Red Dog is a card game that requires equal amounts of strategy and luck, and you can play with 3 to 8 players at a table. You may know this game by some of its other names – Scottish foghorn or Yablon, but regardless of the name, the game rules stay the same. The point of the game is to bet that you have a higher-ranked card of the same suit as the face-down card at the top of the deck.
Red Dog Rules of Play
Red Dog is a card game that requires a 52-card deck and at least three players to play. The rules of this game are fairly simple – each player gets five cards per round. Before you get the cards, you make an ante, and once you get the cards, you can decide whether to play the round or fold, based on your own judgement.
The card values go from Aces as the highest to 2 as the lowest. You’re the first player if you’re sitting on the left of the dealer, and you get to choose whether to bet that you have a better card of the same suit or not. If your bet is a winning one, then you get back double the amount of the bet you made from the pot.
On the other hand, if your bet loses, the bet amount gets added to the pot of chips, and you have to show your cards to the entire table. After each player has had the chance to make a bet or fold, the deal moves to the left. When the pot runs out in the middle of a round, every player at the table makes another ante to fill it up again.
Red Dog Strategies
The best strategy when playing Red Dog is to bet when there is a spread of 7 or more because you have a chance slightly greater than 50% to win. You should keep in mind that this win pays out with 1:1 odds, whereas the 1-card spread pays 5:1, the 2-card spread has 4:1 odds, while the 3-card spread has 2:1 odds.
Betting on the 1-card spread is much riskier, but it can also lead to much larger payouts. When playing in person and online, you should always keep track of the cards that have already been flipped in the deck.
Red Dog at Online Casinos
While Red Dog isn’t a widely popular casino card game like poker and blackjack, many quality and licensed online casinos in the UK, like Karamba, include it in their rosters. If you want to learn exactly how to apply the best winning strategies, you can try out the methods we mentioned in the section above.
Although it isn’t a particularly common card game at online casinos, you can still find it as a live dealer game and as a video variation. The live dealer version of Red Dog is much more immersive because it enables you to play with other bettors in real time through an HD live stream, led by a professional croupier.
In general, this online casino game has a return-to-player percentage of around 96.90%, which gives the casino a house edge of around 3.10%. The more decks there are in the game, though, the lower the house edge, which can drop to 2.80%.
Alternatives to Red Dog at Online Casinos
Red Dog is a fast-paced and fun card game that is primarily based on luck. If you want to expand your horizons beyond this card game, we recommend turning to casino classics like blackjack and baccarat. Blackjack gives you the chance to bet on getting as close to 21 as you can without going over and winning, while baccarat gives you the chance to bet on the bank or the dealer’s hand to win.
These alternatives are much more common, and are available as video and live dealer games if you want to have more betting variety, in addition to Red Dog.
Summary
There is nothing quite like the thrill of betting real money on a card game of luck. Red Dog gives you the chance to go toe-to-toe with the casino dealer and the other players and come out on top by winning the whole pot. Whether you’re a newbie to this game, or you have years of experience, there will never be a dull moment playing it.
