Caribbean Draw Poker

Caribbean draw poker is a completely unique casino game as far as I've run across. Like caribbean stud, it is a progressive jackpot game. But as the name suggests, you get to draw cards to try to complete a hand. You can only select up to 2 cards to draw, though.

Unfortunately, there is no flash game available for me to host here. This is because Real Time Gaming casinos are the only ones that have Caribbean Draw Poker and RTG does not make a flash version of this game, but here is a screenshot of the gameplay.

How to Play Caribbean Draw

Playing the game is very easy, being good at caribbean draw is a bit more difficult.

You must first place your bet. You can also bet $1 in the progressive coin slot on the right part of the table. When you are ready, press the Deal button to receive your cards.

As in any draw poker game and unlike caribbean stud, the cards are dealt back and forth between you and the dealer instead of all 5 dealt in a row. The dealer will have one card showing just like caribbean stud.

You will now have a choice to select up to 2 cards. You don't need to select any cards and it does not cost you anything to draw the cards, unlike Oasis Poker.

Before you can receive the cards that you want to draw for, you must decide whether you want to Bet your hand and draw for more cards or Fold your hand and forfeit your Ante to the dealer. If you bet your hand, you must place twice the amount of your Ante as the Call bet.

After you receive your cards, the dealer turns over his hand. Now the dealer gets to draw two cards to make his hand better.

I haven't seen too many other casino games period where the dealer gets to draw for cards. This is a very difficult variable to account for.

Obviously sometimes it isn't going to matter much, but some games you will think you have won for sure only to have the dealer outdraw you and win.

Another big difference between caribbean draw and caribbean stud is that the dealer must get a pair of 8's or higher to qualify. Obviously, this is because it is much more likely for the dealer to draw better than Ace/King.

Caribbean Draw Payout Structure

The bet payout structure and rules for progressive payouts are the exact same as they are for caribbean holdem. But here are the details:

Since you have a chance of getting 7 cards overall, the payout structure is much different than caribbean stud. Anything less than a Flush has a payout of 1 to 1

Getting a flush pays out 2 to 1, a full house pays out 3 to 1, a four of a kind pays out 10 to 1, a straight flush gets a 20 to 1 payout and the royal flush gets 100 to 1.

The dealer must qualify to win the addition pay out. It always seems like the time you need the dealer to qualify, he doesn't. What this mean, just as in caribbean stud, is that you are only paid on the Ante bet and your flush or higher may as well have been a high card.

Progressive Jackpot Payouts

Like caribbean stud, you can win the progressive payout regardless of whether the dealer qualifies for the hand or whether the dealer's hand beats yours.

You must understand that betting on the progressive only pays out when you receive a flush or better without drawing any extra cards. This makes it the same as the caribbean stud progressive with only five cards determining if you have won or not. If you have to draw, you didn't win anything on the progressive (unless you got a four of a kind).

Here are the progressive payouts for caribbean draw:

Royal Flush - 100% of the jackpot, Straight Flush - 10% of the jackpot, Four of a Kind - $500
Full House - $100, Flush - $75

Caribbean Draw Strategy

The thing that makes this game difficult to develop a good strategy for is twofold:

1. You must decide whether to bet or fold before you receive the cards you are drawing for
    
2. The dealer also gets to draw up to two cards to make his hand better

First thing that is important to know is the dealer's drawing strategy. The dealer will not automatically have to draw for two cards if the situation is right.

Here is what the dealer will do in general:

• If the dealer has no pairs, then he will drop the two lowest cards
• If the dealer has one pair, then he will drop the two lowest singletons
• If the dealer has two pairs, then he will drop the one singleton
• If the dealer has a three of a kind, then he will drop the two singletons
• The dealer will draw one card if he is one away from a straight (inside or outside) or flush, unless the dealer has a pair as well
• Otherwise, his hand is already complete and the dealer will not draw

After several hours of trial and error, here are some general things that I have noticed:

1. It seems like the dealer qualifies about 1 out of every 2 hands average, which is similar to caribbean stud. This means that you should only be playing 1 out of every 2 to 2 out of every 3 hands average.
   
   If you think you should fold, then fold you hand. The dealer qualifies much more often than I would have thought at first, so betting on a blank hand is a bad idea.
    
2. If you have a pair of 8's or higher in your starting hand, you should bet.
    
3. If you have a pair of 2's to a pair of 7's in your starting hand, you should bet if you have another card 8 or higher.
    
4. If you don't have a pair in your starting hand, you should always bet if you have three cards that are 8 or higher.
   
5. If the dealer is showing a 7 or lower, than you should call if you have two cards higher than 8 in your hand.
    
6. If you have four to an outside straight draw or four to a flush, then you should call and drop the one card, unless you already have a pair of 8's or higher in your starting hand.
    
7. The only time to go for a straight or flush with three cards is when you have three connected cards to  straight flush.
    
8. If you hand does not match any of the above, fold.