Mahjong, Teen Patti, Rummy and Niu Niu Online: Apps and Live Dealer Games

Where these Asian card games are played for money

Traditional Asian card games reach real-money play through three routes: live dealer tables inside licensed casinos, electronic versions on casino floors, and online apps. The route matters, because the legal risk is different for each.

Live dealer tables are the safest option for a visitor. In the Philippines, licensed poker operators are listed on the regulator's register, and casino floors run table games alongside them⁶. Live dealer studios aimed at Asian players carry blackjack, baccarat, roulette, Dragon Tiger and Sic Bo, plus game shows, so a player who wants a familiar format usually finds one¹.

Some regional games are more common in specific countries. Pok Deng, a nine-point card game, is offered at some Asian casinos and is more common in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and some Chinese territories⁷. If you are traveling and want to play a local game rather than a generic table game, that is where to look.

Online apps are the third route, and the one with the most legal exposure. Real-money rummy apps built large player bases in India before the ban, and offshore sites still accept Indian players. That does not make it legal. Playing on offshore casino websites is illegal in India, and the payment ban means deposits and withdrawals can be blocked⁸.

For a wider view of which games are legal where, see where mahjong, pachinko, sabong, teen patti and other Asian games are legal.

India's ban on real-money online gaming: what changed

India's position changed completely in 2026. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 imposes a complete ban on all forms of online money games. That covers games of chance, games of skill, and any mix of the two, along with their advertising, promotion and facilitation³.

The ban took effect on May 1, 2026⁸. Before that date, real-money rummy apps operated openly in most of India on the argument that rummy is a game of skill. That argument no longer decides anything, because the law now bans online money games regardless of whether the game is based on skill, chance, or both⁹.

The enforcement mechanism is payment. Banks and payment systems are barred from processing transactions for online money games⁸. In practice that means a deposit to an offshore rummy or teen patti site can be declined, reversed or frozen, and a withdrawal can fail. The practical risk sits with the player's own bank account, not just the operator.

Some states had already restricted real-money gaming before the national ban. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had real-money gaming banned at state level¹⁰. The national law now covers the whole country.

One point that trips people up: the ban is on online money games, not on playing cards for fun. Free apps, social games with no cash prize, and private games at home sit outside it. What is gone is the paid online version.

Indian rummy: formats, decks and how a round is won

Indian rummy is the game most people mean when they say "online rummy." It is played between 2 and 6 players with 2 decks of cards². Each deck has 52 cards plus 2 printed jokers¹¹. In the 13-card format, each player is dealt 13 cards, one at a time¹².

There are two formats: 13-card and 21-card¹². The 13-card version is the standard one and the one every app builds around.

Two jokers are in play. One is the printed joker, which acts as a wild card. The other is a card selected at random before the game starts, which also acts as a joker¹². Jokers are worth zero points².

The goal is to arrange all your cards into sequences and sets, with at least two sequences, one of which must be a pure sequence². A set is three cards of the same rank from three different suits¹¹. A pure sequence is a run of three or more cards of the same suit in order, made without using a joker as a substitute¹³. A pure sequence can run to four or five cards².

To finish a round, you discard your 14th card into the finish slot¹⁴. At the end of every turn you must hold exactly 13 cards, no more and no fewer¹².

Card values are simple. Ace, King, Queen and Jack are worth 10 points each. Every other card is worth its face value². A valid declaration scores zero points¹². An invalid declaration costs 80 points¹².

If you want the full rule set with hand examples, see Indian rummy rules: sequences, sets, jokers and a valid declaration.

Scoring and penalties in Indian rummy

Scoring is where rummy stops being a card game and becomes a points game. Every player who does not win is scored on the cards left in their hand, and those points translate into money in a cash game.

The winning formula in a points cash game is: (sum of all points of opponents) multiplied by the rupee value of the point, minus the platform fee¹⁵. So the stake is set by the point value you choose, and your winnings depend on how badly your opponents are left holding.

The penalties are fixed:

A player who declares without meeting the objective gets 80 points¹². The first drop costs 20 points, a middle drop costs 40, and the last drop costs the maximum of 80¹⁵. If you leave the table after picking from the closed deck, it counts as a middle drop. If you have not picked any card, it counts as a first drop¹⁵.

In pool rummy the drop scores change. Dropping in a 101 pool costs 20 points, and in a 201 pool it costs 25 points. Drop is not allowed at all in best of 2 and best of 3 formats¹⁵.

There is also a cap. A player who fails to make two sequences including a pure sequence has the value of all their cards added up and capped at 80 points¹³.

Variations change the numbers. In one common variation, Jack, Queen and King are worth 20 points instead of 10, which raises the stakes and makes the arithmetic easier¹⁶. In another, the Ace is worth 10 points whether you use it high or low¹⁶. Some groups do not allow the Ace as a low card at all¹⁶.

Joker variations matter too. Some groups give no points for jokers left with the losing player, some forbid picking up a joker an opponent has discarded, and some allow it¹⁶. If you are playing for money with people you do not know, agree the variation before the first deal.

For how points, pool and deals formats differ, see points, pool and deals rummy: how the formats and scoring differ.

Hoiana Niu Niu: bets, cards and the reserve rule

Niu Niu, also called Bull Bull, is a Chinese card game that runs as a live table game in Asian casinos. Hoiana Niu Niu is a specific variant, and it has one feature that surprises first-timers: the reserve.

The game deals five cards to all players and the dealer⁴. Your objective is to have a higher-ranking hand than the dealer after you set your cards into a three-card hand and a two-card hand⁴. To have a valid Niu hand, three of your cards must total 10, 20 or 30⁴.

