The rules to this game are very simple. The cards are ranked as they are in conventional poker. Firstly, 2 cards are dealt. If the 2 cards are consecutive, the cards are pushed. If the cards are equal, a third card is dealt. If the third card also matches, the player is paid 11-1, otherwise the hand is pushed.
If the cards are not equal or consecutive, the player is allowed to choose to either raise or not. The raise can only be a double. This is the only time a bet can be altered, so a sound strategy is needed.
A spread is equal to the number of cards that exist between the two cards dealt - for example, the spread between 2 and 5 is 2 (3&4). When the third card is dealt and the card lands in that spread, the player wins. A one card spread pays 5-1, a 2 card spread pays 4-1, 3 card spread pays 2-1 and any bigger spread pays even money.
The best strategy is to raise on spreads of 7 or more. Players hold the edge statistically for any spread of 7 or more. Even though narrower spreads pay out a lot more, the house advantage sits around 20%. This is therefore not the ideal playing strategy. Playing the odds is obviously a much wiser choice.
The same red dog strategy described by Michael Shackleford. He also shows the net return per unit bet on various spreads in red dog poker.
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