Caribbean Stud Poker History

Caribbean Stud Poker, doesn't have a long history. In fact, it only dates back to the 1980's, and the late 80's at that. It is not known who invented it or why, exactly. The best speculation is that someone was trying to mix blackjack and poker, as Caribbean stud has a betting pattern like Blackjack (and you play against the dealer, like in blackjack) but you have to make a traditional poker hand in order to beat the dealer.

There are two trains of thought as to how Caribbean stud came to be. The first is that it was invented by some savvy cruise ship operators in the caribbean to introduce onto their floating gambling boats. The idea was to make more profit, since the house advantage in caribbean stud is on the high side (5.26%).

The other (and more widely accepted) theory has its origins in a Dutch casino located on the Caribbean island of Aruba. The King International Casino (a part of the Holiday Inn hotel that still stands today) is now known as the Excelsior Casino. This is where Caribbean Stud first came to be, though again we do not know who invented it or why.

Within five years of its introduction in Aruba, Vegas caught on about the new game. However, the fact that the house odds were so high did sour the game to many gamblers. In order to combat this and try to get people to go to the Caribbean Stud tables, many offered a side jackpot to entice big money seekers. Today, after humble beginnings, Caribbean Stud is offered in almost all land-based casinos and at in increasing amount of online casinos.