How to play
Red Dog is a casino card game about one question: will the next card fall between the two cards on the table? Aces are high, and suits don’t matter.
- Pick a chip (10, 50, 100 or 500), tap Bet to place it, and press Deal.
- Two cards are dealt face up, one on each side. What happens next depends on them:
- Consecutive cards (like 7 and 8): no card can fit between them, so your bet is returned.
- A pair: a third card is dealt right away. If it makes three of a kind, you win 11 to 1; otherwise your bet is returned.
- Any other two cards: the game shows the spread, the number of ranks between them. A 4 and a 9 have a spread of 4 (5, 6, 7 and 8). You can Raise to double your bet, or Call to keep it as it is.
- The third card is dealt. If it’s strictly between the two cards, you win according to the spread. A card that matches either end doesn’t count, so it loses.
Payouts.
| Result | Pays |
|---|---|
| Spread 1 | 5 to 1 |
| Spread 2 | 4 to 1 |
| Spread 3 | 2 to 1 |
| Spread 4 to 11 | 1 to 1 |
| Three of a kind (after a pair) | 11 to 1 |
The game uses an 8-deck shoe, reshuffled when fewer than 20 cards remain. Bets are in steps of 10, up to 500.
Strategy
The only decision is whether to raise, and the math is clear. Raising doubles your bet on the same hand, so it only helps when that hand is in your favor.
- Raise when the spread is 7 or more. With 7 or more ranks in between, the third card lands inside more than half the time, and even money is a good bet.
- Call with a spread of 1 to 6. Small spreads pay more, but not enough to make up for how rarely they hit. A spread of 1 wins only about 1 time in 13, so the 5 to 1 payout still loses in the long run.
Calculated exactly for this 8-deck game, following that rule gives a house edge of 2.75%. Never raising costs much more: the house edge rises to 7.88%. The difference comes entirely from raising on wide spreads.
A few more numbers from the same calculation: about 14% of deals are consecutive cards (a push), and about 7.5% are pairs. A pair turns into three of a kind only about 7% of the time, which is why that payout is so high.
Other simple casino card games. Casino War is decided by a single card. In Baccarat you pick a side and the cards play themselves.
If you enjoy Red Dog, try Redraw 21 or Reel Bingo next.
