As well as conventional blackjack, Pontoon has its basic strategy charts for different types of hands (soft, hard and splitting pairs) which were developed by blackjack professionals for you to play and win Pontoon quicker and easier. Pontoon Strategy for Hard Hands. Pontoon Blackjack Strategy. The basic strategy used to play Blackjack works quite effectively with Pontoon. This is because in both of these popular CoolCat Casino games you need to beat the Dealer’s hand without exceeding a total of 21. However, Pontoon. Pontoon uses a standard 52-card deck. Players are forced to hit any hand 14 and under. There is a separate value hand just below a blackjack which is called “pontoon” in this game. It is a five-card trick. There are many strategy changes due to the unusual rules. Make sure to learn the basic strategy for Pontoon before playing. Pontoon is a popular basic blackjack card game performed in Australia and Malaysia as a known variant of Spanish 21. The game has one of the lowest house edges and thus it's highly favorable to amateurs. The standard blackjack card game forms the basis of Pontoon - lends the game its basic notions, mechanisms and rules.

1. How To Win At Pontoon
2. Pontoon Basic Strategy Definition
3. Pontoon Basic Strategy
4. Pontoon Basic Strategy Games
5. Pontoon Basic Strategy Template
6. Pontoon Basic Strategy Builder

How To Win At Pontoon

Pontoon was designed mainly to be played in British and Australian casinos, but also in casinos across Singapore and Malaysia. It is considered as a variant of Spanish 21 mainly played in America, and generally as a variant of blackjack, although it is a separate and unique game in itself. However, with the appearance of online casinos, players from all around the world began playing Pontoon.

Players, Cards and Objective

Pontoon can be played with different number of players. At least two players are needed for the game and up to eight players. If there are more than eight players, the best thing is to use two standard 52-card decks, although online casinos use 6 to 8 decks for any number of players.

The cards are valued the same as in blackjack. Aces are valued 1 or 11, cards from 2 to 10 are valued as such, while face cards are valued 10, and those are jack, queen and king. The aim is simple, you have to collect the appropriate value to form a hand that is closest as possible to 21. Also, you shouldn’t exceed this value or you will lose.

In Pontoon players have to decide who is going to be the banker. This can be decided simply by each player cutting the deck and the one with the highest card can become the banker. Online Pontoon is different in this respect.

Pontoon Basic Strategy Definition

Each player is dealt a face down card and has to place his bet without peeking the card value. After that a second card is dealt and the players can take a look at their hand. The best possible hand that you can have is 21, but it has to be made up of two cards, one ten card and an ace. It is called Pontoon. If the banker has a Pontoon he immediately shows it and wins double the amount of the player’s bets.

The second best hand is a hand consisting of five cards that have a total of 21 or smaller. This is called a Five Card Trick. A Pontoon or a Five Card Hand can beat any three or four card hands that have the same total of 21 or smaller. A Five Card Hand can have a smaller total, but a Pontoon is strictly 21. Keep in mind that if you and the banker have hands of equal values, the banker always wins.

How Pontoon is Different to Blackjack

Splitting two cards of equal value is the same as in blackjack. However, in Pontoon doubling is replaced with buying. Just like in blackjack, when you double your bet amount and wait for an additional card, only in Pontoon the round doesn’t stop for you when you have bought your additional card and you can continue playing. Also:

• In Pontoon the player must hit if he has a 14 or less, while in blackjack he can stand on any two cards. In Pontoon you can double (buy) on two, three or four cards, while in blackjack only on the first two cards.

• In blackjack all ties with the dealer are pushed, while in Pontoon ties are lost. As mentioned earlier, if you and the dealer have a pontoon, the dealer always wins, while in blackjack it is a push.

• Pontoon pays 2 to 1, while blackjack pays 3 to 2.

• If you have a Five Card Trick hand equal to 21 or smaller in Pontoon you can beat a hand with equal value but less cards, while in blackjack there is no Five Card Trick.

• Both dealer cards in Pontoon are faced down, while in blackjack only one is faced down.

• In Pontoon you can split an ace twice, and only once in blackjack.

• If you have a pontoon after splitting aces, it is considered a pontoon, while in blackjack hitting 21 after splitting aces is considered only as plain 21.

• You can twist (hit) after splitting aces in Pontoon, which is not possible in blackjack, and you can double down after splitting them, which is also not possible in blackjack.

