Where to Play Sabong Cards in Manila?

March 14, 2021December 2, 2020 Kamal Kaur

In Manila Philippines Sabong means “cock fighting” and has been a big part of Filipino culture and a source of entertainment. Sabong cards in Manila are card games that can be played for fun or with real money. Sabong cards in Manila can be played at real land casinos like the Solaire casino and resort in Manila. In this game you need to wager on whether the winning card appears is the MERON or WALA.

If you are wondering what is Meron or Wala then in Sabon or real cock fight there are two sides of the corner where the cocks can be seen before the official fight starts. This is called the Meron and the Wala.

To determine who is deemed the Meron and the Wala, the organizers simply have to look at which cock has the higher amount of money bet on it. This cock would be the one placed on the Meron portion of the arena. This means that the cock in the Meron portion of the arena is the cock that is deemed the most likely to win by the people betting in the sabongan.

After this, in order to balance the bets out, a Matador would call out the bet indifference to the crowd and a guy would shout the betting odds take down the bets that the crowd would place on the Wala to balance out the pool of money. After which the Matador would shout “Larga!” to signify the start of the match. This means that although the Meron might be deemed the favorite, it is not necessarily what the crowd thinks and the crowd might banner under the Wala cock.

Well, this was in the real cock fight but to play Sabong cards no real life cocks are fighting and cards are placed in place of them. The real cock fight has been limited because of violence and animal cruelty.

How to play Sabong Cards in Manila?

You need to visit any real land casino in Manila to play Sabong cards.

Go to the table offering sabong cards.

Prior to the cards being dealt, players are given the opportunity to participate in the game by placing bets on any of the following betting areas:

Main bets are labeled MERON and WALA – players can bet on whether the higher card appears in MERON or WALA (PAID EVEN MONEY).

Suits – players can bet on whether the winning card is a Spade, Diamond, Hearts, or Clubs (PAID 3 TO 1)

Pair/Perfect Pair – players can bet on whether the cards dealt form a Pair. (same cards, different suits – 10 to 1) or Perfect Pair (same card, same suit – 50 TO 1)

If a player’s bet on Suit wager and Pairs meet the table minimum, then the Dealer can proceed and deal the hand even without main wagers.

Two cards are then dealt on the table face up, one representing WALA and one representing MERON. The higher ranked card wins!

Cards are ranked according to the following:

Ranking by Cards – From highest to lowest (King to Ace) (Example: If WALA is dealt a King and MERON is dealt an Ace, then WALA wins, because King beats Ace in ranking)

Ranking by Suits – From highest to lowest (Spade, Heart, Clubs, Diamond)

In case MERON or WALA wins, Main and Suits wagers win (depending on card ranking), while Pair and Perfect Pair wagers lose.

In the event that MERON and WALA hold the same value card the winner will be determined by the suit ranking. In this case, Perfect pair wagers lose. Suits wagers are a push. (NEITHER WIN NOR LOSE)

In case of a Perfect Pair (same card, same suit), all Main and Suits wagers lose, while Pair and Perfect Pair wagers win.