A Beginners Guide To Red Dog Poker

 The game of Red Dog is a poker variation that is found at many online casinos, and not so much at poker sites. It is classed as “casino poker” as opposed to true poker, because the player bets against the house. In true poker players bet against one-another, and the house takes a rake or percentage of bets on the table.

It is described as being similar to the game of in-between or acey-deucey, and is popularly played online, not so much any longer in land-based casinos.

Red Dog Rules

Aces are always high in this card game, and all other cards carry the same rank as they do in poker - suits are not really relevant. The game starts with the player placing a wager, to which the deals responds by dealing two face-up cards. If these cards are equal, a third is dealt, if the third card is a match, then odds of 11:1 are paid, if not the hand is a “push”. If the first two cards run consecutive, then this hand is also a push.

Supposing no consecutive or equal cards are dealt, then the game is on. The dealer will announce a spread (which statistically favours the player) – for example a four and a nine would have a spread of four.

If the two cards are neither consecutive nor equal the dealer announces the spread, or the number of card values in between the cards. For example a 5 and 10 would have a spread of 4. The player will then be given the opportunity to increase their bet less, or equal to the original bet. After the deal of the third card, the player wins according to a specific pay table only if the third card falls between the four card spread. If the third card dealt is outside the spread, the player simply loses their money. Generally the spread falls within these odds, but may vary from online casino to casino:

• 1 card spread: 5:1
• 2 card spread: 4:1
• 3 card spread: 2:1
• 4+ card spread: 1:1

Strategy

There are some strategies that can be used when playing this game, although unlike true poker, there is very little skill needed to play. Red Dog is a game of luck, being played against the house, but it does make sense to know when bets should be raised or not. For this purpose it is assumed that bets should only be raised on spreads of seven or more, no matter how many decks of cards are used. Standard deviation in Red Dog is 1.60.