How to play stud poker?

Caribbean poker is a very easy 5 card stud poker with a house edge – 5.4%. It’s a high per cent in comparison with other gambling.  The game is leading against you, and you will never be sure that you win. As long time ago, the players of Caribbean stud poker are dealt five cards and they play against the dealer.  You shouldn’t change cards.  There is also no possibility to bluff.

Stud poker rules.
The player in this game is only one and he or she plays against the dealer. There are 6 boxes on the table. Each box has 2 fields for bets. One of them is called Ante (the initial bet), the other – Bet (the main bet).
Before each dealing, the player makes the initial bet and places one or several chips on the field Ante. The dealer distributes 5 cards to each gambler. The cards are dealing by turns and are put face down. But the dealer’s last card is up.
The player looks into the cards and determines the value of the hand. First or last the player should compare his hand with the dealer’s one. The person, whose cards are higher, is a winner.  One dealer’s card is up and that is the whole information that the player can dispose.

Caribbean stud poker hands ranking.
•    The Royal Flush – the highest poker hand – five high cards of the same suit (A, K, Q, J, 10).
•    The Straight Flush – five sequential cards of the same suit.
•    4 of a kind – four cards of the same rank, for example four Queens or four Fives plus one additional card.
•    Full House – 3 of a Kind and a Pair, for example 6-6-6-K-K.
•    Flush – five cards of the same suit.
•    Straight – five sequential cards as for example 9-8-7-6-5. The suit of the cards doesn’t matter.  The ace can be either the highest (A-K-Q-J-10) or lowest card (5-4-3-2-A).  The sequence with the ace within (3-2-A-K-Q) isn’t Straight.
•    3 of a Kind – three cards of the same rank, for example 9-9-9-Q-4.
•    2 Pairs – two cards of one rank and two of another rank, for example A-A-5-5-10
•    Pair – two cards of the same rank, for example 8-8-K-Q-4.
•    Ace/King – one Ace and one King of any suit, for example A-K-8-7-3.
•    Any Pair – there isn’t any combination listed above, for example J-10-7-5-2.
The higher the stud poker combination, the more valuable the hand is.  If the dealer’s hand and the player’s hand have the same combinations, their values are determined, as in every poker game, by the high card.

Stud poker strategy.
The optimal strategy to play stud poker is very difficult.  There are few people who know it to perfection. However we can infer several general rules, which do practically for all poker hands.
- Always raise when you have Pair or higher hand.
- Always fold if your hand is lower than that one the dealer needs to be qualified (Ace/King).
If you have Ace/King the situation is rather complicated. It generally plays if other three cards are high or if the dealer’s up card is Jack or lower and matches one of the player’s card (it reduces the dealer’s possibility to make Pair).
There is a strategy which makes house edge 5.2% that is little lower than the house edge when using the optimal strategy.
- Raise when the dealer’s up card is from 2 to Queen and matches one of yours cards.
- Raise if the dealer’s up card is Ace or King and you have Queen or Jack.
- Raise if the dealer’s up card doesn’t match any of yours but you have Queen and the dealer’s up card is lower than your fourth high card.