Casino Table Games in Vietnam

Casino table games you can play in Vietnam

Vietnam's casino floors are built around table games, and the selection leans heavily toward the games that Asian players actually sit down for. At Hoiana Casino near Hoi An, the largest and best-documented table-game floor in the country, you will find over 140 gaming tables plus more than 200 slot machines¹. The table lineup looks like this:

The same pattern repeats across the country's other licensed venues. Vietnam has 9 licensed land-based casinos plus roughly 60 e-gaming clubs, and the table floors at all of them center on baccarat in several forms, blackjack, roulette and the dice game Sicbo, with regional card games like Niu Niu and tile games like Pai Gow appearing at the larger resorts². If you want the full picture of where these venues are and how to get into them, see our guide to casinos in Vietnam.

Who can sit down differs by who you are:

• Foreign visitors: the whole floor is open to you at any licensed casino, with an original passport².
• Vietnamese locals: most casinos remain foreigner-only, but some venues, such as Corona Casino on Phú Quốc, admit Vietnamese players who meet criteria such as a minimum income⁴.

The three large-scale casinos at Nam Hội An, Hồ Tràm and Phú Quốc, along with six smaller ones, make up the licensed landscape⁶.

Money at the tables is straightforward. Most casinos accept USD, VND and major credit cards for chip purchase, and typical minimums run USD 25 to 100 per hand at the table games, varying by casino and by table². Betting limits are displayed at each table, so check the sign before you sit down.

Hoiana Niu Niu: the local Niu Niu variant

Hoiana Niu Niu is Hoiana's own variant of Niu Niu, a card game popular in south-eastern China and Cambodia, and it is one of the signature games of the property⁷. It is played with a single deck of 52 cards, and five cards are dealt to all players and the dealer⁷.

To participate, you must place a wager on the "Even" area, and you then have the option to add wagers on the "Double" and/or "Super Niu" areas, each of which can be equal to or less than your Even wager⁷. If you place those side wagers, you must also put an insurance amount in the reserve area of the layout: twice the Double wager and 11 times the Super Niu wager⁸. This reserve is what the house can draw on if you lose the round, and it may be forfeited in full, forfeited in part, or retained depending on how the dealer's hand ranks⁸.

The heart of the game is the valid hand rule. To have a valid Niu hand, three of your five cards must total 10, 20 or 30, and the remaining two cards then determine the strength of your hand⁷. Card values are simple:

• K, Q and J count as 10 points
• An Ace counts as 1
• Every other card counts at face value⁸

Hands are then ranked by their two-card totals: 20/10 beats 19/9, which beats 18/8, and so on down to a bare 11⁷. If neither you nor the dealer can form a three-card group totaling 10, 20 or 30, it is a "No Hand", and the highest single card decides the winner; if the highest cards match, the suit of the highest card breaks the tie, with spades highest, then hearts, clubs and diamonds⁸. Single cards rank K > Q > J > 10 down to Ace, the lowest⁷.

Payouts on the side bets scale with how strong your hand is:

All figures from the Hoiana game rules⁸.

The reserve works on a sliding scale when the dealer wins. If the dealer holds Hoiana Niu Niu, the full reserve is taken; against Ultimate Niu Niu the house takes 10 times the Super Niu wager, against Niu Niu it takes 9 times, and the multiplier steps down through Niu 9, Niu 8 and Niu 7 (8x, 7x and 6x) until Niu 2, with the reserve retained when the dealer has Niu 1 or No Hand⁷. In other words, the better the dealer's hand, the more of your reserve you lose, so the side bets carry real downside when the dealer runs hot.

Hoiana Pai Gow: tiles split into two hands

Hoiana Pai Gow is a simplified variant of the traditional Chinese tiles game that is widely played in Taiwan⁹. It is played with one standard set of 32 domino-like tiles, and each player is dealt four tiles that must be split into two hands of two tiles each: a High Hand and a Low Hand⁹. The High Hand must always be set as the higher-ranking of the two⁹.

You place your wager before the dealer rolls the dice that determine the tile-opening pattern, and you may bet on either Player or Banker on your own box⁹. All players' tiles and the house's tiles are arranged according to the House Way, the standard setting rules the casino follows⁹.

