Caribbean Stud Poker Making The Call Bet

By
J. Phillip Vogel

Table 1: Call Bet Strategy

Hand

Upcard

Optimal

8's-A's

Any

Any

7's

Any

7,6,5,4,3,2

6's

Any

6,5,4,3,2

5's

Any

5,4,3,2

4's

Any

Any

3's

Any

Any

2's

Any

Any

AKQJX

Any

Any

AKQXX

AKQXX

Dependent

AKJXX

AKJXX

Dependent

AK10XX

AK10XX

Dependent

X represents any unpaired, non-sequential, non-suited cards.

From this table you can see that a pair of 8's or higher has a statistical expectation for winning regardless of the dealer's exposed card. With 5's, 6's or 7's, however, the strength of the hand is directly related to that card. Since the dealer has a greater chance for exposing one of his paired cards (40% of the hand makes up the pair) players have a greater chance of winning when the dealer exposes a card of equal or lesser value then their pair. However, despite the dealer's card, you must still make the call bet on any pair.

Hands like A-K-Q-X-X, A-K-J-X-X, and A-K-10-X-X, are the weakest playable hands, with a very low win expectation. For these hands, the call bet is made only when the dealer's exposed card matches any card in your hand. Any other hand that you are dealt is considered garbage and should be folded.

You're now set with the optimal strategy for making the call bets Caribbean Stud poker. As you can see there aren't as many rules as there are with games like blackjack, but there are important rules nonetheless. Knowing them will help reduce the edge down to it's lowest attainable value and help you to start walking away with a profit, instead of just taking longer to lose.