Andar Bahar

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Setup
3. Playing a hand
4. Payouts
5. Winning the game
6. Tips for beginners
7. Variants

Overview

Andar Bahar is an Indian betting game and one of the simplest card games there is. One player, the banker, turns up a card in the middle. The others bet on one of two piles: Andar ("inside") or Bahar ("outside"). The banker then deals cards to the two piles in turn until a card of the same rank as the middle card appears. The pile it lands on wins.

It is a game of pure chance – there are no decisions except where to bet. Play for chips only.

• Players: 2–10: one banker and one or more players.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and chips (or counters, matches).

Setup

1. Banker: choose a banker. In a home game it is fairest to take turns, e.g. the bank passes to the left after every hand or every few hands.
2. Limits: agree on a minimum and a maximum bet. Bets in tens (10, 20, 30 …) make the payouts easy.
3. Everyone gets the same number of chips to start with.

Playing a hand

1. The middle card: the banker shuffles, cuts and turns one card face up in the middle of the table. In India this card is often called the "joker" or "trump", but it is neither – it is simply the card to be matched.
2. Bets: each player puts chips on Andar or on Bahar. Andar is the pile nearer to the banker, Bahar the one further away (or simply: Andar on the left of the middle card, Bahar on the right).
3. The deal: the banker deals cards face up, one at a time, alternately to Andar and Bahar. The colour of the middle card decides where the first one goes: - black middle card: first card to Andar; - red middle card: first card to Bahar.
4. The match: as soon as a card of the same rank as the middle card appears (any suit), the deal stops. That card's pile wins.

Payouts

The side that gets the first card has a slightly better chance – about 51.5% – so it pays a little less:

A winner gets their bet back plus the winnings from the banker.

Example: the middle card is the 7♠ – black, so Andar gets the first card. Anna bets 10 on Andar, Ben 20 on Bahar. The banker deals K♦ to Andar, 3♣ to Bahar, 9♥ to Andar, 7♦ to Bahar – a 7! Bahar wins. Ben gets his 20 back plus 20 from the banker; Anna's 10 go to the banker. Had the 7 fallen on Andar, Anna would have won only 9, because Andar got the first card.

Then all cards are gathered and shuffled, and the next hand begins (with a new banker, if you rotate after every hand).

Winning the game

There is no fixed end. Play until everyone has been banker the same number of times, or for an agreed time. Whoever has the most chips wins.

Tips for beginners

• There is no strategy. Every hand is a new coin toss; past results don't change the next one.
• The side with the first card wins a little more often, the other side pays a little more. Over time they come out almost the same.
• The banker has the edge: about 2% on bets on the first-card side and 3% on the other, according to pagat.com. That's why everybody should bank equally often.
• Set a limit on your chips before you start – and keep it.

Variants

All optional – agree on them before you start.

• Andar always first: in many places the first card always goes to Andar, whatever the colour of the middle card. Andar then pays 9 to 10, Bahar 1 to 1.
• Second bet: if neither of the first two cards matches, players may place one more bet on either side.
• Card-count bets: online casinos also offer bets on how many cards will be dealt before the match, e.g. 1–5 cards pays 2 to 1 and 41 or more pays 119 to 1.
• Mangatha (Tamil Nadu): there is no middle card. The player names a target rank from 2 to 10, chooses Ullae (inside) or Veliyae (outside), and banker and player stake the same amount. Dealing always starts with Ullae; whoever's pile gets the first card of the named rank takes both stakes. Since betting on Ullae gives the player a slight edge, the winner of a hand deals the next one.