Dragon Tiger Odds & Payouts
Master Dragon Tiger odds and payout probability.
Dragon Tiger Odds & Payouts
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Dragon Tiger is the simplest card game in the live casino: one card to Dragon, one card to Tiger, the higher card wins. That simplicity makes its mathematics unusually clean. Every probability on this page follows from counting the possible two-card deals from a shoe, and every house edge follows from those probabilities and the payout the studio publishes.
Mathematical Foundation
From an eight-deck shoe of 416 cards there are 416 × 415 = 172,640 ordered two-card deals. A tie needs both cards of the same rank: 13 ranks × 32 cards × 31 remaining = 12,896 deals, so P(Tie) = 12,896 ÷ 172,640 = 7.4699%. A suited tie needs the same rank and suit: 52 cards × 8 copies × 7 remaining = 2,912 deals, so P(Suited Tie) = 1.6867%. Dragon and Tiger split the rest equally: 46.2651% each.
These are exact counts, not simulations. Standard deviations are per one unit staked. Payout rules and the tie rule for each studio are taken from the studios' own pages; where a studio does not publish a rule, we say so and show both possibilities.
Try the numbers yourself
Our Dragon Tiger Probability Calculator lets you change the deck count, the Tie payout and the tie rule, and shows the exact probabilities, house edges and expected loss for your stake. To watch those edges emerge round by round, run our Dragon Tiger Simulator. Every Dragon Tiger figure Wizard of Odds publishes is set beside ours, and checked, on our Wizard of Odds comparison page.
Key Terms and the Tie Rule
Payout
What a winning bet returns in addition to your stake. 1:1 means you win one unit for each unit bet; 11:1 means eleven.
House Edge
The casino's average take as a percentage of everything wagered on that bet. A 3.73% edge means $3.73 lost per $100 bet, on average, over the long run.
The Tie Rule
What happens to your Dragon or Tiger bet when the two cards tie. The common rule returns half your stake (you lose the other half). Some tables take the whole stake. This single rule doubles the main-bet house edge from 3.73% to 7.47%, so it is the first thing to check on any table.
Fair Payout
The payout at which a bet would have zero house edge: (1 − P) ÷ P. For the Tie at eight decks that is 12.39:1. Every gap between the fair payout and the real one is the casino's margin.
Dragon or Tiger
- Payout: 1:1
- Win Probability: 46.27%
- House Edge: 3.73% (half back on tie)
- House Edge: 7.47% (all lost on tie)
- The only bets worth making
Tie
- Payout: 11:1, 10:1 or 8:1 by studio
- Win Probability: 7.47%
- House Edge: 10.36% at 11:1
- House Edge: 17.83% at 10:1
- House Edge: 32.77% at 8:1
- High risk, poor value
Suited Tie
- Payout: 50:1
- Win Probability: 1.69%
- House Edge: 13.98%
- Fair payout would be 58.3:1
- Highest variance on the table
Dragon and Tiger Bets: Mathematical Analysis
Why the House Edge Is Entirely the Tie
Dragon and Tiger are perfectly symmetric: each wins 46.2651% of rounds and pays even money. If ties were a push, the bet would be exactly fair. The casino's whole margin comes from what happens on the 7.4699% of rounds that tie.
Half Your Stake Lost on a Tie
Expected value = 0.462651 − 0.462651 − 0.5 × 0.074699
= −0.03735 units per bet
House edge: 3.73%
Published by Pragmatic Play, SA Gaming and On Air Entertainment (Blazing Dragon Tiger), and by Deltin's Goa casinos. The earliest-dated rulebook we have read with this rule is the one Singapore's regulator carries for Marina Bay Sands, effective July 17, 2013 and since revoked, whose layout prints “Dragon and Tiger Bets Lose 50%”. Pragmatic Play's stated RTP of 96.27% equals 100% − 3.73%, confirming the computation.
