How to Play Red or Black

Objective

Guess which color will be in the majority when five cards are turned face up. One player acts as dealer and banker, paying winning bets and collecting losing ones. Everyone else plays against the dealer, not against each other. There is no skill in the deal itself, so the fun is in the call, the flip and the table’s reaction.

Setup

Give everyone the same number of chips, or use matchsticks or coins. Agree on a betting limit, the most anyone can bet on a single call.

Choose a dealer. A simple way to keep things fair is to pass the deal to the left after every player has had one call, so everyone takes a turn as banker. Shuffle well before the first call.

How to play

Starting on the dealer’s left, the first player places a bet up to the limit and calls “red” or “black.” The dealer then turns five cards face up in front of that player, one at a time.

Count the colors. Hearts and diamonds are red; clubs and spades are black. The bet is settled right away, and the next player bets and calls. When the deck runs too low to deal five more cards, gather the cards and shuffle.

1. 1Place your bet, up to the limit
2. 2Call red or black
3. 3The dealer turns five cards face up
4. 4Win with three or more of your color, lose with three or more of the other

Scoring

The dealer settles each bet as soon as the five cards are out.

Play for a set number of rounds or until a set time, and whoever finishes with the most chips wins. Because red and black are equally likely, the game is an even bet for both sides over the long run: neither the dealer nor the players have an edge.

Variations

One-card call: for younger players, skip the bets and the five-card hand. Turn one card at a time, let each player call its color, and give a point for every correct call.

Fresh shuffle: some groups reshuffle before every call, so no one can track which color has more cards left in the deck.

Four questions: a well-known party version deals each player single cards and asks four calls in a row: red or black, higher or lower than the last card, inside or outside the first two, and finally the suit.

Tips from the table

Keep an eye on the cards already dealt since the last shuffle. If far more reds than blacks have gone, black is a slightly better call.

Five of a color comes up roughly once in every twenty hands, so a double payout is a pleasant surprise rather than something to plan around.

If you are banking, keep a few extra chips in reserve. A run of doubles can empty a short stack fast.

Frequently asked