Pontoon Blackjack
Pontoon is a very interesting variation on blackjack, and one that has a couple of features that might make it popular among those who find the original version of the game a bit daunting. As we’ve already mentioned, the strategies are a little simpler to follow, since you have fewer factors to consider on each hand. Instead of “blackjack”, in British pontoon, the natural 21 is referred to as “pontoon”. A five-card trick is an important hand in the game. The trick is a five-card hand which doesn’t bust, and this hand pays out at 21, making it an exciting proposition any time you have 4 cards and haven’t busted. It is not, as popularly supposed, a variant of Blackjack nor is Pontoon derived from Blackjack, but both are descended from the early British version of Vingt-Un. In Britain, it first became known as Pontoon during the First World War, the name apparently being a soldier's corruption of its former French name.
There are two versions of Pontoon. One is the Australian variation, which is referred to as Spanish 21. The second one, the one we’re covering on this page, is the UK / British variation.
We cover the rules of this unique blackjack game below.
The idea behind Pontoon is similar to nearly every other blackjack game. You want to beat the dealer’s hand without exceeding 21 points. Go over 21 points and you lose your bet to the dealer.
Pontoon Blackjack is (usually) played with 8 decks, however, this will vary from casino to casino. For example, only 2 decks are used at Bovada. The cards are shuffled and dealt the same way as traditional blackjack, too.
There are a couple of unique differences, though.
One unique difference is that the 10-point cards are removed. Only the face cards remain. The second is that the dealer’s cards are dealt faced down.
These differences (obviously) put the advantage in the dealer’s favor, and as you might imagine, there are rules to offset this edge so that the player’s aren’t totally screwed.
Lets look at those now.
Player Options
- Players can stand on any 5-card hand, or hands valued at 15 points or more.
- Players can hit after doubling.
- Players can double once per hand.
- Players can double after splitting. That includes one double per split hand.
- Players can split like-valued hands. In other words, players can split KT, QJ, etc.
- Players can split up to two times, making 3 hands. That includes aces.
- Players can draw and double down after splitting aces.
- Two card 21s after splitting still count as Pontoons.
- Player ties lose.
Dealer Options
- Dealer’s cards are dealt faced down.
- Dealer checks for blackjack (Pontoon).
- Dealer hits soft 17.
- Dealer stops drawing at 5-card hands.
Remember: Since the dealer’s cards are dealt faced down, players can easily lose money splitting and double downing, only to lose to a dealer’s Pontoon.
Card Values
- Cards 2-9 are scored at face value.
- 10s are removed from the deck.
- Face cards are worth 10 points.
- Aces are worth 1 or 11 points.
Pontoon Payouts
The following are the payouts for the special hands in Pontoon. Note that these hands are listed in order from best to worst hand, and that a 5-card hand will always beat a 4-card hand, regardless of the value.
- Pontoon – Any hand with an ace and 10-point card, even after splitting. Pontoons pay 2:1
- Five-Card Trick – Any 5-card hand that has not busted. Winning hands pay 2:1.
- 4 (or less) cards – Any 4-card hand that has not busted. Pays even money.
- Busted (22+ point) hands.
Playing Pontoon Blackjack Online
Pontoon is available at Real Time Gaming, Microgaming, Cryptologic and Playtech casinos. The house edge is .38-.39 percent, depending on the casino.
There are rule variations that you might come across online. These include:
- Aces and 10-point hands after splitting aces is 21 points (not a Pontoon or blackjack. This increases the house edge by .49 percent.
- Dealer stands on soft 17, which lowers the house edge by .47 percent.
- Can’t draw on split aces. This increases the house edge by .49 percent.
- Two deck games (versus 8) increases the house edge by .35 percent.
On This Page
Pontoon Blackjack Rules
Introduction
There are two completely different blackjack variants known as Pontoon. One is played at Internet casinos using Real Time Gaming software, and is described in my page on RTG Pontoon. The other is played in Australia, and is very similar to what is called Spanish 21 in North America. This page shall address the latter Australian version. I can't speak for the rest of Australia, but in Sydney, Pontoon offers a much better bet than conventional blackjack, with a house edge about 1/3 less.
Pontoon uses four to eight Spanish decks, each deck consisting of 48 cards — the regular 52 cards, less the four tens. Any card counter can tell you that removing any 10-point card from the cards favors the dealer. To make up for this, Pontoon gives to the player a host of bonuses and favorable rules. The following rules are consistent to Pontoon, across Australia.Fixed Rules
- Dealer hits soft 17.
- Double after split allowed.
- Dealer does not take a hole card.
- Player may double on 9 to 11 only. If player were to double on a soft hand, the ace would be forced to count as 1.
- Player may take 'late surrender.' If the dealer has a ten or ace up, a laminated marker saying 'surrender' will be put on the player's bet. In the event the dealer gets a blackjack, the player will lose the entire bet.
- A player 21 or blackjack wins immediately.
- Player may surrender after doubling, known as 'double down rescue.' The player forfeits an amount equal to his original bet. The surrender is adjudicated immediately, so it is like early surrender.
- A five-card 21 pays 3 to 2, a six-card 21 pays 2 to 1, a seven-or-more-card-21 pays 3 to 1. However, the bonuses are not paid if the player doubled.
- A 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 of mixed suits pays 3 to 2, of the same suit pays 2 to 1, and of spades pays 3 to 1. These bonuses do not pay after doubling.
- Suited 7-7-7, when the dealer has a seven face up, pays $1000 for bets of $5-$24 and $5000 for bets of $25 or over. In addition, all other players receive a $50 'envy bonus.' This bonus does not pay after doubling or splitting.
The European no-hole-card rule strongly favors the player in Pontoon. This is because a player 21 automatically wins, even if the dealer gets a blackjack. In American Spanish 21, the dealer blackjack beats anything except a player blackjack, depressing the player's odds.
