Rules for Caribbean Beach Poker From Wazdan

Lately, we’ve been covering poker card games like 3 Card Poker. We continue that trend by looking at another popular online casino game you’ll find at many online casinos. Caribbean Beach Poker is a fun online poker game from Wazdan. The game is essentially a draw poker table game that’s super easy to learn. Let’s take a look at the rules and strategies for this fun game.

How to Play Caribbean Beach Poker

When most people look at Caribbean Beach Poker, they assume it is another form of Caribbean Stud. This is partially true, but the game is more a variant of draw poker. We consider this a table game version of video poker.

At the start of each hand, you’ll make an Ante bet to receive cards. After making the bet, you’ll receive five upcards. The dealer gets five cards as well, but only the first card is shown.

Now, you must decide whether to Draw, Play, or Fold your hand. If you fold, the hand concludes. Should you choose to draw cards, you must first decide which cards you will hold. The game will automatically put a Stop button on any cards it suggests you hold. You can also opt to click on a card to hold it.

When you opt to draw cards, you will click the draw button. This option costs you the same as you Ante. When you click draw, any cards not marked stop will be exchanged.

Instead of drawing cards, you can also opt to Raise. This will cost you double your ante. You will also have the option to raise after you draw cards.

After you make the Raise bet, the dealer’s cards are revealed and the game goes to showdown.

Determining Winners and Payouts

Like most online poker games, the dealer must qualify in order to pay off all bets. In order to qualify, the dealer must have A-K. Should the dealer fail to qualify, you will get even money on your Ante and the Raise bet pushes.

When the dealer actually qualifies, you’ll still get even money on the Ante bet. However, the Raise bet is paid based on a paytable. This paytable is similar to a 7-5 Jacks or Better video poker paytable.

Here’s the standard paytable for this Caribbean Beach Poker:

• 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 or High Card – 1 to 1

As stated, this is a lot like a video poker paytable, except that the top hands do not pay nearly as well.

Strategy for Caribbean Beach Poker

Since this game has a drawing element, you have to factor that into your strategy. Generally, you will dump all hands that are not at least A-K-10 or higher.

There are instances where you should draw cards, even when you don’t have at least A-K-10 or higher:

• Any Ace or King
• Hands With Two Face Cards or More
• Any Four Card Straight or Flush

The great thing about drawing in this game is that it is a flat fee regardless of the number of cards you draw. Some games charge for every card drawn. As such, the above drawing strategy is beneficial.

Another time where you can consider drawing cards is when you have a pair or better. In this case, the draw is an attempt to improve your potential payout. For example, if you are dealt two pair, you could draw one card to try and improve to a full house.

After you draw cards, reevaluate your hand. If you still don’t have A-K-10 or higher, you should still dump the hand. Otherwise, you will be throwing money away the majority of the time.