- Game
- Blackjack Pontoon
- Provider
- Playtech
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Blackjack Pontoon by Playtech
Most styles of blackjack have more or less the same rules without getting too far out of the norm for what’s available. Blackjack Pontoon, also just called Pontoon, is a game that breaks out of the mould in a bigger way than usual. It does this with some pretty atypical rules, which go so far as to change some of the major aspects of gameplay. To this end, if you jump right in and aren’t familiar with the rules that make this title unique, you may end up feeling a little lost at first.
What Makes Blackjack Pontoon So Different?
There are a few things that make this game unique. The first and most noticeable when you initially sit down to play is that the dealer doesn’t show an up card. As you can imagine if you’re familiar with the genre, this drastically changes what’s available to you strategically.
On top of that, players can double no matter how many cards they have, but they can only double once per hand. Additionally, you can even hit after doubling, so it’s clear that doubling correctly becomes important as well.
If you’re able to get five cards without going over 21, then that beats everything but a natural 21 from the dealer, which is called a pontoon. All ties go to the dealer, however, so if you both end up with five-card hands without going bust, you actually lose the hand.
Aside from these differences, pontoons and five-card hands win at 2 to 1 whenever the player comes out on top, so that’s an added bonus for winning in those ways.
Essential Strategy
You need to pay attention to only two things whenever you play a hand with this game: the number of cards in your hand and the total those cards come to. If you have four cards, you should be more likely to double (if you haven’t already) unless you have a very high hard total. This is because you’ll win at 2:1 on a doubled bet if you hit a five-card hand and the dealer doesn’t make his own five-card hand.
If you just have two or three cards, you have to hit or double with totals of 14 or less. You should double when you have good totals like 10 or 11 with hard hands, and with soft hands, you should pretty much always hit unless you get a total of 19 or higher with only two cards. These are some rough guidelines, but they’re the bare essentials for doing really well at this game.