Live Dragon & Tiger Game

Live Dragon Tiger is a simple two-card game where you bet on which one of the cards will have the highest amount. But there is an added complexity where you can add some proposition bets on the individual cards.

Although very little information seems to be available about the origins of Dragon Tiger, it was almost certainly created in Cambodia. The game started becoming popular in live casinos in Cambodia, however, its simplicity and easy scalability makes it a popular game in the live format. The name Dragon Tiger comes from the Buddhist philosophy of the balance of power. The tiger represents the strong, hard style of bulldozing the opponent whilst the dragon is softer, more patient and wiser. Neither competitor can defeat the other and thus they are worthy opponents.

In 2018 Evolution Gaming completed its Baccarat style range of live games by adding Dragon Tiger to its portfolio. The introduction of the game was motivated by increasing interest in the game from Asian players. Dragon Tiger encourages new players to try out Live games and thus was a big opportunity for Evolution Gaming. Their Dragon Tiger is hosted in a visually pleasing studio with distinctly oriental decorations. Evolution offers a range of side bets. The Tie Bet offers a payout of 11:1 whilst the Suited tie bet wins a payout of 50:1.

Live Dragon Tiger is often described as a two card version of Baccarat. At its core it’s a very simple game, with more complicated side bets available. In this game players place their wages on either the dragon or the tiger, along with any side bets. The dealer then reveals the two cards and they are compared. Cards are ranked as they are in Poker with the exception of aces which are always valued at 1. The higher card is the winner of the primary bet. A standard shoe normally contains between 6 and 8 decks of cards. Of course, when counting cards in order to improve the players chances the lower number of decks is better.

When playing Live Dragon Tiger with real money of course the players aim is to not only have a good time but also to end the game with more money than when they started. Admittedly there is a lot of luck involved with Dragon Tiger, however there are a few strategies that players can employ to improve their chances. See the Live Dragon Tiger Strategies section for some tips.

The standard house edge on a game of Dragon Tiger is 3.73%. This is acknowledging the fact that a tie result returns half of the players wager. Based purely on statistics, it’s best to stick to the Dragon Tiger Bet. However if you’re a fan of counting cards, there are a range of side bets with odds that can be quickly improved by a solid counting strategy. The fact that Dragon Tiger is a two card comparison game makes it simple to keep track of the cards that have been used and thus estimate which cards remain in the deck.

The Tie Bet returns a wager of 8 to 1, however it’s odds are the worst of the worst with the house edge being 32.77!

The Suited Tie Bet however is much kinder to the player with a house edge of 13.98% and possible payouts of 50 to 1.

The Big Small bet is another possible side bet for players. In this side bet the players choose whether a particular card will be over or under 7. If the card is exactly equal to 7 then the wager loses. The house edge of this bet is 7.69%.

Odd/Even is another bet where, as the name suggests, players predict whether the card will be odd or even. This side bet is not offered by all casinos.

The Suit bet pays 3:1 with a house edge of 7.69%. If a player chooses this side bet they are aiming to correctly predict the suit of a particular card.

The Two Red and Two Black bets is offered by Asia Live tech and allows players to bet on whether both cards will be black or red. It pays 3 to 1 and has a house edge of 3.73%. Parallel to this is the one red one black side bet which of course has the same probability. Of course these kind of bets go very well with card counting...

If you’re not a fan of rules, then the game of Live Dragon Tiger is certainly for you. Any number of decks can be used, as decided by the operator. Aces are always valued at their lower value and the aim is to predict whether the dragon or the tiger will be the higher card. A wide range of side bets are available. For information about these side bets and their probability, read the Live Dragon Tiger Strategies section.