Whole Stake Lost on a Tie
Expected value = 0.462651 − 0.462651 − 1.0 × 0.074699
= −0.07470 units per bet
House edge: 7.47%
Twice as expensive. Evolution, Ezugi and OneTouch do not state their tie rule on the product pages we read, so for those tables we show both figures until the in-game help confirms which applies.
Complete Probability Distribution
Standard Deviation (half back on tie)
σ = 0.971 units per bet
Outcomes per unit bet: +1 with probability 0.462651, −1 with probability 0.462651, −0.5 with probability 0.074699. Variance σ² = 0.943.
Standard Deviation (all lost on tie)
σ = 0.997 units per bet
Outcomes per unit bet: +1 with probability 0.462651, −1 with probability 0.537349. Variance σ² = 0.994.
What This Means For You
A Dragon or Tiger bet behaves almost exactly like a coin flip with a 3.73% tax. Results stay close to expectation, sessions are not wild, and there is no decision to make and no way to improve on it. Compared with baccarat's Banker bet (1.06% edge), Dragon Tiger costs about three and a half times as much per dollar wagered, and because rounds are faster you wager more dollars per hour.
Tie Bet: 8:1, 10:1 and 11:1
Every Tie Payout in Use, Eight Decks
There is no single “standard” Tie payout. Three are in use, and the price of the bet changes more between them than any other rule on the layout. A tie comes up in 12,896 of the 172,640 two-card deals from a fresh shoe, 31/415 or 7.47% of rounds, whichever payout the table prints.
| Tie pays | Who uses it | Return per $1 | House edge | Short of the fair 12.39:1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:1 | Evolution, Pragmatic Play, Singapore's 2013 Marina Bay Sands rules; the most common online | $0.8964 | 10.36% | 11.2% |
| 10:1 | Deltin casinos, Goa (6 to 8 decks) | $0.8217 | 17.83% | 19.3% |
| 8:1 | Ezugi, SA Gaming | $0.6723 | 32.77% | 35.4% |
| Suited Tie 50:1 | Evolution, Pragmatic Play, On Air; same rank and suit, 7/415 of rounds | $0.8602 | 13.98% | 14.2% (fair 58.29:1) |
When a page says the Tie bet gives the house “more than 30%,” it is describing an 8:1 table. At 11:1 the edge is 10.36%, still almost three times a Dragon or Tiger bet on a half-back table, but a different bet. The deck count moves these figures by a point or two; the four, six and eight deck table has them.
Payout Analysis
11:1 (Evolution, Pragmatic Play)
Win probability: 7.47%
Expected value: 12 × 0.074699 − 1 = −0.1036
House edge: 10.36%
σ = 3.155 units
10:1 (Deltin, Goa)
Win probability: 7.47%
Expected value: 11 × 0.074699 − 1 = −0.1783
House edge: 17.83%
σ = 2.892 units
8:1 (Ezugi, SA Gaming)
Win probability: 7.47%
Expected value: 9 × 0.074699 − 1 = −0.3277
House edge: 32.77%
σ = 2.366 units
Breaking Even: The Math Behind Fair Odds
A tie happens once every 13.39 rounds. For the Tie bet to have no house edge it would need to pay (1 − 0.074699) ÷ 0.074699 = 12.39:1.
- At 11:1 you receive 11.2% less than fair value
- At 10:1 you receive 19.3% less than fair value
- At 8:1 you receive 35.4% less than fair value
Even the best Tie payout on the market, 11:1, costs nearly three times as much per dollar as a Dragon or Tiger bet on a half-back table.
Suited Tie at 50:1
Probability
Same rank and same suit: 2,912 of 172,640 deals
P(Suited Tie) = 1.6867%, about once every 59 rounds
Roughly 22.6% of all ties are suited (one of four suits, adjusted for the card already out).
Edge and Variance
Expected value: 51 × 0.016867 − 1 = −0.1398
House edge: 13.98%
Fair payout: 58.3:1
σ = 6.568 units, variance 43.1
What This Means For You
The Suited Tie has by far the highest variance on the layout: nearly seven times the standard deviation of a main bet. Pragmatic Play publishes an RTP of 86.02% for this bet, which is 100% − 13.98% and matches this computation exactly. Evolution, Super Speed Dragon Tiger, Blazing Dragon Tiger and Betway all pay 50:1, so the edge is the same wherever the bet is offered at eight decks.
