Red Dog Poker, unlike other card games that rely on quick wit and skill, is a game of chance. The game was originally a banking game, where players bet that their cards were in the same suit as, or higher than, the card that will be drawn from the pack of 52 cards. A variation of the in-between game, the game starts with the player placing his initial bet on the table. The game is measured by the spread (the distance of the two cards from each other) of the two cards. For example, the spread between 2 and 10 is 7. The dealer then draws two cards from the pack and places them face up on the table. The cards are considered as a push, if the two have consecutive figures. The players bet is then returned to him.

If the two dealt cards are equal, the dealer should draw a third card to determine the players winnings. If the third card is still equal to the first two cards that were drawn, the player wins the game 11 to 1. Further, if the two cards drawn are neither consecutive nor equal, the dealer should then calculate the spread and let the player decide whether to raise or call his bet. Raising ones bet means doubling the initial bet that he placed at the start of the game while calling means simply proceeding with the play.

The third card is then drawn. The dealer then checks if the card fits or misses the spread. The card fits the spread if it comes between the first two cards. For example, the first two cards were 4 and 9 and the third card drawn is a 5. Should this happen, the player wins and his winnings are determined from the official payout table.

Alternately, the card misses if it doesnt fit the spread. This happens when the third card doesnt fall in between the range of the first two cards, say, the third card drawn is a 2 and the first two cards are 3 and 7. A card is also a miss when the third card matches one of the first two cards. In both cases, the player loses. Finally, Red Dog Poker is a relatively easy game to learn and play but entertaining nonetheless. While it may be a game of chance, the payoffs can prove to be very big, if the player assigns it to be such.