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Unbalanced ForceIn particular, consider his First Law of Motion:
“An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
And this is where poker appears. Online poker players are creatures of inertia. Some of them tend to be in motion all the time: bet, raise, raise, bet. Others are at rest: call, call, call. And many of them even believe that the cards and their luck have similar physical properties.It’s as if there’s some gravitational force pulling their cards in one direction or another.
But wait, let’s review that last phrase of Mr. Newton’s First Law: “ ... unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” And this is where good poker starts. You must be an unbalanced force. That is, you have to create acceleration to push the outcome of a hand in the desired direction (noting that acceleration can be negative — that is, slowing things down).
Most of you who read about (as opposed to just “play”) poker know about the idea of changing gears. Maybe you decide you’re going to raise two out of three hands for the next two orbits of the button. Or, maybe you’re going to fold everything except Group One hands for the next 30 minutes. |
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Online Caribbean Stud Poker
Basic Bonus Payout Limit
All casinos have a maximum dollar payout limit for the basic bonus. Depending on the casino, the limit can range from $5,000 to $50,000. This is actually a deceptive form of Poker betting limit because, while they let you bet as much as you want (up to the table maximum, which can be quite high), they limit how much they will pay out if you win. The aggregate limit is usually stated on the same plaque that gives the table betting limits. If you don’t see it, ask the dealer.
Suppose, that with a payout limit of $5,000, you make a $100 call bet and hit a royal flush. At 100 to 1 odds (per the basic bonus pay table), you should win $10,000; however, the casino will only pay you $5,000. What a bummer! To avoid being shortchanged on the payoff, never place a call bet that is more than one hundredth of the payout limit. For example, if the payout limit is $5,000, divide that number by 100 and keep your call bet to less than $50. Since the call bet is always twice the ante, the ante bet in this example should not exceed $25.
One bright note is that the payout limit only applies to the basic bonus. The progressive bonus (see below) does not have a limit because it pays predetermined dollar amounts.
The Progressive Bonus
The progressive bonus pays off whether or not the dealer’s hand is qualified, so long as you placed $1 in the online poker progressive slot at the start of the hand and you stayed in the hand by placing the call bet. Furthermore, you are paid even if the dealer has a better hand. This sounds marvelous, but it is only good for liberal payoff schedules and when the progressive meter gets quite high.
The Progressive Jackpot Meter that is located at the Caribbean Stud table is usually linked to all the Caribbean Stud games in that casino. Every time a player pays in a dollar, the meter goes a little bit higher. How fast it rises depends on how much of that dollar is added to the jackpot pool, and this depends on the particular casino. Some casinos put in as much as 75 cents, while the greedier ones may put in only about 50 cents out of every dollar collected.
Royal Flush and Straight Flush
In all casinos, a royal flush wins the entire progressive jackpot and a straight flush wins 10% of the amount on the progressive meter. A four-of- a -kind, a full house, or a flush will win a fixed dollar amount as defined on the progressive bonus pay table. The exact amount of these fixed bonuses varies from casino to casino, except in Atlantic City where the following pay table is prevalent.
If you want to invest in the progressive jackpot, you should search for the best payouts. Not only is the level of the progressive meter important, but the amount of the fixed payoffs can have a significant effect on the overall payback of the game. More specific information on these pay tables is given in the section on playing strategy.
It should be noted that if two players got royal flushes on the same deal, the player nearest the dealer’s left would get the full amount while the second player would get just the reset amount, which may be as low as $10,000 or $20,000. In some casinos, however, the progressive jackpot is split evenly between the winners. In the case of two straight flushes, the one nearest the dealer’s left would get the full 10%, while the second winner would get 10% of what remained on the progressive meter after the first 10% was deducted. This should be of no great concern, however, since either event is highly unlikely. The other hands listed on the progressive pay table are always paid the full amount shown. |
