How to play Dragon Tiger online: Rules, strategies, odds, and probabilities

I doubt you've ever wondered what would happen if you fused baccarat and Casino War together. I mean, it’s not something that keeps me awake at night. But here’s the thing, if you’re a casino regular, the answer has been staring you in the face all along.

Dragon Tiger is a game that looks like baccarat - at least a slimmed-down version of it - and it plays out in a similar manner to Casino War. With baccarat being so popular in the Far East, it’s perhaps no surprise this take uses traditional Asian symbolism in the form of the Dragon and Tiger.

As you shall see, the game is super easy to play and hints at a relatively low house edge, given that the results are dragon win, tiger win, or tie.

Dragon Tiger Game Rules

When you sit down to play Dragon Tiger, you simply select your bet size and decide whether to bet on the dragon, the tiger, or the match is a tie. You are backing which of the two players will receive the higher card value – with an ace being low (one), and all others ranked as in poker, so 2 through 9, 10, J, Q, and K.

Using eight standard decks of 52 cards, the dealer will then deal one card face up to each player, and the highest card wins. Should both be the same value, the match is a tie. If you win with either dragon or tiger, you get a 1:1 payback. If you elected tie and won, then the payout is 11:1. If you lose, you forfeit your bet, and if there is a tie, and you only backed either dragon or tiger, you get half your bet back.

When you sit down at the table, you will also see odds for a suited tie, with both players’ cards having the same value and the same suit, such as two 3 of diamonds. The payout for this is 50:1.

But while the prospect of winning 50:1 is appealing, the odds of that happening are not attractive – experts put the house edge on this bet alone at 13.98%. That's a lot of money to lose over time while chasing the 50:1 shot.

In some Dragon Tiger games, you will see more betting options. For example, you might be able to bet on both dragon and tiger hands being red suits or black suits. You could bet on odd or even cards or that the dragon or tiger will be low (below 7) or high (above 7). If the score is 7, all bets lose. Just to further spice things up, some casinos allow you to back one card being red, the other black, and one being odd and the other even!

Dragon Tiger Strategy

As you can see, Dragon Tiger is not the most complicated casino game in the world. You might think there is not much strategy because of that. But there are some things you can do – or more to the point, avoid - to minimize your potential losses.

The first is to never back the tie, and certainly the suited tie. Those attractive-looking odds come with a harsh house edge. Instead, stick with backing the dragon or the tiger – yes, you only get 1:1 payouts, but you also get half your stake back if it’s a tie. In this way, you are relying on a nice run of results over a given session to make a little profit. Unless you are very unlucky, you should not endure a big losing session.

If your game has those additional side bets, avoid the high or low bets because a 7 will forfeit all bets. Instead, go for red or black, which is a 1:1 bet.

Other than that, there is no cunning strategy to improve your chances other than betting sensibly and within your bankroll.

Play Dragon Tiger Online

If Dragon Tiger is new to you, why not try it today? If you have not already done so, register your account through one of the various casinos reviewed by YOUBET, make your first deposit, claim any offers, and head to the Dragon Tiger tables. Good luck!