Dragon Tiger Rules

Game setup and card ranking

Live tables usually deal from a shoe of several standard 52-card decks, often eight. Aces are always low, ranking below the two. Otherwise the cards rank in the usual order: 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-Jack-Queen-King. Only rank counts for the main bets, so a seven of hearts against a seven of spades is a tie.

A round takes only moments: bets are placed, two cards are dealt face up and the result is settled. That speed is part of the appeal, but more rounds per hour also means more money exposed to the house edge.

The Dragon, Tiger and Tie bets

On the main bets, a ₹1,000 bet on Dragon returns ₹2,000 (stake plus ₹1,000) if Dragon wins, is lost if Tiger wins, and returns ₹500 on a tie. Some tables use different tie rules, so check the rules screen of the table in front of you.

The Tie bet is a separate wager that only wins if the two cards match in rank, and the payout varies by table. In an eight-deck shoe a tie comes up in roughly 7.5% of rounds, which gives the Tie bet a house edge of about 10% at 11:1 and more than 30% at 8:1. The Suited Tie is a much harder proposition and also carries a high edge.

House edge and choosing a bet

The main bets get their edge from the tie rule. Dragon and Tiger each win about 46% of rounds and lose about 46%, and in the remaining 7.5% or so the player loses half the stake. That half-stake loss on ties works out at about 3.73% of every rupee bet on Dragon or Tiger.

The main Dragon or Tiger bet therefore has the lowest house edge on the table, and the side bets cost considerably more. Live tables often show a trend board of past results, but each round is dealt independently and past results do not predict the next card. No betting pattern or system beats the house edge.

For Indian readers, the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 prohibits offering, facilitating, advertising and processing payments for online money games, including online casino games. Land-based casinos operate legally only in Goa, Sikkim and Daman under state law. This page explains the rules only and is not legal advice.