India, as with many other Asian countries, has a long and intimate relationship with gambling. Hindu Mythology texts dating as far back as 2000 BC features tidbits about people gambling using nuts as dice. In later years, history records that gambling was a popular pastime among the rich and influential in Indian society. Yudhisthira Paandava, a prominent figure in ancient Indian folklore, is said to be a massive lover of dice. However, he failed to do so responsibly, gambling away every valuable thing he owned until he dug into an inevitable financial quagmire. The introduction of cricket in India – by British colonizers – only propagated gambling among the people. India witnessed first-class cricket matches as early as the 1860s. Fans started to gamble informally among themselves, making wagers with each other on the outcomes of cricket matches. Today, gambling – especially online casinos and sports betting – is a staple in the country, an industry worth billions of dollars. So yes, there’s no doubt that Indians love to gamble. That’s why you’ll find exciting casino games unique to India and just a handful of other Asian countries. Case in point – Andar Bahar, Teen Patti, and Rummy are three such casino games.
Andar Bahar
There’s only a smattering of European casinos that feature Andar Bahar, but the game is a huge hit among Indian gamblers, rivaling bigger titles like blackjack and poker. Andar Bahar is a pretty straightforward game of luck, and the general game flow is as follows:
- The game has two boxes, the first named “Andar” and the second “Bahar.” The only other requirement is a standard 52-card deck of cards.
- The dealer pulls a card from the deck and places it face up (usually between the boxes). This card is called the Joker (unrelated to the actual Joker clown card).
- The dealer will place cards one by one into the boxes after taking bets predicting the box where the Joker will first appear.
- The dealer places the first card into “Andar.” If the card does not match the Joker, he places the next card into “Bahar.”
The dealer keeps this process up until a card matches the Joker. When this happens, the players who bet on that box – either “Andar” or “Bahar” – win and share the total stake. The game can then start afresh in another round.
Teen Patti
Teen Patti is known by many names, including “three cards,” “flush,” and “flash,” but one thing’s for sure – this is an exciting game born out of the exotic subcontinent of India. While not as simple as Andar Bahar, Teen Patti is easy to learn and offers plenty of fun. The game borrows a lot from poker, so some refer to it as Indian Poker. The game requires the standard 52-card deck and can be played between 3-6 players. The first step is to collect bets – usually a fixed minimum amount from each player – totaling up to a “boot” amount that will be taken home by whoever emerges as the top dog in Teen Patti. Just like poker, the objective is to assemble the best set of three cards, ending the game as the player with the best hand. The best combination is three aces (A’s), and the weakest is three 2’s.
Rummy
Rummy is yet another wonderful card game popular across India. The essence of the game is to arrange cards into sequences, with the player who can do so quickest becoming the Rummy winner. The game requires at least two players (up to six can play) and two standard 52-card decks. At the start, each player is dealt 13 cards. There are two piles of cards from which players may draw cards – one “closed” pile from which the player can’t see what card they’re picking and an “open” pile that comprises the cards discarded by other players. To win the game, a player must make:
- At least one pure sequence – three sequential cards of the same suit, like 5,6, and 7 of spades.
- If they can’t make two pure sequences, they may settle for one pure sequence and an impure one. The impure sequence is something like 5, J, 7, 8, K, where 6 and 9 are replaced by wild cards J and K (of any suit), and 5, 7, and 8 are of the same suit.
Once players feel they have the required sequences, they may declare and be verified as the rummy winner.
