http://www.betfaircasino.com/tips/ en Copyright 2012 Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:15:00 +0000 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Caribbean Stud Poker involves a lot of luck, but it is possible to play a sound strategy that increases your chances of winning. When to Play, When to Fold Setting aside the progressive jackpot for a moment, there is really just one decision point in Caribbean Stud Poker -- to play or fold your hand. Folding means losing your ante, while playing means committing another bet worth twice the ante. Thus if the ante was £5, the "call bet" or "raise" is £10. When making your decision whether to play or fold, you have two pieces of information: (1) your hand, and (2) one of the dealer's five cards. Much like in blackjack, you should evaluate what you have and what the dealer is showing in order to decide how to proceed. And usually looking at what you have is going to be enough for you to make your decision. Just like in blackjack when you always want to stand when you're dealt good hands (e.g., 17 and higher), there are certain hands in Caribbean Stud Poker you should always play. Any hand with a pair or better should be played. So should most hands containing both an ace and a king. In fact, it's acceptable just to play one-pair-or-better hands and all your A-K-x-x-x hands, and fold the rest. It should be obvious, actually, why it isn't smart to play less than A-K-x-x-x. The dealer needs at least that to have a qualifying hand, so if you play a worse hand than that, you can only get double your ante bet back and a "push" on your raise. In other words, you're risking three units to win one -- and while holding a relatively weak hand, too! So always play hands with a pair or better, and always consider playing with A-K-high, too. There are a couple of spots, however, when you might actually fold your A-K-x-x-x hand. If you have A-K-x-x-x and the dealer's up card is not a king or ace, you should play. The chances of him having better than your A-K hand are less since you have both an ace and a king in your hand. He can always turn over a pair or better to beat you, but you always should be playing your A-K-x-x-x hand here. However, if the dealer does have an ace or king showing, look at your other three cards to decide what to do. If you have a Q or J among those cards, playing is a good idea, since even if he has A-K-x-x-x to qualify, your A-K hand is likely better. But if your next highest card is a 10 or lower, you probably should let your hand go. Advanced Caribbean Stud Poker strategy considers other factors, too, but keeping these few ideas in mind regarding A-K hands is enough to ensure you'll be playing most of your hands advantageously. Should You Play the Progressive Jackpot? Remember that in Caribbean Stud Poker you have an option to make a side bet, too, usually just for an extra £1 or $1, called the "progressive jackpot." This is a bet on the possibility of your getting lucky and being dealt a flush or better. It can be a tempting bet, especially for new players. The problem is, the payouts are almost always well out of proportion to your chances of hitting the needed hands. For example, it is standard for the progressive jackpot to pay 50x should you be dealt a flush. Thus, for that £1 bet you'd get a sweet-looking £50 in return. However, the probability of being dealt a flush is about 508-to-1. You can see right away how this isn't such a good gamble. And while hitting that royal flush will win you 100% of the jackpot -- whatever it happens to be at the time -- you're only due a royal every 650,000 hands or so. Indeed, playing the lottery is probably a better way to go. In other words, sound strategy says avoid the progressive jackpot. Then again, if you're feeling lucky and are in a gambling mood, go for it -- you could win a lot for a little! http://www.betfaircasino.com/tips/caribbean-stud-poker-some-simple-strategy-tips.html http://www.betfaircasino.com/tips/caribbean-stud-poker-some-simple-strategy-tips.html Thu, 17 May 2012 05:24:36 +0000 So you've played some blackjack and know all about the various choices involved -- hitting, standing, doubling down, splitting, surrendering, taking insurance, and so on. The question is, how do you play in a way that increases your chances of winning? What Not To Do When it comes to playing initially, a couple of the choices listed above might well be tossed out entirely without too much worry. Surrendering -- that is, forfeiting one's hand after being dealt the first two cards and giving up half of your original wager -- is almost never a good option. The only time it should ever be considered is when the option is available to you on hands when the dealer has dealt himself blackjack. This is called "early surrender." However, some casinos only allow you to surrender your hand after the dealer has checked to see he doesn't have blackjack ("late surrender"). While surrendering may seem like a good way to minimize losses, it often is a bad play when the dealer doesn't have blackjack. Thus, if the "early surrender" option isn't possible, go ahead and play your hand. Taking insurance -- that side bet in which you can wager up to half your original bet on whether the dealer has blackjack -- is also generally speaking a poor play. In order to keep things simple, let's set that one aside, too, and focus on hitting, standing, splitting, and doubling down. "Hard" hands (non-pairs) We'll ignore pair hands (with two cards worth the same amount) and splitting and first talk about basic strategy for playing the non-pair hands. First, here is what to do with hands that don't contain an ace (worth 1 or 11). By the way, these are called "hard" hands (e.g., a 9 and a 7 makes a "hard 16"). If you are dealt 17-21, always stand, regardless of what the dealer's up card is. If you are dealt 13-16, stand if the dealer is showing 2-6, otherwise hit. And if your two starting cards add up to 8 or less, always hit. Easy enough. If you are dealt 9-12, that's when you need to think about doubling down. Remember, when you double down you double your bet and receive just one more card. If you have 12, double down if the dealer has a 2 or 3 showing. If the dealer has 4-6 showing, stand. In other cases, hit. With a hard 9-11, the choice is whether to double down or hit. If you have 11, double down unless the dealer has an ace up, in which case hit. If you have 10, double down if the dealer has 2-9 up; otherwise hit. And if you have 9, double down if the dealer is showing 3-6; otherwise hit. "Soft" hands (non-pairs) If you are dealt an ace, your hand is called a "soft" hand. For example, an ace and a 5 is called a "soft 16" because it doesn't have to be played as a 16, but can also go as a 6. With A-9 or A-8, always stand. (You stand with blackjack, too, of course.) With A-7, you should stand if the dealer is showing a 2, 7, or 8. If the dealer shows 3-6, double down. Otherwise hit. With A-6, also double down if the dealer has 3-6 showing; otherwise hit. With A-5 or A-4, double down if the dealer shows 4-6; otherwise hit. And with A-3 or A-2, double down if the dealer has a 5 or 6 up; otherwise hit. Splitting pairs Remember, splitting means taking your two equally-valued cards and having the dealer add an extra card to each so you can play two hands at once (with a wager on each). First off, if you have a pair of 10s (or two cards each worth 10), always stand. And if you have 5-5, never split those either. With 5-5, double down unless the dealer is showing a card worth 10 or an ace, in which case just hit. Meanwhile, if you have A-A or 8-8, always split. If you have 7-7, 3-3, or 2-2, split if the dealer shows 2-7; otherwise hit. If you have 6-6, split if the dealer shows 2-6; otherwise hit. And if you have 4-4, split if the dealer has a 5 or 6; otherwise hit. Finally, if you have 9-9, stand if you see the dealer has a 7, 10, or ace showing. Otherwise split. All of the recommendations listed here are common ones, and are based on the math of the game and the probabilities involved. Following these recommendations doesn't guarantee you'll win at blackjack, but doing so will ensure you'll have a better shot at winning than if you play without any particular strategy in mind. http://www.betfaircasino.com/tips/blackjack-strategy.html http://www.betfaircasino.com/tips/blackjack-strategy.html Thu, 17 May 2012 05:24:36 +0000