Suited-Ranking Dragon Tiger: When Only an Identical Card Ties
Some land-based rooms rank the suits as well as the cards, so a Dragon 8 against a Tiger 8 is decided by suit and the only tie is two identical cards, the same rank in the same suit. Singapore's regulator approved a game like this for Resorts World Sentosa in 2021 (no Tie bet, main bets returned on a tie; priced on our History & Variations page). A second layout, described by a player in August 2025 as dealt in Cambodia and left unpriced on the Wizard of Vegas math forum, keeps the familiar bets with new definitions: eight decks, half the Dragon or Tiger stake lost on an identical-card tie, an Any Pair bet at 11:1 on the two cards sharing a rank, and a Tie bet at 40:1 on the identical card. We have not found a casino that publishes these rules, so the figures below are exact for the rules as described.
| Bet | Wins on | Pays | Probability (8 decks) | House edge | Standard table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon or Tiger | Higher card, suit breaking a rank tie; loses half on an identical card | 1:1 | Identical card 7/415 = 1.6867% | 0.84% | 3.73% |
| Any Pair | Same rank, any suits | 11:1 | 31/415 = 7.4699% | 10.36% | Tie at 11:1, 10.36% |
| Tie | Same rank and same suit | 40:1 | 7/415 = 1.6867% | 30.84% | Suited Tie at 50:1, 13.98% |
What This Means For You
Ranking the suits makes the main bet the cheapest Dragon Tiger bet we have priced anywhere: 0.5 × 7/415 = 0.84%, a quarter of the standard half-back edge and below baccarat's Banker bet. The Any Pair bet is the standard Tie bet under another name, same chance, same payout, same 10.36%. The 40:1 Tie is the trap: the identical card comes once in 59 rounds, a fair payout would be 58.3:1, and at 40:1 the house keeps 30.84%, more than twice the 13.98% of the usual 50:1 Suited Tie. Which suit outranks which changes nothing in this table. If you meet this layout, play the main bet and leave the 40:1 alone.
Side Bets: Big/Small, Odd/Even, Red/Black and Suit
The 7 Is the Trap
These bets are placed on a single card, Dragon's or Tiger's, so the deck count does not matter: every rank is equally likely. The casino's margin is built into the 7. On Pragmatic Play and On Air Entertainment tables Big covers 8 through King (six ranks), Small covers Ace through 6 (six ranks), and a 7 loses both. Odd covers A, 3, 5, 9, J, K; Even covers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Q; a 7 loses both. Red and Black split the 24 non-7 cards of each side; a 7 loses both.
Any 1:1 side bet where a 7 loses
Win 6 ranks of 13, lose 7 ranks of 13
Expected value: 6/13 − 7/13 = −1/13
House edge: 7.69%
σ = 0.997 units
Pragmatic Play's published RTP of 92.31% on all six of these bets is 100% − 7.69%.
Ezugi Suit bet at 3:1 (7 loses)
Win 12 cards of 52 in your suit (the 7 excluded), pay 3
Expected value: 3 × 3/13 − 10/13 = −1/13
House edge: 7.69%
σ = 1.685 units
SA Gaming: No Trap Card, Priced Payouts Instead
SA Gaming's published rules take a different route. The 7 counts as an odd card, so Odd covers seven ranks and Even six, and the payouts are set to give the house its margin: Odd pays 0.75:1, Even pays 1.05:1, Red and Black pay 0.9:1. Big (8 to King) and Small (Ace to 6) still lose on a 7 at 1:1.
