Tips to Play Poker at Red Dead Redemption
With the recent announcement of Red Dead Redemption 2 release date set for October 26 (of which you can pre-order on PS4 and receive the game for free right now) we wanted to cover a few aspects of Red Dead Redemption original’s game. Specifically, how to win at poker with a few tricks and cheats.
There are three ways to play poker in RDR and have some type of reward:
- Kick ass as a poker player and win fair and square
- Cheat and win
- Get caught cheating and have a duel
Playing Poker and Gameplay in RDR
The poker games in Red Dead are easy to learn and have a similar look and feel to the PKR platform, an online 3D poker game. Although placing big bets is a bit of a burden since you have to scroll through all the numbers one by one until you get to the higher wagers.
Basic Gameplay Tips
In single player, you can skip all the other player turns to speed up game play and avoid the table comments. Multiplayer does not have this feature.
Make sure to hit the right buttons when checking or folding since the game offers no double checking.
You can kill the other players and loot their bodies, but you will not find the cash that was just present on the table.
Tips to Win at Poker in Red Dead Redemption
The NPC’s are not bad players at all. They bet, raise, and go all-in often. They also bluff, so play a while and learn their style before you hit them hard. Fold when you need to. The players are not passive, but neither do they know the real worth of a hand.
Tip #1: Always bet and raise with hands like top pair.
Tip #2: In the New Austin Saloon the Chinese guy will always call you with an ace high.
Tip #3: The basic strategy is to wait for a decent hand and then raise, if someone calls and the cards on the table are not against you, raise higher.
Tip #4: It is not smart to bluff in this game, most of the time the other players will call and beat you with slightly higher hands.
Tip #5: The best tip of all is to go all-in on your first hand, or just quickly speed up the game play until you get something decent, go all-in and if you lose restart the game to begin where you last saved. You should save just before entering the game of poker. Make sure you do this when playing against just one player to increase your chances of winning.
Bonus Tip: More than one player at the table? Manhandle the other players to shoo them away, or cheat with the elegant suit to eliminate one by one in duels.
This all-in strategy is one you want to try to win the High Roller trophy, which you obtain by winning 2,000 chips in a single play.
Liars and Cheats Pack
This pack allows you to play multi-player and cheat on single player only. Additional achievements can be acquired:
- Pa Pa Pa Poker Ace – beat the table when the blinds are at maximum in multiplayer
- The Big Bluff – Win a hand by forcing someone with a bigger hand to fold, in multiplayer.
- In a Van Down By the River – Win a hand on the last card when you were losing before, in multiplayer.
How to Cheat at Poker in the Game
To cheat at poker you must suit up using the “Elegant Suit”, and this item is unlocked by installing the Liars and Cheats pack and starting a game of poker in multiplayer mode, or by defeating all opponents in a game of poker. It only works to cheat at poker and not at Liar’s Dice, like it used to say at the Thieves’ Landing Tailor where you can purchase the suit. However, once purchased, the item description says the player can only cheat at poker. This was fixed with a patch.
Purchase the elegant suit at Thieves’ Landing at a cost of $70. Wearing it during a round of poker will stash an extra card in the sleeve. The player can stash a card every time it’s their turn to deal, use the Triangle or Y button to do so.
This will begin a mini-game with an arrow indicator that balances left or right. The goal is to keep it at the center to not get caught cheating. If the arrow moves too much to either side, the other player’s will figure out you are cheating and challenge the player to a duel.
Some players get caught cheating intentionally to practice some dueling. Just remember that you do not get back whatever you wagered, so keep it to one bet at the lowest, which is $10. 1 duel will cost you $10 minimum, if you are smart about it. If dueling is your thing, follow this tutorial.
Important Note: The elegant suit cheat can only be used in single multiplayer.
If you wish to win legitimately instead, we suggest you learn the game of poker and some basic strategy tips.
About Red Dead Redemption
Most consider Red Dead Redemption to be one of the best games of the last generation in a genre lightly explored by video games, the Old West. Released in 2010, it was one of the best open world experiences way ahead of its time. We expect that the second title to be even greater than its predecessor. We are hoping we can still play poker against others in RDR2.