Red Dog Rules

Red Dog is a house-banked game. All players bet on the same cards against the house. The object is to predict that the third card dealt will rank between the first two.

The game uses standard 52-card decks, from one to eight shuffled together.

Cards rank as in poker, with aces high: A, K, Q, J, 10 down to 2. Suits play no part.

Red Dog is not a poker game in the sense of forming hands, but it is played in casinos alongside poker-based table games and uses poker's card order. A similar home game is In-Between, also called acey-deucey.

Each player places a bet before any cards are dealt.

The dealer turns two cards face up. There are three possible situations, set out in Articles 3 to 5.

If the two cards are neither equal nor consecutive, the dealer announces the spread: the number of ranks lying strictly between them. For example, 4 and J have a spread of six (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

Before the third card is dealt, each player may raise by adding a further bet of up to the amount of the original bet, or may stand.

The dealer then turns a third card. If its rank falls strictly between the first two, the player's whole bet, including any raise, is paid according to the payout table (Article 6). Otherwise the whole bet loses. A third card equal in rank to either of the first two loses.

If the first two cards are consecutive in rank, such as 5 and 6 or Q and K, no card can fall between them. The hand is a push and every bet is returned. No third card is dealt.

If the first two cards are of equal rank, players may not raise. The dealer turns a third card at once.

If the third card is the same rank, making three of a kind, each bet pays 11 to 1. Otherwise the hand is a push and bets are returned.

The house edge depends on the number of decks, from about 3.2% with one deck to about 2.8% with eight.