Pontoon Casinos

 

The objective of Pontoon is for a Player to come as close to 21 without going over, while still having a higher total than the Dealer.  It sounds a lot like blackjack, but there are some rule changes to consider

 

There are a few terms that you need to know about:

• Twist = to take another card, like hitting in blackjack.
• Stick = to not take any more cards, like standing
• Buy = to double down

Pontoon = an Ace and any card worth 10, or in another words 21 in 2 cards (aka "blackjack")

Pontoon pays 2 to 1

 

5 Card Trick = getting 5 cards under 21.  It beats any other hand.

 

 

If you get 5 cards under it pays 2 to 1

Above you can see a hand where I had 4 card 11 or 21.  It looks weird to double down and take a card when you have 21, but that is Pontoon. Since 5 cards beats any other hand (Dealer checks for Pontoon before hand starts), this is an automatic win (unless dealer gets 5 card trick too).  

 

Pontoon Game Play Rules:

Here are some general rules for the player and the dealer while a hand is being played

 

Player Rules

• Player's cards are both dealt face up
• Player must "twist" (hit) on 14 or lower
• Player can "buy" (double down) at any point in the hand with 2, 3, or 4 cards
• Player can "twist" (hit) after doubling down
• Player can only double down once
• Player can split matching cards twice for a total of 3 separate hands

Dealer rules

• Dealer's cards are both dealt face down.
• Dealer must hit on 16 and soft 17
• Dealer checks for Pontoon before hand is played.

Pontoon Hand Rules

Here are the rules to decide who wins the hand and payouts

• Pontoon pays 2 to 1
• Any 5 card hand pays 2 to 1
• Dealer wins all ties

 If the total value of the Player's cards is closer to 21 than the Dealer, the Player wins as much as was bet. The Player also wins if the Dealer goes over 21 and the Player has not busted. If the Player's total goes over 21, the Player loses the amount bet.

 

If you are familiar with the game blackjack, check out this page I made highlighting the differences between pontoon and blackjack.

 

You can play Pontoon at InterCasino (sorry no USA Players)