Red Dog Rules

2010.06.30

Category: Games rules

Red Dog is a popular card game similar to In-Between and Acey-Deucey. It is popular among masses because it's a simple game. Some of the professionals say that if you know how to subtract and you are able to remember the number seven, then you have the same chances to win as anybody else in the world. The game is played with a deck of 52 cards on a blackjack-sized table with two spots for bets - "Raise" and "Bet". Card suit is not relevant and only three cards per hand are played in Red Dog.

Objective

The game begins with the player placing an opening bet and the dealer dealing two cards. In Red Dog the player bets on the likelihood that the rank of the third card is going to fall between the first two. If it falls between, the player win, if it doesn't fall between the player loses.

After the opening bet is placed and the cards are dealt, it is time for "raise" bet to be made. The "raise" bet is based on the "spread". Spread means the number of card values that lie between the two original cards. The value of any card from 2 to 10 counts at face value, a jack counts as 11, a queen counts as 12, a king as 13 and an ace as 14.

To understand how it works you should have a look at the examples:

Assuming the dealer deals an 8 and a jack. In this the spread will be 2, because 9 and 10 fall between the 8 and jack. Notice that in case the dealt cards are consecutive (8 and 9, for example), there is no spread because no cards fall between 8 and 9. This situation is called a "tie", the player keeps his money and the hand is over.

Betting on the spread is an interesting part of Red Dog. There's an optional second bet when the player goes for a bonus payout. Odds for this are based on a simple rule: the narrower the spread, the higher the payout (bonus) will be.

Betting

As mentioned above, the game begins when the player places a bet and the dealer deals two cards. The cards lie face up on the table and the dealer places a marker to indicate the odds the house offers on an additional bet (the "raise") and the spread. In case the player refuses to make any further bets he wins original bet at even money if he has won a hand.

If the player decides to raise, the player bets at house odds as printed on the Red Dog table. If the player wins he gets his raise bet at the indicated odds and the original bet at even money.

If the cards dealt are consecutive, the player keeps his bet.

If the cards dealt are a pair, betting stops, but the player might get paid at 11:1 if the card will make it three of a kind. If it doesn't make three of a kind, the player loses his bet.

Payoff

Opening bets are paid at even money and the raise bets are paid out based on the spread as follows: