Ok, so you're out there looking around for a new game and you come across Cyber Stud Poker. You read the rules and whoa! Deja-vu! Sounds a lot like Caribbean Stud Poker doesn't it? Well, yes!

Caribbean Stud Poker is old news these days. Speedy table game played with the standard 52-card deck; hands ranked as per standard Poker rules; you play against the dealer instead of the other players; dealer needs at least A-K to qualify; non-qualifying hands are a push.

Of course Cyber Stud Poker looks pretty much the same. Pretty much exactly the same in fact. Some sites offering the Cyber versions claim that it's different than the standard Caribbean by virtue of the $1 Progressive Jackpot buy-in and Bonus payouts (see below). In truth however Caribbean Stud offers exactly the same Progressive and Bonuses.

Ok, so if it's not the Jackpot that differentiates the two games from each other, what does? The answer is a little less thrilling than you might hope. What it comes down to is the small matter of licensing.

Caribbean Stud Poker is apparently owned by Mikohn Gambling Corp. based in Las Vegas. Mikohn acquired PGI, owners of the Caribbean Stud® table game, in 1998 and thereby obtained exclusive worldwide distribution rights for Caribbean Stud® in all major markets save Nevada.

So, when the makers of online casino software wanted to add Carib to their roster they'd need to deal with the licensing issue first and in the face of that Cyber was born. Cyber Stud Poker is simply an unlicensed look-alike of Caribbean Stud Poker.

Other versions of Caribbean Stud include "Spice Island Stud Poker" as seen at the various Cryptologic powered sites, "Cyber Stud Caribbean Poker", "Cyber Caribbean Poker" and so on. They're all just different names for the same game.

Mikohn's reaction to all of these "me too" variations is not public knowledge but the software providers have started to make the move toward licensing the original game. And so they should. The online gaming scene is complicated enough without there being endless variations of the same basic game.

For comparison purposes we're including the basic payout table of Caribbean Stud Poker along with the Progressive Jackpot Bonus payouts. Use this information to determine if what you're playing is the real thing, regardless of what it's called.

Payoffs
One Pair pays 1-to-1
Two Pairs pays 2-to-1
Three of a Kind pays 3-to-1
Straight pays 4-to-1
Flush pays 5-to-1 + $50 Bonus
Full House pays 7-to-1 + $100 Bonus
Four of a Kind pays 20-to-1 + $500 Bonus
Straight Flush pays 50-to-1 + 10% of Jackpot (minimum $10,000)
Royal Flush 200-to-1 + 100% of Jackpot (minimum $100,000)

To qualify for the Bonus/Jackpot payouts, you must make a $1 bonus bet prior to playing the hand. The bonus Jackpot starts at $100,000 and grows each time anybody makes a bet.