As the name implies, caribbean stud poker originated in the Caribbean Islands and on cruise ships that plied those waters. Because caribbean stud poker is not especially favorable for the player, when Las Vegas casinos adopted caribbean stud poker, they added a progressive jackpot sweetener. Although the jackpot doesn't benefit the caribbean stud poker player that much, it has helped to make the game popular enough to become a pretty standard offering in Nevada and other gambling jurisdictions.

The forerunner of Poker was a 16th century European three-card game called primera (Spain) or primero (England). There was betting and valued hands were three of a kind, pairs, and three of the same suit: a flux (later flush). By the 18th century the betting and bluffing aspects of the game had been incorporated in such five-card games as Brag (England), Pochen (Germany), and Poque (France). The importance of bluffing (betting with a poor hand) is shown by the fact that pochen means "to bluff."

The game was carried to North America in the 18th century by French colonists to the Louisiana territory, the American term being a corruption of Poque. The game spread north up the Mississippi River and West as the country developed. By 1834 it was adapted to the 52-card deck and from the mid 19th century on it was described in books on card games. At first it was a game for men only, but by the mid 20th century it was played by women as well. It is the classic game in all Western films.

Poker was taken back to Europe when Robert C. Schenck, U.S. minister to Great Britain, introduced it to members of the court of Queen Victoria in the early 1870s. A set of rules written by Schenck was the first book on the game.

The rank of hands in the original European games was supplanted (in descending order) by four of a kind; full house (three of a kind and a pair); three of a kind; two pairs; one pair; and no pair (high card winning). Later the straight (five cards in sequence regardless of suit) and the flush were introduced, ranking, respectively, above three of a kind. Additional rounds of betting were also introduced.