Live Dealer Fan Tan
This game takes a look at your options for playing fan tan online with a live dealer. The odds are the same everywhere, so I would make the decision on where to play based on other things, like entertainment value and reputation of the casino.
However, I would pay special attention to the game offered by Gameplay Interactive, which uses cards instead of beads to determine the outcome. They add three side bets based on the raw total of the cards drawn, which is the only special analysis I did for this page.
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Below you'll find the four known brands of live dealer casinos that offer fan tan.
Asia Live Tech
Asia Live Tech offers fan tan out of a real casino somewhere. My best guess would be Cambodia. That player in the orange shirt on the right looks like he's been playing for 24 hours straight and ready to collapse.
Oriental Game
Oriental Game has very cut dealers in tight skimpy black outfits. Not just in fan tan, but all their games. The table is in Chinese, but the bets are pretty self-explanatory.
SA Gaming
SA Gaming deals fan tan out of a very fancy looking studio with well dressed dealers. They also have a history board, which, of course, doesn't improve your odds.
Gameplay Interactive
Gameplay Interactive has a clever idea to speed up fan tan, by dealing cards, counting the points, dividing by four, and taking the remainder.
They also add a few side bets, based on the raw total of cards. There are a couple versions, one with six cards and one with 12. First, here are six-card version bets.
Small Bet — Six Cards
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 41 | 1 | 3,322,961,668,192 | 0.478660 | 0.478660 |
| 42 to 78 | -1 | 3,619,258,158,896 | 0.521340 | -0.521340 |
| Total | 6,942,219,827,088 | 1.000000 | -0.042680 |
The Big bet is just the flip version, winning on a total of 43 to 78. Note how a total of 42 loses both ways. However, they have a bet for that too. The following table shows the bet on 42, which pays 19 to 1, has a house edge of 14.64%.
Total of 42 — Six Cards
| Bet | House Edge | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 19 | 296,296,490,704 | 0.042680 | 0.810927 |
| All other | -1 | 6,645,923,336,384 | 0.957320 | -0.957320 |
| Total | 6,942,219,827,088 | 1.000000 | -0.146393 |
Next, here are the same tables for a total of 12 cards. Note the average total if 84. The first table shows the Small bet, which wins on a total of 12 to 82, has a house edge of 9.22%.
Small Bet — 12 Cards
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 to 82 | 1 | 21,686,454,012,209,400,000,000 | 0.453891 | 0.453891 |
| 83 to 156 | -1 | 26,092,505,493,378,800,000,000 | 0.546109 | -0.546109 |
| Total | 47,778,959,505,588,100,000,000 | 1.000000 | -0.092217 |
A total of 83 to 85 is the middle where both Big and Small bets lose. The next table shows a bet on falling in that range, which pay 7 to 1, has a house edge of 26.23% (ouch!).
Total of 83 to 85 — 12 Cards
| Bet | House Edge | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83 to 85 | 7 | 4,406,051,481,169,410,000,000 | 0.092217 | 0.645522 |
| All other | -1 | 43,372,908,024,418,700,000,000 | 0.907783 | -0.907783 |
| Total | 47,778,959,505,588,100,000,000 | 1.000000 | -0.262261 |