Things to Consider When Playing Pontoon Online

One obvious thing to consider is how reputable the online casino is, because you wouldn’t want to deposit your money at an online casino flagged by online players as a scam. Reputable online casinos are relatively easy to find. You can do that by taking look at the casinos on our web-site (only reputable casinos are available) or just by simply asking more experienced online players.

Optionally you can look for a reputable casino that offers a separate bonus for playing table games, because in general welcome bonuses are given only for playing slots, so look for the casinos with additional table game bonuses.

Introduction

Pontoon is sometimes said to be an early version of blackjack. Today Pontoon is offered by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Microgaming, Betsoft, Galewind Software, Nucleus and Cryptologic Internet casinos. In Pontoon, any five-card hand or a pontoon (same thing as a blackjack) pay 2 to 1, including after splitting. However there is no dealer up card and the dealer wins on ties. There are several other rule changes from blackjack so read carefully before playing.

Australian Pontoon, which is what Americans call Spanish 21, is a completely separate game, and is addressed on my page on Australian Pontoon.

Rules

Following are the usual rules.

1. The game is played with eight 52-card decks, or two decks at Bovada.
2. All cards have the same value as in blackjack.
3. The ranking value of hands in pontoon is as follows:
   1. A pontoon, which is defined as an ace and any 10-point card, including after splitting
   2. A five-card trick, which is defined as any 5-card hand that has not busted. All five-card tricks are of the same value, the point total does not matter.
   3. A non-busted hand of 21 points of less with 4 or less cards. Hands will be ranked within this group according to the total number of points.
   4. A busted hand of 22 points or more.
4. The dealer will deal each player two cards face up and two cards face down to the dealer.
5. The dealer will peek at his cards for a pontoon. If the dealer has a pontoon he will immediately turn it over and collect all wagers and cards.
6. The player may stand on any total greater or equal to 15, or on any 5-card hand.
7. The player may hit at any point, including after doubling.
8. The player may double on 2 to 4 cards, but only once per hand. The option includes after splitting, and once for each split hand.
9. The player may split two cards of equal rank. The player may resplit once, up to a total of three hands, including aces. When the player splits the first card dealt to each hand shall be automatic.
10. Player may draw and double after splitting aces.
11. The 2-card 21 after splitting aces counts as a pontoon.
12. If the player busts he immediately loses and forfeits his cards and total wager.
13. After all players have played out their hands the dealer shall expose his two cards. Then the dealer shall continue to draw cards until he has a total of 17 points or more, except the dealer shall hit a soft 17. The dealer will also stop with any five-card hand.
14. The dealer shall compare his hand to each player hand. A winning player pontoon or five-card hand shall pay 2 to 1. All other player wins shall pay 1 to 1 (even money).
15. Ties lose.

Strategy

The following tables show the basic strategy for Pontoon under RTG, Playtech, Galewind, Betsoft and Cryptologic rules. Betsoft does not state the number of decks used, but they use six in all their standard blackjack games.

To use the strategy look up the player's hand along the left and across the number of cards along the top. The top of the strategy is for hard totals and the bottom for soft hands. The player should always split eights. The player should split aces under the liberal ace splitting rules above, but not under the Microgaming rules, or hypothetically if an ace and 10 after splitting aces was not a pontoon.

The first chart is appropriate for Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic rules.

The next table shows the strategy under Microgaming rules.

The house edge is 0.38% under the default rules listed above. These rules are followed by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic.

Pontoon Basic Strategy

At Microgaming casinos the rules are the same except split aces get one card each and the dealer stands on soft 17, in which case the house edge is 0.39%.

Pontoon Basic Strategy Games

Rule Variations

Following are some alternative rules and the effect on the house edge.

• Aces and 10 after splitting aces is 21 points (not a pontoon): House edge increased by 0.49%.
• No draw to split aces (split aces get one card each): House edge increased by 0.49%.
• Dealer stands on soft 17: House edge lowered by 0.47%.
• Two decks (as opposed to eight): House edge increased by 0.35%. That is not a mistake. In Pontoon the more the decks the lower the house edge. I believe this is because it is easier to make 5-card tricks with more decks.

It is not a coincidence that both restrictions on split aces increase the house edge by the same amount, because if either rule is in effect the player should hit a soft 12.

Playtech

Pontoon Basic Strategy Template

Click on image for larger version

I would like to thank Microgaming and Yechezkel Zilber for their contributions to this analysis.

Pontoon Basic Strategy Builder

Written by:Michael Shackleford