Andar Bahar is one of the few card games that originate from India. The game is also called “Katta” and is popular in South India as it was created in Bangalore.
Andar Bahar became hugely popular due to its simple rules, but recently, with many international casinos entering India’s emerging unregulated market, the game is becoming popular again in the digital form.
Andar Bahar Rules
The rules of Andar Bahar are incredibly straightforward. Here’s how a typical game is played:
- The dealer shuffles the deck and pulls out a random card. Let’s call this the middle card, as it’s placed in the middle of the table.
- If the middle card belongs to a black suit like Spades or Clubs, the dealer will deal the first remaining card on the left (andar) side. If the initial card belongs to a red suit like Diamonds or Hearts, the dealer will start dealing from the right (bahar) side.
- At this point, the player will have to place a bet. Since the dealer will start dealing the remaining cards in the deck in the two slots (andar and bahar) alternatively, the player has to bet on what slot would the next card carrying the same number as the middle card will drop.
- If that next card drops in the slot the player bets on, they win. In some variants, there can be additional betting rounds involved where the dealer stops dealing the cards and the player has the opportunity to bet again.
- The payout of a winning bet in Andar Bahar depends on where the next card with the same number drops. If it drops on the same slot as the initial card, the payout is 100%; if it falls in the alternative slot, the payout is 90% of the bet. Thus, the winning amount can be 1.9x to 2x in the game.
Rise of Andar Bahar online
In recent years, Andar Bahar has seen a resurgence in popularity, especially in online casinos. Online casinos are experimenting with Indian-origin games such as Andar Bahar and Teen Patti, with the several online casinos in India offering bonuses of up to ₹1,00,000. Most of them also allow you to play for free if you just want to check it out.
Another exciting trend is the live variants of Andar Bahar and other Indian games created by some of the top game studios worldwide. While creating an RNG game is relatively inexpensive, running a live casino game with professional dealers is a much more significant investment. It can be considered as another argument for the potential of India’s market in the iGaming industry.
Playing for fun vs. playing for real money.
It is possible to play Andar Bahar for fun with “fake money” or play with actual, real money in most online casinos. It is always a good idea to experiment with different games after signing up on an online casino and only then start using your deposited cash.
Some of the biggest online casinos in India, like Royal Panda and LeoVegas, offer several variants of Andar Bahar that you can try out, along with other games like Teen Patti and Flush.