Card values are straightforward. King, Queen and Jack are 10 points, Ace is 1 point, and every other card counts its face value¹⁷. Single cards rank King highest down to Ace lowest⁴. Suits rank spades, then hearts, then clubs, then diamonds¹⁸.

To join a hand you must place a wager on the Even⁴. After that you may add a wager on the Double and/or Super Niu areas⁴. Those side wagers can be equal to or less than your Even wager⁴.

The reserve is the part that catches people out. If you bet on Double, you must place a reserve of twice the Double wager. If you bet on Super Niu, you must place a reserve of eleven times the Super Niu wager¹⁹. That money sits in the reserve area on the layout, and it is not a bet you can win. It is insurance against the dealer's hand.

If you lose the round, the reserve may be forfeited in full, forfeited in part, or retained⁴. How much is taken depends on how strong the dealer's hand turns out to be.

The reserve rules differ by bet type:

• Double bet reserve: the full amount is deducted if the dealer has Hoiana Niu Niu, Ultimate Niu Niu, Niu Niu, Niu 9, Niu 8 or Niu 7. From Niu 6 down to Niu 2, and on Niu 1 or No Hand, the reserve is retained¹⁸.
• Super Niu bet reserve: the full reserve is deducted if the dealer has Hoiana Niu Niu. Ten times the Super Niu bet is deducted for Ultimate Niu Niu, then 9x for Niu Niu, 8x for Niu 9, 7x for Niu 8, 6x for Niu 7, 5x for Niu 6, 4x for Niu 5, 3x for Niu 4, 2x for Niu 3, and 1x for Niu 2. The reserve is retained on Niu 1 or No Hand¹⁷.

That is why the Super Niu reserve is eleven times the bet: it has to cover the worst case, which is a Hoiana Niu Niu on the dealer's side.

If you want the general game first, see Niu Niu (Bull Bull) rules, hand rankings and payouts.

Niu Niu payouts and tiebreakers

Payouts in Hoiana Niu Niu scale with the strength of your hand and which bet area you used. The Even bet pays 1 to 1 on most winning hands¹⁷. The Double and Super Niu bets pay more, with a 5% commission taken on the larger payouts.

Here is how the payouts line up by hand:

Even: 1 to 1

The pattern is consistent: the Even bet pays 1 to 1 almost always, the Double bet pays more only on strong hands, and the Super Niu bet pays the most but only on the strongest⁴.

A comparable game at another Asian casino, Super Niu Niu, shows the same shape with slightly different numbers. There, a Niu Niu hand pays 1:1 on Even, 3:1 on Double with 5% tax, and 10:1 on Super with 5% tax. A Niu 1 hand pays 1:1 on Even, 1:1 on Double with no tax, and 1:1 on Super with no tax²⁰. The weaker the hand, the flatter the payout.

Tiebreakers work in two stages. If your card total equals the dealer's, the highest ranked card decides the winner. If the highest ranked card is also the same, the suit of that card decides⁴.

There is also a No Hand rule. If neither you nor the dealer can form three cards totaling 10, 20 or 30, it is a No Hand, and the highest single card decides. If the highest single card is the same, the suit decides¹⁷.

Hand rankings by total run 20/10 highest, then 19/9, 18/8, 17/7, 16/6, 15/5, 14/4, 13/3, 12/2, and 11 lowest⁴.

Fan Tan: how the count settles and the 5% commission

Fan Tan is a counting game rather than a card game, and it is one of the oldest gambling games in Asia. The mechanic is simple: players bet on the remainder left after tokens are counted off in fours.

The croupier removes four tokens at a time until one, two, three or four remain. Players bet on what that remainder will be⁵. There is no hand to build and no decision to make after the bet is placed. The count decides everything.

Because the game is pure chance, the house edge comes from the payout structure rather than from skill. Commission rules vary by table and by casino, so check the table card before you sit down.

In comparable commission games, a 5% charge on winnings is standard. Fortune Pai Gow Poker takes a 5% commission on each player's winnings and on the banker's net winnings, collected by the dealer²¹. Craps buy bets charge the player 5% on top of the initial stake²². If you are budgeting for a Fan Tan session, a 5% commission on winning payouts is a reasonable planning assumption, but confirm it at the table.

For the bet types and odds, see Fan Tan rules, bets and odds: fan, nim, kwok and nga explained.

Playing for stakes in India: the legal position in practice

If you are in India, the practical answer is short. No person may offer, aid, abet, induce or otherwise engage in offering an online money game or online money gaming service, regardless of whether the game is based on skill, chance, or both⁹.

That covers the apps. It covers the offshore sites that still accept Indian players. It covers anyone promoting them. And because banks and payment systems are barred from processing those transactions, the money side is where the risk lands⁸.

The old skill argument is worth understanding because it explains why so many people are surprised. Rummy was treated as mainly and preponderantly a game of skill, not a game of entire chance²³. At the central government level, online skill gaming was legal, and the Supreme Court had classified rummy, poker and fantasy sports as skill games under the Public Gambling Act, 1867¹⁰. That is why real-money rummy apps operated openly for years.

The 2025 Act overrode that position for online play. It does not matter whether the game is skill, chance or a mix³. What matters is whether money changes hands online.

For players outside India, the picture is different. Live dealer tables inside licensed casinos in the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and Macau operate under local licensing, and visitors can play at them. The register of licensed poker operators in the Philippines is published by the regulator⁶. If you are traveling and want to play Niu Niu or Fan Tan at a live table, that is the route with a clear legal basis.

For a country-by-country view, see can I gamble in India? and can I gamble in Vietnam?.