Variable Rules
- Four to eight Spanish decks.
- Hole-card rule. There are various possibilities, which are explained below.
- Number of splits allowed, either one or two.
- Resplitting aces may or may not be allowed.
- Doubling may be allowed with any number of cards, or only two.
Hole-Card Rules
What happens when the player doubles or splits, and the dealer gets a blackjack, depends on which casino you are in. In most cases, the rules followed are found nowhere else on earth besides Australia, so new terminology had to be established. Other sources on Pontoon and blackjack do not use the same terminology as I do, or use them differently. I have decided to go with the terms as used in the book The Pro's Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon by Katarina Walker. Please do not write and tell me I have the terminology wrong, quoting some other web site. Nobody knows Pontoon better than Walker, so I can think of no better standard to measure to.
- OBO (Original Bets Only): This is the rule followed in North America, where the player loses only his original bet if the dealer gets a blackjack. Usually the dealer will peek at the hole card if a blackjack is possible, so players won't waste time trying to beat an unbeatable hand. I have an unconfirmed report that the OBO rule is followed in Queensland.
- BB+1 (Busted Bets Plus One): Under this rule, the player will lose any hands he busted, plus an amount equal to his original bet, if he has anything left.
- OBBO (Original and Busted Bets Only): Under this rule, the player will lose any hands he busted, plus an amount equal to his original wager per hand. In other words, if the dealer gets a blackjack, the player is penalized for splitting, but not doubling.
- ENHC (European no Hole Card): Under this rule, the player loses every bet on the table if the dealer gets a blackjack.
Let's look at an example. Suppose the player bets $10 and then splits eights against a dealer ten, to the following:
Hand 1: Player hits to 18.
Hand 2: Player hits and busts.
Hand 3: Player doubles to 20.
Then, the dealer gets a blackjack. The following is what would happen under all four possible hole-card rules.
OBO: The remaining $30 on the table would push, because the player already lost $10 on the hand that busted.
BB+1: The dealer would take $10 from the remaining $30 on the table.
OBBO: The dealer would take $20, $10 from each of the two hands left.
ENCH: The dealer would take all $30 on the table.
Strategy
The following table shows the basic strategy for Pontoon.
Next are the three tricky hands that depend on the hole-card rule being followed.
If the player splits eights against a ten, under the BB+1 rule, then he will be motivated to hit less. This is because a busted hand is always lost, but if the dealer gets a blackjack, only one split hand will be lost. In this situation, the player should stand on 16, instead of hitting. The only exception is if it is that last hand to be played, and all earlier hands busted.
I'm going to use the rules in Sydney as the base rules. The variable rules in other parts of Australia are as follows.
- 8 decks.
- BB+1.
- Player may split only once.
- Player may double on any number of cards.
Under the Sydney rules, the house edge is 0.42%.
The following list is of rule variations you may encounter in Austalia. The table shows the change in the player's excpected value, so positive effects are good.
Effets of Rule Variations
| Rule | Effect |
|---|---|
| Six decks | 0.03% |
| Four decks | 0.08% |
| OBBO | -0.01% |
| ENHC | -0.06% |
| Split 2-K 2X | 0.03% |
| Split 2-K 3X | 0.05% |
| Split 2-A 2X | 0.11% |
| Double only 2 cards | -0.16% |
The next table summarizes the Pontoon rules in various parts of Australia.
Pontoon Rules Summary for Australia and Malaysia
| Location | Decks | Max. Splits | Resplit Aces | Hole Card | Double any Time | House Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra | 4 | 1 | No | BB+1 | Yes | 0.34% |
| Melbourne, Tasmania | 8 | 2 | No | BB+1 | Yes | 0.38% |
| Queensland | 6 | 1 | No | BB+1 | Yes | 0.40% |
| Perth | 8 | 2 | Yes | ENHC | Yes | 0.38% |
| Sydney | 8 | 1 | No | BB+1 | Yes | 0.42% |
| Malaysia | 8 | 2 | Yes | OBBO | No | 0.49% |
| Adelaide | 8 | 1 | No | ENHC | No | 0.64% |
Updates
I have had the following unconfirmed reports of rule changes since I wrote the rule table above.
- In Adelaide the player may now split twice.
- The Adelaide casino now uses four decks instead of eight. (6/9/13)
- Sydney uses six decks instead of eight. (5/7/16)
The probability of hitting the Super Bonus is 1 in 668,382, with six decks, and 1 in 549,188, with eight decks. The reduction in the house edge depends on the bet amount, and to a lesser extent, the number of players. With no other players, and bets of exactly $5 or $25, the Super Bonus lowers the house edge by 0.030% in a six-deck game, and 0.036% in an eight-deck game. At a bet of exactly $5, the Envy Bonus lowers the house edge by an additional 0.0015% in a six-deck game, and 0.0018% in an eight-deck game, per additional player.
For bet amounts other than those indicated above, the benefit of the Super Bonus will go down as the bet amount goes up.
Acknowledgments
Katarina Walker is the undisputed queen of Spanish 21 and Pontoon. I only had time to visit one casino during my trip to Australia in 2008, the Star City in Sydney. Kat's book and answers to my many e-mail were invaluable for knowing Pontoon rules in the rest of Australia. She has also been good about catching minor mistakes in my Spanish 21 page. I'm sorry to report that Kat died in 2015.
What Is Pontoon Blackjack
MGP was kind enough to give me a copy of his amazing blackjack calculator. Put in any set of rules, and it will give you the correct strategy and house edge. It handles all kinds of obscure rules, including all the Pontoon rules. MGP was extremely patient and gracious in answering my numerous questions too. I think, and hope, the blackjack world will be hearing more from MGP in the future.