Lesser-Known Casino Games: Rules and House Edges

An earlier version of this page described "exotic Rubyroyale variants" with invented multipliers and a quote from a player who does not exist. None of it could be checked, so it has been replaced with something that can: the rules and house edge of real casino games that sit outside the usual roulette-blackjack-baccarat trio.

Published: 23 April 2026 | Updated: 4 October 2026 | Reading time: 9 minutes | By: rubyroyale.net editorial team

Every figure below is calculated from the rules described, not taken from a casino. Tables change paytables, so treat each number as the edge for the paytable stated and check the game's own information panel, which publishes the return to player (RTP) of the version in front of you. House edge is simply 100% minus RTP.

The Reference Points

To judge a less familiar game you need something to compare it with. Three standard bets make good yardsticks:

• European roulette, any even-money bet: 2.70% (one zero in 37 pockets).
• American roulette: 5.26% (two zeros in 38 pockets) — the same game with one extra pocket and nearly double the edge.
• Baccarat, banker bet with 5% commission: 1.06%; player bet: 1.24%; tie at 8:1: 14.36%.

Sic Bo

A Chinese dice game: three dice are shaken in a covered container and players bet on the outcome. There are 216 equally likely results, which makes every bet easy to price. The edge varies more inside this one game than between most other games:

The lesson generalises: Small and Big are competitive with roulette, and almost everything with a large payout is not. The last two rows are the same bet on two different tables.

Fan Tan

One of the oldest Chinese gambling games. A croupier takes a random handful of beans or buttons from a pile and removes them four at a time; players bet on how many remain at the end — 1, 2, 3 or 4. Each outcome has a one-in-four chance, so the house earns its edge through commission. On a single-number ("fan") bet paying 3:1 with 5% commission taken from wins, the edge is 3.75%. On tables that take a bigger commission the edge rises with it, which makes the commission the first thing to read. Fan Tan is rarely offered online.

Pai Gow Poker

A casino adaptation of the Chinese domino game Pai Gow, played with a 53-card deck (52 cards plus a joker). Each player receives seven cards and splits them into a five-card hand and a two-card hand; the five-card hand must rank higher. To win, both hands must beat the dealer's corresponding hands; if one wins and one loses, the bet is a push. Wins pay even money minus 5% commission.

Played the "house way" against a dealer who banks, the edge is about 2.7% per hand. The game is slow by design: roughly four hands in ten end in a push, so the money lost per hour is lower than the edge alone suggests.

Teen Patti

A three-card game from India, closely related to the British game brag. The traditional version is played between players, not against the house. Its hand ranking differs from Western three-card poker in one important place: three of a kind (a "trail") beats a straight flush ("pure sequence").

Online casino versions are banked games, and their rules vary between suppliers, so there is no single house edge. The nearest standard reference is Three Card Poker, which uses similar hands: its Ante/Play bet carries an edge of about 3.37% of the ante with correct strategy, and its Pair Plus side bet about 7.28% on the common 1-4-6-30-40 paytable. For any Teen Patti table, the RTP in the game's information panel is the figure that applies.

Andar Bahar

A simple Indian card game. One card — the "joker" — is turned face up. Cards are then dealt alternately to two sides, Andar (inside) and Bahar (outside), until a card of the same rank appears; the side it lands on wins. The side that receives the first card has a small advantage (about 51.5% with a single deck), so it typically pays 0.9:1 while the other side pays 1:1. With those payouts the edge is about 2.15% on the first side and 3.00% on the other. Side bets on how many cards will be dealt carry much higher edges.

Dragon Tiger

A two-card version of baccarat: one card to Dragon, one to Tiger, highest card wins. With eight decks a tie happens about 7.5% of the time, and the tie is where the house earns. If a tie costs half of a Dragon or Tiger bet, the edge on those bets is 3.73%. The tie bet itself, usually paying 8:1, carries an edge of about 32.8% — one of the worst bets on any table.

What These Games Have in Common

• The main bets are often reasonable — between about 2% and 4%, in the same range as roulette.
• The side bets and long-odds bets are where the edge multiplies, frequently into double digits.
• Paytables and commissions vary between tables, so the same name does not guarantee the same game. Read the payout and the RTP before betting, not after.

Even the best bet here loses money over time; a lower edge only slows that down. Our tips page covers bankroll limits, and the related article on who actually makes casino games explains where the published RTP figures come from.

Questions About Lesser-Known Casino Games

Which lesser-known casino game has the lowest house edge?

Among the games covered here, the Small and Big bets in Sic Bo (2.78%) and the first-dealt side in Andar Bahar (about 2.15%) are the lowest, alongside Pai Gow Poker at about 2.7% per hand. All of them are still higher than the banker bet in baccarat at 1.06%.

Why do Sic Bo house edges vary so much?

Because each bet has its own payout against a fixed probability. Small and Big pay 1:1 on a near-even chance and keep 2.78%, while long-odds bets such as a specific triple pay far below their true odds and keep 16% to 30%, depending on the table's paytable.

Is Teen Patti the same as Three Card Poker?

No. Both use three-card hands, but Teen Patti ranks three of a kind above a straight flush, and online versions differ between suppliers. Three Card Poker is only a reference point; the RTP shown in the game's information panel is the figure that applies to a specific Teen Patti table.