| SA Gaming bet | Wins on | Pays | Expected value | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odd | A, 3, 5, 7, 9, J, Q (7 of 13) | 0.75:1 | 0.75 × 7/13 − 6/13 | 5.77% |
| Even | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, K (6 of 13) | 1.05:1 | 1.05 × 6/13 − 7/13 | 5.38% |
| Red or Black | 26 of 52 cards | 0.9:1 | 0.9 × ½ − ½ | 5.00% |
| Big or Small | 6 ranks; 7 loses | 1:1 | 6/13 − 7/13 | 7.69% |
Lightning Dragon Tiger (Evolution) adds a 20% fee to every bet and a random 2x to 8x multiplier on one suit each round. Evolution publishes the fee and the multiplier range but not the base payout table or the probability of each multiplier, so its true house edge cannot be computed from published information and we do not publish one. What the fee does buy, and what Evolution leaves out, is set out in our Lightning Dragon Tiger article.
House Edge by Provider
The rules below are taken from each studio's or operator's own published page and the edges are computed from them at eight decks. “Not stated” means the page exists but does not give that rule; the edge is then shown for both tie rules.
| Table | Decks | Tie rule | Dragon/Tiger edge | Tie pays | Tie edge | Suited Tie | Side bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evolution Dragon Tiger | Not stated | Not stated | 3.73% or 7.47% | 11:1 | 10.36% | 50:1 (13.98%) | None |
| Evolution Super Speed Dragon Tiger | Not stated | Not stated | 3.73% or 7.47% | Not stated | – | 50:1 (13.98%) | None |
| Evolution Lightning Dragon Tiger | 8 | Not stated | Not computable (20% fee, multipliers unpublished) | Not published | – | Not published | None |
| Pragmatic Play Dragon Tiger | 8 | Half back | 3.73% | 11:1 | 10.36% | 50:1 (13.98%) | Big/Small, Odd/Even, Red/Black 1:1, 7 loses (7.69%); off after 50 rounds |
| Ezugi Dragon Tiger | Not stated | Not stated | 3.73% or 7.47% | 8:1 | 32.77% | None | Suit 3:1, Odd/Even 1:1, Big/Small 1:1 (7.69%) |
| SA Gaming Dragon Tiger | 8 | Half back | 3.73% | 8:1 | 32.77% | None listed | Big/Small 1:1 (7.69%); Odd 0.75:1 (5.77%); Even 1.05:1 (5.38%); Red/Black 0.9:1 (5.00%) |
| On Air Entertainment Blazing Dragon Tiger | 8 | Half back | 3.73% | Not stated | – | 50:1 (13.98%) | Odd/Even, Red/Black, 7 loses (7.69%) |
| OneTouch Dragon Tiger (RNG) | Not stated | Not stated | 3.73% (published RTP 96.27%) | Not stated | – | Not stated | Not stated |
| Deltin casinos, Goa (land-based) | 6 to 8 | Half back | 3.70% to 3.73% | 10:1 | 17.83% to 18.65% | Not offered | Not offered |
OneTouch does not state its tie rule, but its published 96.27% RTP is exactly the eight-deck half-back figure, so we list that edge. Studio-by-studio rule differences, including the land-based tables that rank the Ace high, are on the History & Variations page.
Four, Six and Eight Decks
Deltin quotes six to eight decks, and some RNG versions use fewer. The widest range we have read in a published rulebook is four to eight decks, in the Dragon Tiger rules Singapore's regulator carries for Marina Bay Sands (effective July 17, 2013, since revoked), which paid 11:1 on a Tie and took half the stake from the main bets. Fewer decks make a tie slightly less likely, which helps the main bets and hurts the tie bets.
