Wild Viking

Red Dog, known by some as Red Dog Poker or even Yablon, is played using cards and instead of using skill it is entirely dominated by chance. It is also a variation of the game acey-deucey or the game in-between. You can still find them in some land casinos, but its popularity has diminished, while it is surprisingly featured at many online casinos as a reasonably popular game.

The standard fifty two card deck is used to play Red Dog. The game can be played with one deck to as much as eight decks. If you add a deck it is decreasing the house edge — the house’s advantage  starts at 3.155% with one deck, but hits the bottom at 2.751% when the full eight decks are in play. This is strange in comparison to say blackjack where the number of decks increases the house’s edge instead of diminishing it.

The game uses a maximum of three cards at any one time, which rank just as in poker, with aces being the highest. The suit is completely irrelevant. Wagers are placed, next two cards are being placed face up on the table, setting up these three possible outcomes:

* The cards can be consecutive in number (I.e., a three and a four, or a king and a ace), the hand is considered a push and the player gets his wager returned.
* The two cards can be of equal value, then a third card is dealt. If the third card is of the same value as well the player gets paid 11:1, otherwise the hand is again a push.
* The two cards difference is greater than one place (for example, a two and a seven), then a spread comes into play and it determines the payoff. Depending on the outcome of the third card which will be dealt. When the value of the third card is between the first two values, the player will receive the payoff according to the spread announced earlier, in any other case the bet is lost. Right before the dealing of the third card, the player gets the option to double his wager.

The spread table is usually as follows:
Spread     Payout
1 card         5 to 1
2 cards     4 to 1
3 cards     2 to 1
4+ cards     1 to 1

Even in the case of using eight decks, Red Dog still does not offer anywhere near favorable odds for the player in comparison to other games of chance that are both common to online casinos and offline casinos. There is almost no strategy involved; raises should only be made when the spread statistically favour the player (which is only from seven cards or more, regardless the number of decks used).