Pontoon Rules
Pontoon is a Blackjack variation mostly found throughout America and Europe. You can play Pontoon at online casinos, live casinos, or even at sites that specialize in online blackjack. Our favorite place to play is online at the Cherry Red Casino. They have a nice selection of blackjack games, a great reputation, and fantastic graphics from the RTG software they use.
Use this link to check out the blackjack games at Cherry Red, or for more information take a look at our Cherry Red Casino Blackjack review.
Learning how to play Pontoon Blackjack is incredibly easy, especially if you already have a basic knowledge of Blackjack, as Pontoon rules are essentially the same.
Rules of Pontoon Blackjack
1/ Dealer hits soft 17.
2/ Dealer checks for Pontoon (Blackjack) at start of hand.
3/ Dealer wins a tie.
4/ Both dealer cards are dealt face down.
5/ Player must hit a hand of 14 or below.
6/ Unlimited hitting after doubling.
7/ The 5 Card Trick (any 5 cards totaling 21 or below) beats a regular 21.
8/ No insurance betting in Pontoon.
Card Values:
- 2-9 = Face Value
- 10-K = 10
- A = 1 or 11, whichever is higher without busting the hand.
How to Play Pontoon Blackjack
Bets are placed, after which each player, and the dealer, receive two cards. The player closest to the dealer’s left will go first, working their way around to the dealer last.
The player turns his cards over and chooses one of the following options:
- Stand (take no more cards)
- Hit (take another card)
- Double (take another card, doubling the original bet; player can hit unlimited times after doubling)
- Split (split two identical cards into two hands)
Note that if the player’s hand totals 14 or below, he/she must hit.
Winning Pontoon & Payouts
In order to win a hand of Pontoon Blackjack, the player’s hand must total higher than the dealer’s hand. If a hand exceeds 21, it is a bust and automatically loses. If the player and dealer hands tie, the dealer wins.
When the players hand wins by having the highest of the two hand totals, the payout is even money. All other payouts and winning conditions are shown below.
Pontoon (Pays 3 to 2): Pontoon is a natural blackjack hand, consisting of only 2 cards and totaling 21 points. This hand requires an Ace and any card valued at 10 (Ten, Jack, Queen or King).
5 Card Trick (Pays 2 to 1): A hand with 5 cards that totals 21 points or less. The only hand that beats a 5 Card Trick is a Pontoon.
Pontoon Tips & Strategy
The following tips and strategy advice will help you become a better Pontoon player. But remember that the casino always has the advantage. Counting cards is the only way to turn the edge to the player’s side, but in online Pontoon the cards are reshuffled after every hand, so card counting is not a viable option.
Because of the “5 Card Trick” rule in Pontoon Blackjack, there are a lot of variables that actually work against the player to effectively raise the house edge back into the casino’s favor. A player should try for the 5 Card Trick any time their hand totals 14 or below with 4 cards. Then again, this action is forced by the rules anyway.
Don’t be tempted to hit a total of 18 just because you have 4 cards. The odds of busting are too high. You’re better off taking your chances that the dealer will stand on 17 or bust. A proper Pontoon strategy is to hit any 4-card total of 17 or below, while standing on 18 or above. The 2-to-1 payout makes it worth the risk.
