Table Game Rules: Red Dog Rules

The Basics

Less commonly found in casinos, but great fun to play if you find it, Red Dog is a beautifully simple card game to pick up. Played with a single standard deck of 52 playing cards, the player's bet is that in a sequence of three cards drawn consecutively by the dealer, the third card's value will be between that of the first and second cards drawn. Diverging from the common values applied to picture cards and Aces in casino table games, the values applied to these cards in Red Dog are as follows; Jacks count as ‘11', Queens as ‘12', Kings as ‘13' and Aces as'14'.

Details of Play

The layout of the Red Dog table is similar to other table games played with cards at casinos. Before the first two cards of the hand are dealt, players lay their chosen value of bet using chips placed into the ‘Bet' area of the Red Dog table layout.

Once betting has concluded the casino's dealer proceeds to draw the first two cards of the game, placing them face up for players to see, and a marker (which will often be embossed with a Red Dog of course!) is placed on the table's layout to note the ‘spread' of values between these two cards.

The two cards dealt so far can generate three possible outcomes:

A Pair Hand – Both cards share the same value, so the third card is automatically drawn. If that third card's value also matches that of the first two, all players win the game, their bets paid out at odds of 11 to 1. When the third card is a different value, the result is a ‘Push' and players' bets are returned.

A Consecutive Hand – The two cards' values are consecutive (i.e. one card is a single value higher than the other). A third card is not drawn and the hand is declared a Push. Players receive their bets back.

A Non-Consecutive Hand – The most common outcome and one which opens a new round of betting during which players can raise their bets before the third card is drawn.

When a Non-Consecutive Hand has been drawn the players may choose to either double their original bet, or stick with their first wager by ‘standing'. Once all players have made their decision to ‘raise' or ‘stand' their bets, the third card is dealt face up on the table.

The players win their bets if the third card's value falls between those of the first two cards, and is lost if it is either equal to or outside the values of those cards. The odds paid for a winning bet differ according to the spread in values that could generate a win between the first two cards. These payout values are as follows:

Red Dog Payouts

Playing Online

UK online casinos running either Microgaming or Cryptologic gaming software such as 32Red, Ladbrokes or InterCasino are the best bets for hunting down some online Red Dog action. A quick visit to you chosen online casino's game guides is a smart first step to take, if only to check for any variations in the basic rules explained above, and to understand what player options that casino's software offers. As with other online table games, if you're a real novice to internet betting and your casino offers a ‘for fun' version of Red Dog, this is the ideal way for you to bring this puppy to heel before you take off the leash for some real-money betting.