Red Dog (also known as "Acey-Deucey" or as "In-Between" or as "Red Dog Poker") is a game originally played with a standard 52-card deck. Each hand played uses only 3 cards per player. In casino play, generally several decks of cards are used. Red Dog is a popular, simple and easy to understand game.

When played at a casino, the Red Dog table is similar to a Blackjack table. This table can seat several players and has two betting spots marked with "Bet" and "Raise". The Players cards are dealt from a "shoe" (a card holder to prevent cheating and make cards easier to deal). The shoe can contain up to ten decks of cards... it just depends on the casino.

To start a game, a player MUST place an opening bet on the table where "Bet" is marked. The dealer will deal two cards, one on the left and one on the right, both face up. The player now has the option of placing a SECOND bet on the portion of the table marked "Raise". The player can opt NOT to raise and still play the hand out for the original bet. If the player DOES raise, then the player is betting that the rank of the third card dealt will be in-between the first two cards dealt... what makes this Red Dog bet so interesting is "the spread"... that is, how MUCH the player wins on the raise bet (which we will cover in a moment).

In Red Dog the suit of the cards is not of importance. Example: If the first two cards dealt are a 4 and a 10, then to win, the third card must be a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. If it is not you lose. In Red Dog, the value of the cards are face value 2 thur 10, the jack counts 11, the queen 12, the king 13 and the ace counts as 14.

If the Red Dog dealer deals two cards to a player that are consecutive, (like a 4 and a 5), the hand is over, it is a push, and the player gets his/her opening bet back.

If the Red Dog dealer deals two cards to a player that are a pair, (like two kings), then a new situation develops.

The player DOES NOT place a second bet. Instead, a third card is automatically dealt to the player. If the third card creates three of a kind, then the player wins his original, opening bet at 11 to 1.

What makes Red Dog so interesting and why many gamblers love the game has to do with betting on the spread, that is, the second bet placed after the first two cards are dealt... the raise bet.

In this second optional bet you basically go for a bonus payout. The odds on spread bets are set by the casino. The closer the two cards are in rank the higher the potential payout. If you don't raise and you win the hand you will get your original wager back. Generally, the spread is as follows:

The number of players in one game is irrelevant, since all players win or lose simultaneously. The only strategy like decision you have to make in this game is if you make the raise bet or not. With the given odds, some Red Dog players say you should not raise the bet unless the spread is seven or higher. The chance of winning a spread of seven is about 54% for the player. The chance of winning a spread of eleven is as high as 84%.