Red Dog

Red Dog is a game played with a 52-card deck and uses only 3 cards at a time. The object of the game is to bet on what the third card is going to be. The dealer will deal out 2 cards, one on the left and one on the right. In order for the player to win, the third card's rank must come between the other two cards' rank.

So if the two cards are a 5 and a Jack, a winning hand would consist of a card between a 6 and a 10. The closer the two cards are in rank the higher the pay out. Before the player sees the third card, he has the option of doubling his bet by clicking on the raise button. A push happens when the first two cards dealt are either consecutive or are a pair. If the third card dealt makes three of a kind then the player is typically paid out at 11 to 1. Red Dog can be found at many online casinos and you might start your look at Hampton Casino, Casino Miami Beach, or Portofino Casino.

Strategy

Guest columnist Michael Shackleford, the Wizard of Odds, offers this 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%

Our thanks to the Wizard of Odds. If you have a question, feel free to ask the Wizard.