Modern online casinos have the largest selection of table games possible and although most players prefer such well-recognized games as roulette or craps, there are some more games of great interest that fall into the same category. For example, there is an exciting game with an interesting name Red Dog. In this article we are going to lift a veil surrounding this game and explain you its simple rules.
So, Red Dog poker has many names actually. In some countries it can be called as ‘In Between’ or ‘Ace-Deuce’, however the Red Dog name includes a certain element of a mystery compare to other names of this table game. It appeared just 150 years ago that is not too much compare to some other casino games that have been around for many centuries. However, you shouldn’t think that Red Dog poker is a certain variation of poker as it’s not quite true. This game has much more in common with baccarat or blackjack because every card has a certain numeric value in this game as well. Probably the only similarity between Red Dog and traditional poker is that here a player can ‘raise’ or ‘call’ as well, and that’s probably it.
So, how do you play a Red Dog? Red Dog is a really simple game that doesn’t require much skills and strategy. The only thing you should keep firmly in your head is that every card in Red Dog has a certain numeric value from 2 to 14. All low cards from 2 to 10 are valued as expected while face cards have the highest values. Jacks give 11 points, Queens give 12 points, Kings give 13 and Aces give 14 respectively. We are going to take the Red Dog software developed by Vegas Technology as a example. It can be found in any modern online casinos powered by this software provider as Go Casino for example. So, entering the game for the first time you will see a green table with a Golden ( not a Red!) Dog sitting on it. There is a field for a card and two fields for the bets saying ‘Call’ and ‘Raise’. A player has a choice of 4 chips to place- $1, $5, $10 and $100. Near the chips you will see two buttons saying ‘Clear’ and ‘Deal’. To start a game you should press a ‘Deal’ button. Then you will see 2 cards dealt face up. They will both have their own numeric values, for example if you are dealt 4 and Jack then you have 4 and 11 on the table. It means that the ‘spread’ between these two cards equals 7. In other words, 7 other cards can fit between these to cards. Your goal is to determine how many chances you have that the third card dealt will fit the spread. Vegas Technology software makes this decision as easy as possible giving you all the information about the spread and the payout that you can get if the third card fits in.
If the spread is large as in our case when it equals 7, then we can easily raise the ante bet. Pressing a ‘Raise’ button you double your first bet. Pressing the ‘Call’ button you leave it as it was. There is no button to get your bet back and leave the game. If first two cards dealt are consecutive like Jack and Queen, then there is no spread possible and such a hand is called a push. In this case a player just receives his bet back. If you are dealt two similar cards on the table, then the third card must be dealt. If the third card dealt is also similar( called Three of a kind), then a player is given a huge payout 11 to 1. If it’s any other card, then the hand is called a push as in the previous case and a player receives his ante bet back.
So, as you can see Red Dog is a really simple game that doesn’t require much of knowledge or strategy. Its optimal strategy is just simply logical. It says that a player should always raise when a spread is 7, because the odds reach 50% in this case. However, you should also be aware that the smaller the spread, the higher the payouts. For example, a spread of 4+ cards gives a payout of 1 to 1, a spread of 3 cards- 2 to 1, a spread of 2 cards- 4 to 1, and a spread of 1 card- 5 to 1. These are all the rules you should remember to play Red Dog in modern online casinos. Rushmore Casino and Go Casino are one of the best places to enjoy this simple and exciting table game both in download and in install play mode.
