The name suggests that this game originated in the Caribbean Islands. That is absolutely true. The game itself does not offer a great advantage and percentage in favor of players, so when the game first came to American casinos, a progressive jackpot bonus was added to attract more players. 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." It is believed that the game arrived to America in the 18th century when French colonists brought it to Louisiana.

        The game’s popularity was spreading fast and soon it has arrived to Mississippi and further westward. In the middle 1980s, people started to play it with a 52 deck card. At first it was a male game only, but it became so popular that soon women started to play it too. 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 era of popularity coincides with the fast growth of legal gambling in casinos in the state of Nevada. But, in 1910 it was illegal to run a betting game in that state. Stud poker (the Caribbean variety too) was illegal because it was a pure luck game and it didn’t involved any skills, unlike to more strategic draw poker. In 1931 casino gambling was legalized once again and Caribbean Stud Poker returned to land casinos, and once again its popularity raised every month.