| Figure | 8 decks (416 cards) | 6 decks (312 cards) | 4 decks (208 cards) |
|---|---|---|---|
| P(Tie) | 7.4699% | 7.3955% | 7.2464% |
| P(Suited Tie) | 1.6867% | 1.6077% | 1.4493% |
| Dragon/Tiger, half back | 3.73% | 3.70% | 3.62% |
| Dragon/Tiger, all lost | 7.47% | 7.40% | 7.25% |
| Tie at 11:1 | 10.36% | 11.25% | 13.04% |
| Tie at 10:1 | 17.83% | 18.65% | 20.29% |
| Tie at 8:1 | 32.77% | 33.44% | 34.78% |
| Suited Tie at 50:1 | 13.98% | 18.01% | 26.09% |
| One-card side bets (7 loses) | 7.69% | 7.69% | 7.69% |
Real-World Impact: 10,000 Rounds at $10
What This Means For You
Evolution's standard table runs about 25 seconds a round, roughly 140 rounds an hour; Speed and Super Speed tables run faster still. Betting $10 a round for 10,000 rounds, about 70 hours at the standard table:
- Dragon or Tiger on a half-back table costs about $3,735 (about $54 per hour)
- Dragon or Tiger where ties lose everything costs about $7,470 (about $108 per hour)
- Tie at 11:1 costs about $10,361 (about $149 per hour)
- Suited Tie at 50:1 costs about $13,976 (about $201 per hour)
- Tie at 8:1 costs about $32,771 (about $472 per hour)
The same $10 a hand on baccarat's Banker bet, at baccarat's slower pace, would cost about $1,060 over the same number of hands.
| Bet | Win Rate | House Edge | Expected Loss on $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon or Tiger (half back) | 46.27% | 3.73% | −$3,735 |
| Dragon or Tiger (all lost) | 46.27% | 7.47% | −$7,470 |
| Side bet, 1:1, 7 loses | 46.15% | 7.69% | −$7,692 |
| Tie (11:1) | 7.47% | 10.36% | −$10,361 |
| Suited Tie (50:1) | 1.69% | 13.98% | −$13,976 |
| Tie (8:1) | 7.47% | 32.77% | −$32,771 |
Expected loss = total wagered × house edge. These are exact expectations from the probabilities above; any real session will land above or below them, and the higher the variance of the bet, the further it can stray.
Dragon Tiger's appeal is its pace and its simplicity, and both work against the player: there is no decision that can lower the edge, and the speed multiplies how many times the edge is applied per hour. The only choices that matter are the ones made before the first card is dealt: pick a table that returns half your stake on a tie, stay on Dragon or Tiger, and treat the Tie, Suited Tie and side bets as the entertainment surcharges they are. Play with money you can afford to lose, because losing at a known rate is the mathematically expected outcome.
Where the Rules Come From
- Evolution: games.evolution.com product pages for Dragon Tiger, Lightning Dragon Tiger and Super Speed Dragon Tiger (Tie 11:1, Suited Tie 50:1, 8 decks and 20% fee for Lightning).
- Pragmatic Play: the Dragon Tiger Game Help (8 decks, half back, 11:1, 50:1, side bets at 1:1 with the 7 losing, side bets disabled after 50 rounds; RTPs 96.27%, 89.64%, 86.02%, 92.31%).
- Ezugi: ezugi.com Dragon Tiger product page (Tie 8:1, Suit 3:1, Odd/Even and Big/Small 1:1).
- SA Gaming: sagaming.com Dragon Tiger guide, October 17, 2025 (8 decks, half back, Tie 8:1, priced side bets).
- On Air Entertainment: Blazing Dragon Tiger rules as published by Jackpot City (8 decks, half back, Suited Tie 50:1, side bets lose on a 7).
- OneTouch: onetouch.io Dragon Tiger product page and game sheet (RTP 96.27%).
- Deltin casinos: deltin.com Dragon Tiger rules (6 to 8 decks, Ace low, half back, Tie 10:1).
- Singapore Gambling Regulatory Authority: Dragon Tiger (MBS) game rules effective July 17, 2013, listed under Revoked Games (4 to 8 decks, Ace low, half the stake lost on a tie, Tie 11:1, Big and Small 1:1 with the 7 losing).
- Suited-ranking variant: rules as described by a player on the Wizard of Vegas Math forum, thread 41558 “Dragon Tiger Suited Ranking” (August 20, 2025; read October 15, 2026); no operator document found. Resorts World Sentosa's 2021 rules: Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, RWS Dragon Tiger game rules (effective November 15, 2021).
- All probabilities, edges and standard deviations: computed by DragonTiger.gg by exact enumeration; see our Editorial Standards.