Red Dog Poker is an easy card game. The best way to learn how to play Red Dog Poker is by actually playing the game. A hand of Red Dog Poker begins with the ante. Thus, a player will ante should he wish to play Red Dog Poker. The ante should be within the posted stakes on the Red Dog Poker table.
Once the ante has been placed, the Red Dog Poker dealer will deal out two cards face up to start a hand. The player must then decide whether to raise or simply continue. Once the player has reached his decision and acted upon it, the dealer will deal a third card. This third card needs to fall in-between the first two cards for the player to win the hand.
How to Determine Whether to Raise When Playing Red Dog Poker
When deciding whether to raise or continue, a player must assess risk. More specifically, a player should raise only when the house does not have the edge. A player would be incorrect in thinking they cannot determine the house edge when first learning how to play Red Dog Poker. As a rule, hands offering a spread of seven or greater give the player the edge in Red Dog Poker. As a result, we will raise each hand where the spread is seven or more. This will allow us to maximize our reward when the edge is in favor of the player. When the spread is less than seven, the house has the edge. As a result, we will merely continue.
When the spread is set at 5-6 you may also consider raising the hand, but it will totally be dependant upon how you feel about the hand. Generally, you should not raise these two spreads because the percentage of winning the hands is under 50%. If you’ve been watching the game closely though and you notice that a lot of face cards for instance have been used from the shoe, then you might want to raise on a spread of 5-6 if it’s a low spread.
When the spread is five you have about a 39% chance of winning and when the spread is six you have about a 46% chance of winning the hand. The percentages go up slightly though if you have noticed that many of the cards you need are still in the shoe.
Below is a quick table that will show you the chances you have of winning a hand in Red Dog based on the different spreads. I have rounded each of the percentages up to the nearest whole number.
- Spread 1 – 8%
- Spread 2 – 16%
- Spread 3 – 24%
- Spread 4 – 31%
- Spread 5 – 39%
- Spread 6 – 47%
- Spread 7 – 55%
- Spread 8 – 62%
- Spread 9 – 70%
- Spread 10 – 78%
- Spread 11 – 86%
When learning how to play Red Dog Poker, it is imperative to stick to raising only when the house does not have the edge. A smart Red Dog Poker player will avoid raising in situations where the player lacks the edge.