ce/King 1 to 1 Gameplay Table Limits Table Type Minimum Bet Maximum Bet I $2 $20 II $5 $50 III $25 $400 General Text Boxes Message - This indicates whether 'You are the Player' or whether 'You are the Dealer'. Opponent - This tells you the name (or nickname) of your current opponent. Last Round - This tells you how much you've won or lost in the previous round. Credit Points - This is your current Credit Points balance. As Player, you accumulate 1 Credit Point on every dollar you place as a bet. As Dealer, 1 Credit Point is deducted for every 1 dollar bet against you (see example below). Fun Balance / Balance - This is your current Fun / Real-Money Balance (in US dollars). Commission - When playing as Dealer, you pay a commission of 1.5% on the total bets placed against you (when playing as Player you do not pay commissions), see example below. General Options Timer - This is the circle at bottom-right corner of the screen. On every round, you have 45 seconds to make your decisions. The Timer indicates how much time you have left before reaching 45 seconds. If after 45 seconds you haven't finished your decisions, you will exit the table. Back - Pressing 'Back' returns you to the Options Screen. '?' (Help) - Pressing 'Help' opens the Help screen relevant to the room you're currently in. In this case, Caribbean Poker. '$' (Cashier) - Pressing '$' opens the Cashier screen. Timer - This is the circle at the bottom-right corner of the screen. On every round, you have 45 seconds to make your decisions when playing as Player, and 35 seconds to make your decisions when playing as Dealer. The Timer indicates how much time you have left before reaching the time limit. If you haven't finished making your decisions during the specified time limit, you will exit the table. Playing as Player Play And Deal Casino lets you play either as Player or as Dealer. Playing as Dealer is optional and is not mandatory. If you do not wish to play as Dealer, you can play the traditional role of the Player, knowing you can rely on the fairness and credibility of Searcn Casino. Caribbean Poker Text Boxes Card Labels - These labels appear above the cards and provide information regarding your current hand (if you have 1 pair, 2 pairs, 3 of a kind, etc.). Bet Labels - These labels appear to the left of your bet and inform you how much money you have placed on the table. Won / Lost Labels - These labels appear above the cards and indicate whether you have won or lost. Game Options Game Chips: $1, $5, $25 and $100 With the Game Chips you make your bet on the table by creating a "Chip Tower". You may remove chips from the Chip Tower by clicking on the left mouse button while placing the cursor on the Chip Tower. Deal Once you've placed your bets on the table press 'Deal' to deal the cards. Raise Press 'Raise' if you want to raise your bet and place an addition wager equal to double your initial wager. Fold Press 'Fold' if you don't want to raise your bet. When you press 'Fold' you also waiver your initial wager. Disconnections Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. We have designed our software to cope with such incidents in a manner that our clients will be protected from unjustifiable loss, while eliminating the possibility of intentional disconnections and/or system abuse. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player placed his/her bet and before the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the Player's bet will be returned to his/her Balance. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the round will continue as if the Player had decided to 'Fold'. Playing as Dealer Play And Deal Casino offers you the unique option of playing the role of the Dealer. This option increases your chances of winning, since you gain some of the favorable odds reserved for the casino. At the end of every round the casino takes a commission of 1.5% of the total bets bet against the Dealer. Example A Dealer chooses to play in Table I. This means that the Dealer meets the minimum requirements for playing in this table type: a minimum of 15 Credit Points and a minimum balance of $1010. The system then matches a Player to the Dealer and after the Dealer 'Approves' the next round, the Player places his/her bets on the table. Notice that the view of the table has changed to that of the Dealer's. Let's say the Player places $5 as an initial wager. The Player's hand consists of 'Q','3','7','Q','A', and the Dealer's upcard is a 'J'. The Player decides to 'Raise' his/her bet, and places an additional wager of $10. The Dealer's cards are then revealed to show a hand consisting of '4','J','K','K' and 'A'. The Player loses his/her bet and since the bet against the Dealer was $15 the casino takes a commission of 1.5%*15 = $0.23, which means the Dealer wins 15-0.23 = $14.77 on this round. The casino's edge in Caribbean Poker is approximately 5.3% (bear in mind that this percentage depends on the knowledge of the player in Caribbean Poker. Also, this 5.3% is how the casino makes a profit on Caribbean Poker) so as the Dealer you actually gain an edge of about 3.8%. Minimum Credit Points and Balance 'Tie', 'Banker', 'Player' Click on the position you believe will win the next hand - "Player", "Banker" or "Tie". Game Chips: $1, $5, $25 and $100 With the Game Chips you make your bet on the table by creating a "Chip Tower". You may remove chips from the Chip Tower by clicking on the left mouse button while placing the cursor on the Chip Tower. Deal Once you've placed your bets on the table press 'Deal' to deal the cards. Disconnections Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. We have designed our software to cope with such incidents in a manner that our clients will be protected from unjustifiable loss, while eliminating the possibility of intentional disconnections and/or system abuse. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player placed his/her bet and before the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the Player's bet will be returned to his/her Balance. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the round will continue until the end of the current playing round. This has no effect on the Player, since the Player makes no decisions after the cards are dealt. Disconnections Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. We have designed our software to cope with such incidents in a manner that our clients will be protected from unjustifiable loss, while eliminating the possibility of intentional disconnections and/or system abuse. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player placed his/her bet and before the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the Player's bet will be returned to his/her Balance. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the round will continue until the end of the current playing round. This has no effect on the Player, since the Player makes no decisions after the cards are dealt. Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. We have designed our software to cope with such incidents in a manner that our clients will be protected from unjustifiable loss, while eliminating the possibility of intentional disconnections and/or system abuse. Should a disconnection occur after the Dealer pressed the "Approve" button, play will continue until the Player has finished his turn. This has no effect on the Dealer, since the Dealer is played automatically according to the rules of the game. After connection is re-established the Dealer can enter the "History" page and see the results of the last round ("History" is available for Money mode only). I love the possibility to be the dealer. And it pays grand! J. Becetts, Boston