How to Play Dragon Tiger
The game of Dragon Tiger was developed in Cambodia and is played at the country's casinos like Poipet and Le Macau. It is also quite popular at Asian-themed online casinos. Dragon Tiger is a casino game played with a shoe (usually 6 decks) of English decks. Since no jokers or wild cards are used the game is quite simple to learn and to play. There are a total of four possible wagers at Dragon Tiger.
How to Play Dragon Tiger
Dragon Tiger is played like baccarat, with each player wagering on either the Dragon hand or the Tiger hand (like player and banker at baccarat). To keep the game simple, only one card is delivered to each player, and like the game of Casino War, the high card wins. No additional cards are drawn. However,an Ace is low, so the rank of cards runs from Ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K.
Placing Wagers
Once the players place their wagers on either the Dragon or the Tiger spot,the dealer places the cards on the layout, face-up. The highest card wins, but there is one additional rule: if the spot the player bets on receives a 7, the player loses half of their wager! This is how the casino derives their edge. Of the possible 86,320 possible outcomes for each hand, 6,448 will result in a tie and the casino winning half of a wager. Some online casinos call this a commission, but however it is labeled, the house has an edge of 3.73 percent.
The Tie Wager
Players have the option of making a wager on a Tie, which happens when both the Dragon and Tiger hands receive the same card, such as when both are dealt a Queen.
Once again, this happens in 6,448 of the possible 86,320 hands. Casinos in Cambodia and other Asian countries often pay as little as 8 to 1 on a tie. This results in a house edge of 32.77 percent. By comparison, the Tie wager at Casino War pays 10 to 1, for a more reasonable 17.83 percent house edge. This is also the payoff most often found at online casinos.
Big and Small Wagers
The third wager that Dragon Tiger players may make is on a Big (8, 9, 10, J, Q, K) card appearing in their chosen hand (Dragon or Tiger), or on a small card (Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) appearing in their chosen hand. If they choose correctly they are paid even money. If they choose incorrectly they lose their wager. In addition, the casino wins the wager if a 7 appears. This leaves the house with a 7.69 percent edge on this wager.
Choose the Suit Wager
The final bet for Dragon Tiger players allows them to choose which suit will appear on their selected hand. A wager is placed in the square for Heart, Spade, Diamond, or Club. If the choose is correct, the casino pays 3 to 1. If the choice is incorrect, the wager loses. Once again, if the dreaded 7 appears, the player loses their bet, even if it is the correct suit!. The house has the same 7.69 percent casino edge on this wager.
Optimal Strategy
Playing Dragon Tiger, especially the main bet of either Dragon spot or Tiger spot, is very simple, and the only strategy would be to play or not play, or to try and follow a streak. Like baccarat, there are many times when on spot will just kill it, winning eight or ten out of a dozen plays. Obviously this strategy is dominated by luck. However, there is also the possibility that under optimal conditions the Suit bet may be your best option. Of course some card counting needs to be done to ascertain when those possibilities arise.
The game is often played with six decks and the shuffle happens after four decks are played. Therefore there are 78 of each suit in use. However, if a player keeps track of all suits played and there are three suits that are dominating, wagering on the remaining suit would be a good bet. For instance, suppose that after 62 cards there were 17 spades, 20 hearts, 20 clubs, and only 5 diamonds played, the remaining cards would be heavily weighted with diamonds.
At this point the shoe would include 250 cards, and a wager on diamonds would yield 73 winners (at 3 to 1 for a payout of 219) and 177 losers. 219-177 would give the player 42 units of profit. Of course the shoe will be broken and shuffled at about 2 decks, so the math will be more like this: 146 cards played, .426 percent diamonds (43 winners for $129 minus 103 losers, or a net of $26. Just like blackjack card counting there will be times the player has the edge, even at an online casino site if the number of decks and the shuffle point is known. Good luck!
How to Play Dragon Tiger
Dragon Tiger is played like baccarat, with each player wagering on either the Dragon hand or the Tiger hand (like player and banker at baccarat). To keep the game simple, only one card is delivered to each player, and like the game of Casino War, the high card wins. No additional cards are drawn. However,an Ace is low, so the rank of cards runs from Ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K.
Placing Wagers
Once the players place their wagers on either the Dragon or the Tiger spot,the dealer places the cards on the layout, face-up. The highest card wins, but there is one additional rule: if the spot the player bets on receives a 7, the player loses half of their wager! This is how the casino derives their edge. Of the possible 86,320 possible outcomes for each hand, 6,448 will result in a tie and the casino winning half of a wager. Some online casinos call this a commission, but however it is labeled, the house has an edge of 3.73 percent.
The Tie Wager
Players have the option of making a wager on a Tie, which happens when both the Dragon and Tiger hands receive the same card, such as when both are dealt a Queen.
Once again, this happens in 6,448 of the possible 86,320 hands. Casinos in Cambodia and other Asian countries often pay as little as 8 to 1 on a tie. This results in a house edge of 32.77 percent. By comparison, the Tie wager at Casino War pays 10 to 1, for a more reasonable 17.83 percent house edge. This is also the payoff most often found at online casinos.
Big and Small Wagers
The third wager that Dragon Tiger players may make is on a Big (8, 9, 10, J, Q, K) card appearing in their chosen hand (Dragon or Tiger), or on a small card (Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) appearing in their chosen hand. If they choose correctly they are paid even money. If they choose incorrectly they lose their wager. In addition, the casino wins the wager if a 7 appears. This leaves the house with a 7.69 percent edge on this wager.
Choose the Suit Wager
The final bet for Dragon Tiger players allows them to choose which suit will appear on their selected hand. A wager is placed in the square for Heart, Spade, Diamond, or Club. If the choose is correct, the casino pays 3 to 1. If the choice is incorrect, the wager loses. Once again, if the dreaded 7 appears, the player loses their bet, even if it is the correct suit!. The house has the same 7.69 percent casino edge on this wager.
Optimal Strategy
Playing Dragon Tiger, especially the main bet of either Dragon spot or Tiger spot, is very simple, and the only strategy would be to play or not play, or to try and follow a streak. Like baccarat, there are many times when on spot will just kill it, winning eight or ten out of a dozen plays. Obviously this strategy is dominated by luck. However, there is also the possibility that under optimal conditions the Suit bet may be your best option. Of course some card counting needs to be done to ascertain when those possibilities arise.
The game is often played with six decks and the shuffle happens after four decks are played. Therefore there are 78 of each suit in use. However, if a player keeps track of all suits played and there are three suits that are dominating, wagering on the remaining suit would be a good bet. For instance, suppose that after 62 cards there were 17 spades, 20 hearts, 20 clubs, and only 5 diamonds played, the remaining cards would be heavily weighted with diamonds.
At this point the shoe would include 250 cards, and a wager on diamonds would yield 73 winners (at 3 to 1 for a payout of 219) and 177 losers. 219-177 would give the player 42 units of profit. Of course the shoe will be broken and shuffled at about 2 decks, so the math will be more like this: 146 cards played, .426 percent diamonds (43 winners for $129 minus 103 losers, or a net of $26. Just like blackjack card counting there will be times the player has the edge, even at an online casino site if the number of decks and the shuffle point is known. Good luck!
