Red dog, also known as red dog poker or yablon, is a game of chance played with cards. It is a variation of acey-deucey or in-between. While found in some land casinos, its popularity has declined, although it is featured at many casinos online. Confusingly, there are other card-based games of chance by the same name that are unrelated to the rules described here.
The deck used to play red dog is the standard, fifty-two-card variety. The game may be played with anywhere from one to eight decks, with an increasing number of decks decreasing the house edge — the house's advantage begins at 3.155% with one deck, but falls to 2.751% when eight decks are used. This is in contrast with some other casino card games, such as blackjack, where a higher number of decks used will increase the house edge.
The game only uses three cards at a time, which are ranked as in poker, with aces high. Suit is irrelevant. A wager is placed, and two cards are placed face up on the table, with three possible outcomes:
- If the cards are consecutive in number (for example, a four and a five, or a jack and a queen), the hand is a push and the player's wager is returned.
- If the two cards are of equal value, a third card is dealt. If the third card is of the same value, then the payout for the player is 11:1, otherwise the hand is a push.
- If neither of the above is the case (for example, a three and an eight), then a spread is announced which determines the payoff (a 4-card spread, in this example), and a third card will be dealt. Before dealing the third card, the player has the option to double his bet. If the third card's value falls between the first two, the player will receive a payoff according to the spread; otherwise the bet is lost.
The spread table is as follows:
| Spread | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1-card | 5 to 1 |
| 2-card | 4 to 1 |
| 3-card | 2 to 1 |
| 4-to-11-card | 1 to 1 (even money) |
Read more about Red Dog Poker: Strategies
Famous quotes containing the words red, dog and/or poker:
“Take a red book called TELEPHONE,
size eight by four. There it sits.
My red book, name, address and number.
These are all people that I somehow own.
Yet some of these names are counterfeit.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The slime pool that the dog drowned in . . .
A drunk vomiting up a teaspoon of bile . . .
Washing the polio off the grapes when I was ten . . .
A Harvard book bag in Rome . . .”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)