How To Play Red Dog

Red Dog not Hot Dog

When it comes to assessing one of the hottest trends taking over the world of gambling - both in regards to brick-and-mortar casinos as well as online casinos- it's becoming pretty clear the proverbial doghouse is not such a bad place afterall.. That's right, the Red Dog revolution has arrived.

While it would be wildly inaccurate to call Red Dog a "new" game, at the same time it must be noted that in recent years this casino variation has enjoyed a major surge in popular appeal. Frankly, it's not hard to see why. With Texas Holdem sucking all the oxygen out of the collective poker tent for so long, it was only inevitable that some alternate variants would emerge to claim new fans. Red Dog is certainly at the head of the pack.

But maybe you have not yet been bitten by this nasty canine. If that's the case, it would be desirable to review some of the basic tenants of the game so you can hit the ground running.

The game of Red Dog can be played with one to eight decks, with a higher number of decks decreasing the house advantage. Most reliable calculations indicate that the house edge starts at 3.155% with one deck, falling down to a manageable 2.751% when eight decks are in play.

The game begins - after the opening bets have been made - with the dealer giving you two cards, one placed on the left side and one on the right. At this point you bet on the odds that the third card dealt will fall between the ranks of the first two.

Bear in mind that suits do not play a role in this game. Cards from 2 to 10 are taken at face value. A jack counts for 11, a queen for 12, a king for 13 and an ace counts as 14. If the cards are consecutive in number, the hand is a push and the player's bet is returned. If the two cards are of equal value, a third card is dealt. If the third card has the same value, the payout for the player is 11:1. Otherwise the hand is a push.

The player gets an edge over the house is when the spread is seven or greater. In this case, a total of seven cards will give the player a winner. Because there are thirteen cards in play, having only six will make you lose. The house edge is around 2.8%, and will not switch to your favor until the spread is seven or more. When the spread gets to eleven you are sitting pretty because the house edge is essentially in the sewer. Relish these moments!

You should know that even when using the maximum of eight decks , Red Dog does not provide very good odds compared to some popular casino games. This is just an undeniable reality that must be dealt with, like death and taxes. Still, many avid gamblers will tell you Red Dog offers a whale of a good time (sorry to mix animal metaphors like that) so you definitely should give it a go.