Finding the best Caribbean Poker online

Every year countless numbers of new casino games are invented. The vast majority of these games never make it to the casino floor; they are rejected by casino operators after just a quick review. Only a few games have the privilege of being introduced to the public, and again, most of these games only last a couple of months before being eventually discarded.

In order for a new casino game to survive it's first year, it has to be really special, and attract a lot of interest from players. Only a handful of new casino games have been able to do this in the last couple of decades. One such game is Caribbean Stud Poker. It was introduced in an Aruban casino in the late 1980s. Because it was very popular among players, it quickly found it's way to the mainstream Las Vegas casinos, only a few years after it's invention. Today, Caribbean Poker is offered by almost any casino, both land-based and online.

In this article we will compare the Caribbean Poker games that are offered by five of the biggest online casino gaming companies: Microgaming, Playtech, Real Time Gaming, Boss Media and Cryptologic. If you're looking for a basic introduction to the rules of Caribbean Stud, you're advised to first consult our Caribbean Poker rules guide. You also might want to read our Caribbean Poker strategy section, before reading further. Whatever you choose to do, this article is *not* about the rules, nor the strategy of Caribbean Poker, and assumes you already have a basic knowledge about the rules and strategies of Caribbean Poker, and maybe even some hands on experience.

Playtech's Caribbean Poker

Regular Paytable 5.22% HA Royal Flush 100 Straight Flush 50 Four of a Kind 20 Full House 7 Flush 5 Straight 4 Three of a Kind 3 Two Pair 2 One Pair or less 1

Bonus Paytable   Royal Flush Jackpot Straight Flush 10% of Jackpot Four of a Kind 500 Full House 100 Flush 50 Straight - Three of a Kind - Two Pair - One Pair or less -

The reason why we started our comparison of online Caribbean Poker with Playtech's version, is that Playtech offers a game that is very close to a standard game of Caribbean Stud. The regular paytable is exactly the same as for a standard game, and results in an 5.22% house advantage. A standard bonus paytable in a land-based casino pays out $100 for a Four of Kind, $75 for a Full House and $50 for a Flush. Playtech's bonus paytable is better than that, with payouts of $500, $100 and $50 for the same hands respectively. You have an advantage over the house if the jackpot exceeds $217,939. More information about Playtech can be found here.

Caribbean Poker in Microgaming casinos: Cyberstud Poker

Regular Paytable 5.01% HA Royal Flush 999 Straight Flush 199 Four of a Kind 99 Full House 14 Flush 9 Straight 5 Three of a Kind 3 Two Pair 1 One Pair or less 1

Bonus Paytable   Royal Flush Jackpot Straight Flush 20,000 Four of a Kind 500 Full House 100 Flush 50 Straight - Three of a Kind - Two Pair - One Pair or less -

Microgaming calls it's Caribbean Poker game Cyberstud Poker. We really don't know why they decided to not just call it Caribbean Stud Poker, but one reason might be that the paytable is significantly different from a standard Caribbean Stud paytable. If you compare Microgaming's version of the game to a standard Caribbean Poker game (like for example the game as offered by Playtech), you'll notice that almost any hand pays better, with the payout on Two Pair being the only exception. This results in an house advantage of 5.01%, which is considerably better than the standard house advantage of 5.22%. If you also play the bonus side bet, you should know that the Microgaming Jackpot has to reach $234,072 in order for the house edge on that bet to be zero. Any jackpot higher than that will give *you* the advantage over the house. Read more about Microgaming.

Boss Media's version of Caribbean Stud Poker

Regular Paytable 5.22% HA Royal Flush 100 Straight Flush 50 Four of a Kind 20 Full House 7 Flush 5 Straight 4 Three of a Kind 3 Two Pair 2 One Pair or less 1

Bonus Paytable   Royal Flush Jackpot Straight Flush 10% of Jackpot Four of a Kind 500 Full House 100 Flush 50 Straight - Three of a Kind - Two Pair - One Pair or less -

Boss Media's Caribbean Poker game is identical to that of Playtech's, which is discussed above. As such, the game offers a standard paytable on your ante bet, with an house edge of 5.22%. The bonus paytable is better than a standard bonus paytable found in most land-based casinos, but the same as Playtech's paytable. Read more about Boss Media.

Cryptologic's Caribbean Stud, formerly known as Spice Island Poker

Regular Paytable 5.207% HA Royal Flush 200 Straight Flush 50 Four of a Kind 20 Full House 7 Flush 5 Straight 4 Three of a Kind 3 Two Pair 2 One Pair or less 1

Bonus Paytable   Royal Flush Jackpot Straight Flush 10% of Jackpot Four of a Kind 500 Full House 100 Flush 50 Straight - Three of a Kind - Two Pair - One Pair or less -

Cryptologic's version of Caribbean Stud has been known for a long time as Spice Island Poker, but they recently renamed it to just Caribbean Stud Poker, in order to avoid confusion. Because Cryptologic raised the payout on the Royal Flush to 200 to 1, it's house advantage is better than standard, that is 5.207%, compared to 5.22% for a standard game. The paytable for the bonus side bet is the same as offered by Boss Media and Playtech. More information about Cryptologic is available here.

Real Time Gaming

Regular Paytable 5.22% HA Royal Flush 100 Straight Flush 50 Four of a Kind 20 Full House 7 Flush 5 Straight 4 Three of a Kind 3 Two Pair 2 One Pair or less 1

Bonus Paytable   Royal Flush Jackpot Straight Flush 10% of Jackpot Four of a Kind Casino dep. Full House Casino dep. Flush Casino dep. Straight - Three of a Kind - Two Pair - One Pair or less -

Real Time Gaming doesn't make the job of a reviewer easy, because it allows it's licensees to customize it's paytables. For Caribbean Poker, RTG offers it's licensees three regular paytables, each with a different house advantage: a) 5.22%, b) 5.207% or c) 4.97%. We didn't find tables b) & c) in the RTG casinos we checked. Table c) is very good compared to the paytable of other software providers, so if you can find it you should play it. Table b) is similar to that of Cryptologic. Table a), listed above, is the paytable used by most RTG casinos, and is in fact equal to a standard Caribbean Poker paytable, with the normal house advantage of 5.22%. For the bonus paytable, the payouts of a Four of a Kind, a Full House and a Flush may vary between RTG casinos. Payouts of $500, $100 and $50 respectively are pretty much standard online, so anything worse than that you should avoid.
More information about Real Time Gaming.

In Conclusion: the best Caribbean Poker online is offered by ...