The game is essentially a coin flip with cards. One would think this makes the House Edge completely even, but this is not true. Dragon Tiger sits with a House Edge of about 3.8% due to the possibility of a tie.
Although 3.8% is a moderately good Edge for the Player, it’s less than desirable for the casino. In order to tip the Edge further in their favor, casinos offer a number of bonuses with higher payouts, but far worse Edge.
Below is a list of the various Bonuses and Side Bets one might see at a Dragon Tiger Table:
Suited Tie
Firstly, there is the Suited Tie Bonus. A fairly basic Bonus, it only pays out in one situation. If the Dragon and Tiger are the same rank, and the same suit, then a Suited Tie has occurred.
Any Players that placed a wager on the Suited Tie Bonus will be paid 50x their bet.
In all other situations, the Suited Tie wager is taken by the House.
Suited Tie has a House Edge of about 14%. Although this is a high House Edge that should largely be avoided, the payout of 50x is rather desirable.
It is largely a waste of money, but considering you are only statistically going to lose 10-13% of the money put into this wager, the potential payout is worth playing a few times.
Big/Small, Odd/Even, Red/Black
These bets are grouped together into a single section, because of their large similarity with one another. This group of bets are based on Players correctly guessing certain attributes about the card that will be dealt.
Players can bet on multiple of these wagers at once, as though they are forming a parley.
A Parley is simply a wager that requires multiple conditions to be achieved in order to pay out.
It is, in a way, a more accurate prediction of the cards dealt to the Dragon and Tiger. However, players do not need to achieve all of the side bets. They will be paid out on an individual basis, according to the conditions of each individual wager.
Big/Small
Big/Small is a guess on the rank of the Dragon or Tiger. Players first choose Dragon or Tiger, and then Big or Small.
If Betting on Big, Players are wagering that their chosen card will be greater than 7.
Small bets the opposite, that it will be smaller than 7.
Big/Small will lose if Players guess incorrectly, or if their chosen card is exactly a 7.
Big/Small pays 1:1 on success, and takes the whole wager upon failure.
Odd/Even and Red/Black
Odd/Even and Red/Black work very similarly to Big/Small.
Players are betting on whether the card is Odd, or Even and whether it is going to be colored Red (♥♦) or Black (♣♠).
Odd/Even and Red/Black payout 1:1 as well.
Just like the Big/Small, if the Red/Black card is a 7, the bet will automatically lose.
In the case of the Odd/Even bonus, an Ace will automatically lose.
All of these wagers have about the same probability of occurrence and therefore have roughly the same House Edge of about 7.7%
Suit Bonus
The Suit Bonus is a special bonus that pays out if Players are able to correctly guess the suit of either the Dragon, or Tiger card.
Players win 3:1 on their wager, but if the card dispensed by the Dealer is a 7, the wager is automatically lost even if the Player correctly guessed the suit.
The Suit has a House Edge of about 7.7%
There are two remaining side bonuses available to play at a Dragon Tiger table. The One Red, One Black and the Two Red, Two Black bonuses.
One Red, One Black
The One Red, One Black bonus is rather straightforward. Players are betting that one of the cards dealt will be Red, and the other will be Black.
The House Edge on the One Red, One Black bonus is actually quite good. It is 3.7%, which is highly comparable to the base game.
The bonus only offers a 1x payout upon success, but its Edge is so low that Players should frequently participate in this side wager.
Two Red, Two Black
The Two Red, Two Black bet involves Players choosing their favored color, either Red or Black, and declaring that both of the cards dealt to the Dragon and Tiger will be of that color.
Players that guess correctly will be rewarded with a 3:1 payout.
For both of these wagers, ties are still a concern. If a Player bets on One Red, One Black for example, and the following cards are dealt:
7♦ 7♠
The Player will still lose. If the Dragon and Tiger tie, then the One Red, One Black and Two Red, Two Black bets are both halved and taken by the house. The remaining half is pushed back to the Player.
