How to play Dragon Tiger: rules, bets and odds for beginners

Dragon Tiger basics

Dragon Tiger is a two-card casino game that started in Cambodia and spread across Asia before reaching live casinos worldwide. It is often described as a simplified version of baccarat, because you bet on which of two hands will win. The difference is that each hand is a single card, with no drawing rules to remember.

The game is usually dealt from a shoe of eight standard 52-card decks, with jokers removed. Every figure in this guide assumes eight decks. Cards rank in their normal order, with the ace always low and the king always high, so the order runs A, 2, 3 and so on up to 10, J, Q, K. Suits do not affect who wins a hand, although they do matter on one side bet.

There is no skill element and no decision once the cards are dealt. Your only choices are which bet to place and how much to stake. If any terms are unfamiliar, our glossary of betting and gambling terms explains them.

How a round works

A round takes only a few seconds, which makes this one of the fastest table games. It runs in four steps:

1. You place your bet on Dragon, Tiger or Tie while betting is open.
2. The dealer deals one card face up to the Dragon box and one to the Tiger box.
3. The higher card wins. If both cards have the same rank, the result is a tie.
4. Winning bets are paid, and the next round begins.

For example, you stake £10 on Dragon. Dragon shows a 9 and Tiger shows a 4, so Dragon wins and you receive your £10 stake back plus £10 winnings. If both sides had shown a 6, the result would be a tie. On a table that returns half your stake, you would get £5 back and lose the other £5.

The main bets

Rules vary by table, so always check the paytable and tie rule in the help screen. These are the most common versions:

• Dragon: pays 1 to 1 if the Dragon card is higher.
• Tiger: pays 1 to 1 if the Tiger card is higher.
• Tie: usually pays 11 to 1 if both cards have the same rank. Some tables pay only 8 to 1.
• Suited tie: where offered, usually pays 50 to 1 if both cards have the same rank and the same suit.
• Big or Small and Odd or Even: side bets on one card, offered on some tables, usually paying 1 to 1. A 7 normally loses on all of them.

There is no commission on Dragon or Tiger, unlike the Banker bet in baccarat. The tie rule does the same job for the casino: it is where the house edge on those two bets comes from.

Odds and house edge

With eight decks, the second card matches the rank of the first in 31 of the remaining 415 cards, so a tie comes up about 7.47% of the time. Dragon and Tiger share the rest equally, at about 46.27% each. A suited tie needs one of 7 matching cards, which is about 1.69%. The house edge on each bet follows directly from those odds and the payout:

The house edge is the average share of each stake the casino expects to keep over a very large number of bets. It tells you nothing about any single session. Our casino house edge guide explains how it works and compares it across games.

The table shows why the tie rule and the paytable matter. The same Tie bet is around three times as expensive at 8 to 1 as it is at 11 to 1, and a table that takes your whole stake on a tie doubles the edge on Dragon and Tiger.

Dragon Tiger compared with other games

Dragon Tiger is simple, but it is not cheap to play. Its best common bet, at 3.73%, compares with about 1.06% on the Banker bet and 1.24% on the Player bet in baccarat, and 2.70% on European roulette. Rounds are also quick, so more money tends to be staked per hour, and the expected cost grows with every bet.

Many live tables display a scoreboard of past results. It is there for interest only. Previous rounds tell you nothing useful about the next one, and following streaks or using a betting system does not reduce the house edge.

Practise for free and related offers

We do not currently have a free Dragon Tiger demo, but you can get used to similar quick-fire betting with our free baccarat and free European roulette games, or browse every game on our free casino games page.

If you decide to play for real, here are two current welcome offers from casinos we have reviewed. Both are free spins offers, so check each offer’s terms to see which games count towards it:

• Coral Casino: Wager £10 – Get 100 Free Spins. See our review for the full terms.
• 32Red: Deposit & Wager £30 – Get 320 Free Spins. See our review for the full terms.

You must be 18 or over to gamble. Set a budget before you start, never chase losses, and take a break if it stops being fun. If you want to block yourself from UK gambling sites, you can sign up to GAMSTOP.