If you played Acey Deucey or In Between as a child, you are already familiar with the fundamentals of Red Dog. This is a straightforward poker variant in which all players put their bets in a pot and the first player receives two cards. As a player, you have the opportunity to gamble any amount of money up to the total pot size. In order to win your wager, you will next draw a third card with the aim that its numerical value falls between that of your first two cards. If, however, you get a third card that is distinct from the first two or is equal to either of the first two cards, you lose your wager and must place it in the pot.
In the home game, Aces may be either low or high, therefore two Aces result in a 12-card spread. The greater the spread in a casino game, the smaller the payout, and Aces are always high.
The Rules of Red Dog
Red Dog Poker was presented for the first time at Harold’s Club in Reno, Nevada. Since then, the game has been played with normal 52-card decks. The Ace is the top card in Red Dog, much as it is in poker, where it is the highest card.
The Results
You must wager prior to any cards being dealt. The dealer will next present two face-up cards. If the first result is a pair (e.g. Queen and Queen), the dealer will draw a third card. If it matches the first two cards as well, you will get 11:1 payout. Any additional card results in a push.
If you are given consecutive cards, like as a six and a seven, there is no spread. Again, this results in a push, thus no money is exchanged.
The third conceivable conclusion, and perhaps the most thrilling, is when the cards are not consecutive nor identical, and you have a set spread of cards that might fall between your two cards. The dealer then calls the spread, and you have the option of matching your ante with a subsequent wager. The first two cards of a Red Dog spread are a 3 and an 8, resulting in a four-card spread. If you get a card between 3 and 8, you receive an equal return on your stake.
The greater the payment, the narrower the spread. For instance:
A single-card spread pays 5:1 odds.
The payout for a two-card spread is 4:1.
The payout for a three-card spread is 2:1.
Any spread between four and eleven pays even money.
Red Dog Standard Procedure
Basic Red Dog Poker strategy is rather straightforward. You should only increase your wager if the spread is seven or more. Any wagers made on spreads of six or less exclusively benefit the casino and have a significant house advantage. If you increase your wager with a smaller spread, your odds of winning are substantially diminished.
Game Odds
The odds in this game improve as more decks are used. A game with a single deck has a house advantage of around 3.15 percent; a game with two decks has a house edge of approximately 3.07 percent; and so on up to a game with eight decks, which has a house edge of approximately 2.75 percent.
Important Facts to Remember
The two most important things to understand while playing Red Dog at a casino or online are that you are betting against the dealer and that the cards are graded similarly to poker. Also, keep in mind that the lower the house edge, the more decks that are used.