Once the tiles are set, the dealer compares their hand against each player's hands from right to left, always Low Hand against Low Hand and High Hand against High Hand, never cross-compared⁹. The outcomes are simple:

• Both your hands beat the dealer's: you win, paid at 0.95 to 1 (the familiar 5% commission built into pai gow games everywhere)⁹
• You win one and lose the other, or one hand ties: all wagers push and your bet is returned⁹
• Both hands lose to the dealer: you lose your wager⁹

Hand rankings follow the traditional tile system. Any matched pair (a "Bo") ranks by the value of the pair, a "Chop Bo" is a pair of tiles with the same value in mismatched configurations, and a "Gong" is a 2 paired with any 8, ranked 20¹⁰. If you have played pai gow tiles in Macau or Taipei, you will feel at home here; the Hoiana version just simplifies some of the ceremony around the deal.

Hoiana Stud Poker and the progressive jackpot

Hoiana Stud Poker is a five-card stud game against the dealer, played with a standard 52-card deck and no jokers³. The round runs like this:

1. Place an Ante wager and receive five cards face down; the dealer also takes five cards, with one exposed³.
2. After looking at your hand, either fold or continue by placing a Bet wager of exactly twice the Ante³.
3. The dealer needs an Ace-King or better to qualify³.
4. If the dealer does not qualify, your Ante is paid at even money and your Bet is returned¹¹.
5. If the dealer qualifies and your hand is higher, the Ante pays according to the pay table and the Bet pays even money; if the dealer qualifies and beats you, both the Ante and the Bet lose¹¹.

The Ante bonus pay table rewards strong hands regardless of what the dealer holds:

All figures from the Hoiana game rules¹².

The headline attraction is the optional Progressive Jackpot wager. For a small side bet you get a shot at jackpot payouts based on qualified hand combinations, with the top prize running up to USD 50,000³. The Major Progressive Jackpot awards the entire pool on a Royal Flush and one tenth of it on a Straight Flush, while the Minor Progressive Jackpot pays set odds of 400 to 1 on Four of a Kind, 80 to 1 on a Full House and 40 to 1 on a Flush³. In the Multilink version of the game, the Major pool works the same way and the Minor pool carries the same 400, 80 and 40 to 1 payouts¹². Because the jackpot is linked across tables, the prize builds as players at every connected table feed it.

Blackjack: rules and payouts at Vietnamese tables

Blackjack in Vietnam's casinos follows international rules, the same game you would find in Las Vegas or Macau, and it is known locally as Xì Dách when played in the home version¹³. At Hoiana, cards 2 through 10 count at face value and the picture cards count as 10; a hand made up of one 10-point card and one Ace, on the first two cards only, is a blackjack¹⁴.

The core rules:

• The dealer draws to 16 and stands on 17¹⁴
• A winning ordinary bet pays 1 to 1; a winning blackjack pays 3 to 2¹⁴
• The full menu of options is available: double down, split, insurance, even money and surrender¹⁴

The details are player-friendly:

• Double down: after your first two cards (except a natural blackjack), you may double by adding a bet equal to or less than your original; if the dealer turns out to have blackjack, you lose only the original bet on the doubled hand¹⁴
• Split: you may split up to three times to form up to four hands, though split Aces may be split only once and each receives just one further card¹⁴
• Surrender: if the dealer's up card is not an Ace, you may surrender and recover half your bet¹⁴
• Even money: when you have blackjack and the dealer shows an Ace, you can take even money, paid at 1 to 1¹⁴

Betting limits are displayed on the table, and standing players may also bet, though seated players have priority¹⁴. For the home-grown Vietnamese version of the game, see our page on Xi Dach.

Hoiana Roulette: the 38-pocket wheel

Hoiana Roulette is the property's own branded roulette, and the twist is on the wheel: it carries 38 numbered pockets, including a "Zero" and a "Hoiana logo" pocket in place of the usual double zero¹⁵. That logo pocket behaves exactly like a second zero: when Zero or the Hoiana logo is the winning number, all wagers not associated with that pocket lose¹⁵.

You can bet on any of the 38 single numbers, place combination bets on adjoining numbers, or take the outside chances like red/black and odd/even¹⁵. Betting continues until the dealer announces "No more bets", after which no further wagers are accepted¹⁵. Betting limits are displayed at the table, and the full game rules are available from the gaming staff in the casino¹⁵.

