Caribbean Stud

Caribbean Stud is a banking casino table game rather than a multi-player vying game — every player competes individually against the house dealer, not against each other. Each player and the dealer are dealt five cards; players' cards are dealt face down, while one of the dealer's five cards is turned face up.

After seeing their five cards and the dealer's one exposed card, each player has exactly one decision: fold (forfeiting their initial ante bet) or "call" by placing an additional bet (commonly double the ante) to see the hand through to showdown — there is no draw and no further betting rounds.

The dealer's hand must "qualify" to compare against players who called — commonly requiring at least an ace-king or better. If the dealer doesn't qualify, calling players are paid even money on their ante and their call bet pushes (is returned) regardless of their own hand. If the dealer does qualify, each calling player's hand is compared to the dealer's: a losing player forfeits both bets, while a winning player is paid even money on the ante and a scaled bonus payout on the call bet based on their hand's strength (escalating for two pair, three of a kind, straights, flushes, and beyond, with the biggest bonus for a royal flush).

Historical note: Caribbean Stud is widely credited as having first been spread in Aruba casinos in the 1980s before being trademarked and marketed more broadly to casinos worldwide in the early 1990s — its exact invention is sometimes attributed to different individuals depending on the source, but the Aruba casino-floor origin is the most consistently cited detail.

Strategy notes: Because there's only one decision point (fold or call) and no draw, optimal play reduces to a fairly mechanical rule of thumb: call with any hand of at least ace-king that also beats or matches the dealer's exposed up-card, and fold nearly everything weaker, since the house edge is baked into the qualifying-hand and payout structure regardless.