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Red Dog is a variation of acey-duecey or in-between.
The game itself is difficult to find these days. However any Starnet
online casino offers the game.
The Rules
All cards are ranked as in poker, the suit is irrelevant,
and aces are always high. First the player places a wager. Then
the dealer places two cards on the table face up. If the two cards
are consecutive then the hand is a push. If the two cards are
equal a third card is dealt, a matching third card pays 11:1,
otherwise the hand is a push.
If the two cards are neither consecutive nor equal
the dealer announces the spread, or the number of card values
in between the cards. For example a 5 and 10 would have a spread
of 4. The player is then given a chance to increase the wager
up to the amount of the original wager. Then a third card is dealt,
if it is in between the first two cards the player wins according
to the following payout table, if it matches or is outside the
first two cards the player loses.
- 1 card spread: Pays 5:1
- 2 card spread: Pays 4:1
- 3 card spread: Pays 2:1
- 4+ card spread: Pays 1:1
Strategy
The following table shows the net return per unit
bet on various spreads, assuming a six deck game. As you can see
only spreads of seven or more are favorable. Thus the player should
only raise on spreads of 7 or more, which is true regardless of
the number of decks used.
| Expected Gain by Raising |
| Spread |
Pays |
Probability
of winning |
Player's
edge |
| 1 |
5 |
0.077419 |
-0.535484 |
| 2 |
4 |
0.154839 |
-0.225806 |
| 3 |
2 |
0.232258 |
-0.303226 |
| 4 |
1 |
0.309677 |
-0.380645 |
| 5 |
1 |
0.387097 |
-0.225806 |
| 6 |
1 |
0.464516 |
-0.070968 |
| 7 |
1 |
0.541935 |
0.083871 |
| 8 |
1 |
0.619355 |
0.238710 |
| 9 |
1 |
0.696774 |
0.393548 |
| 10 |
1 |
0.774194 |
0.548387 |
| 11 |
1 |
0.851613 |
0.703226 |
House Edge
The following table displays the house edge and element
of risk according to the number of decks used.
| House Edge in Red Dog |
| Number of Decks |
House
Edge |
Element
of Risk |
| 1 |
3.155% |
2.672% |
| 2 |
3.077% |
2.609% |
| 4 |
2.884% |
2.447% |
| 6 |
2.798% |
2.375% |
| 8 |
2.751% |
2.335% |
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