Chips work differently at roulette than at the rest of the casino, and this catches first-timers out. You buy colored chips at the table from the dealer, and the color distinguishes your wagers from the other players' at a busy layout¹⁶. Those colored chips are table-specific: they cannot be converted to regular casino chips or used anywhere else in the casino, so before you leave the table you must exchange them for cash chips¹⁶. Cash chips can also be used to play directly if you prefer¹⁷.

Standing players can place wagers at the roulette table, so you do not need a seat to get in the game¹⁸. A single-number win pays 35 to 1, the standard roulette payout¹⁹.

Sicbo: three dice in the tumbler

Sicbo is a dice game played with three dice and a mechanical tumbler, and its fast pace makes it one of the most popular tables on Vietnamese floors²⁰. The dealer covers and activates the tumbler, causing the dice to tumble at least three times to constitute a valid game²⁰. As the Hoiana rules put it, players bet when the dealer announces "Place your Bets, please", and betting closes on "No more Bets, please"²⁰.

The winning combination is determined by the value on the uppermost surface of the three dice, which must rest flat on the platform of the tumbler²⁰. Each Sicbo table has two dealers who exchange chips, monitor the bets and keep the game moving²¹.

The rules around invalid results are worth knowing before you play:

• Unclear result: if no face of a die is fully face up or the dice stack on each other, the round is void and the dice are shaken again; if the value still cannot be confirmed, the machine is re-rolled until a valid result, otherwise the round is void and stakes are returned²²
• Too few bounces: if a die bounces fewer than three times, the result is likewise void and the dice are shaken again, and bets already placed cannot be withdrawn or canceled²²
• Triple: if the result is a triple (all three dice showing the same face), the Big/Small and Odd/Even bets all lose²²

If you are curious about the Vietnamese home version of a dice game in the same spirit, see our page on Xoc Dia.

Dragon Tiger: the quickest two-card duel on the floor

Dragon Tiger is essentially baccarat cut down to two cards: one card is dealt to the Dragon position and one to the Tiger, and you bet on which will be higher. It appears at Hoiana as Dragon Tiger Baccarat alongside the classic game¹, and fast Asian card games of this family, including the closely related Pok Deng, are staples of casinos in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and parts of China²³. Rounds of comparable card games run about 2 to 5 minutes each, and Dragon Tiger is quicker still, since only one card is dealt to each side²⁴. You simply pick a side, watch the two cards land, and the round is over. That speed is the whole appeal: it is the game to play when you want constant action without learning a strategy.

House edge and payout rates compared

Not all table games give you the same run for your money, and it helps to know the rough numbers before choosing a table:

Roulette's payout odds of 35 to 1 on a single number sit against 38 possible outcomes on an American-style wheel, which is where its higher edge comes from¹⁹.

A simple way to think about it: blackjack rewards you for playing well, baccarat and Dragon Tiger reward you for not making decisions at all, and the dice and wheel games pay bigger occasional wins but take a steadier toll. Pai Gow's 0.95 to 1 payout on wins is a 5% commission, but the frequent pushes (ties) mean your money lasts a long time at that table⁹. Niu Niu's side bets pay up to 12 to 1, but remember the reserve mechanic: those attractive payouts are backed by an insurance amount of up to 11 times your Super Niu bet that the house can take when the dealer's hand is strong⁸.

Taking winnings home

How you collect and carry your winnings depends on who you are:

• Foreigners and overseas Vietnamese with foreign passports: you may receive your winnings and transfer or carry them abroad in foreign currency, under Vietnam's foreign exchange rules²⁷
• Vietnamese players: you may only use Vietnamese dong to exchange for gaming chips, and exchange chips back into dong whether the chips are unplayed or winnings²⁷

Players at Vietnamese casinos also have rights on the other side of the counter. You are entitled to full confirmation and payment of your winnings by the business when you win, and you may complain to or sue the business over payout results, and report fraud or violations²⁷. You may not, however, use casino game results to bet directly with other players at the venue, or cause insecurity or disorder on the premises²⁷.

For the full picture of moving money in and out of gambling in Vietnam, including cards, cash and transfers, see our guide to gambling payments in Vietnam, and for what the taxman takes, our page on tax on gambling winnings.