History

As the name would suggest, this game originated in the Caribbean Islands and on the cruise ships that travel the surrounding waters. Since the game does not offer the best advantages and percentages for the player, when the game was introduced to American casinos, a progressive jackpot bonus was added to excite and attract more participants. Although this bonus does not greatly increase the appeal for most players, it definitely added to its initial popularity and perhaps even accounts for its lingering demand in this day and age of casinos, both on- and off-line. The game, evidently, maintains a wide following throughout the world, possibly in part to its glamorous and exotic title.

The precursor to Caribbean Stud Poker in most historical viewpoints was a 16th century European three-card game called Primera (Spain) or Primero (Great Britain). Betting was introduced and the valued hands were 3 of a Kind, Pairs, and 3 of the same suit, or "Flux" (later modified to "Flush"). By the 18th century both betting AND bluffing were incorporated to form the basis of the game as we know it today. Popular versions, at the time, were known as Brag (Great Britain), Pochen (Germany), and Poque (France). The importance of bluffing (betting with a poor hand) is demonstrated by the fact that pochen, in German, means "to bluff."

Most gaming scholars believe the game hit North America in the 18th century when it was brought to Louisiana by French colonists, hence the mutation of the French name for the game (Poque) to the English (Poker). The game was wildly successful and made its way up the Mississippi and further westward as the country grew and people began to settle through the land. By the mid-1800s, it had been adapted to the 52-card deck and was beginning to be documented in the diaries and journals of pilgrims, explorers, and a host of other types. It started as a strictly male game, but eventually became popular with women as well. The game is so closely linked to the expansion of the West that it interminably appears in a number of Western films and books. Poker was reintroduced to Europe when the US ambassador to Great Britain, Robert C. Schenck, proposed it to the members of Queen Victoria's court in the early 1870s. An authoritative book on the rules was written by Schenck shortly after.

Poker's golden period of fame, unsurprisingly, coincides with the proliferation of legal gambling in the casinos in the state of Nevada. However, in 1910 it was made a felony to run a betting game in that state. Stud poker, like the Caribbean variety, was illegal because there was no element of skill involved, just pure chance (unlike the more strategic draw poker). The State of Nevada ultimately decided, as we all now know, to reverse its policy and in 1931 casino gambling became legalized once again and Caribbean Stud Poker returned as a popular fixture at most land-based casino in the US.