Red Dead Online Poker, Blackjack, Dominoes - Where are the Mini-Games?

Poker in Red Dead Online would make a great mini-game in between doing missions and activities. Blackjack, Dominoes, and Poker are all available in Red Dead Redemption 2 single-player, so it’s not surprising that players are ready to throw some bones or play a hand of cards. However, so far the news is grim concerning the availability of Red Dead Online poker and blackjack as well as the other single-player mini-games.

Can You Play Poker in Red Dead Online?

One of the first thoughts I had when I first started playing Red Dead Online was that it would be awesome to finally get to play against some real-life players in a hand of Poker or Blackjack. The CPU card players aren’t nearly as bad in Red Dead Redemption 2‘s single-player as they were in the first game, but nothing beats playing against a real person. However, after checking the saloons and camps in Red Dead Online, I haven’t located a single instance of any of the single-player mini-games.

Whether or not there’s Poker in Red Dead Online has been one of the more frequently asked questions during our Twitch streams, and unfortunately, it’s looking like it’s not. It’s possible poker, blackjack, dominoes, and five-finger fillet will come to Red Dead Online in a later patch, but if I had to guess there’s likely a reason for its exclusion.

Since you can buy goods in the game with gold (which will eventually be available to purchase with real-life currency), then presumably sell them back to the store for cash, letting players bet in an online game of Poker or Blackjack might be a little too close to the real thing for Rockstar. With more and more eyes on the games industry concerning things like lootboxes, with some advocating that they’re a form of gambling, it wouldn’t be a good look for Red Dead Redemption 2 to have something that could be interpreted as being close to real gambling in Red Dead Online.

There’s a chance that card games will be implemented in Red Dead Online in a form that doesn’t take any in-game currency to play, but for now, we haven’t seen any proof they’ll be added to the game.