Andar Bahar

Andar Bahar comes from southern India and it is the simplest card game you will find in any casino. One card is turned face up. The dealer then deals alternately to two piles, Andar and Bahar, until a card matches its rank. You bet on which pile gets there first. That is the entire game.

There are no decisions after the bet, no strategy to learn and nothing to misplay — which makes it genuinely good for a first table, and also means the only thing separating a good bet from a bad one is the odds on offer. The two main sides are close to even, with a small edge to the house on one of them depending on the variant.

Where it stops being simple is the side bets. Most tables offer wagers on how many cards will be dealt before the match, and those carry a much heavier house edge than the main bet — the same pattern as the tie in baccarat. You will usually meet it as a live dealer table.