Online Casino Pontoon
Pontoon is a variant of the popular casino game blackjack. It has developed its own terminology and is played with slightly different rules. A two card hand consisting of an ace and a 10 value card is called a pontoon instead of blackjack. Double down is referred to as buying a card. When a player asks for another card he twists instead of hits. When a player refuses another card he sticks instead of stands. The significant difference in the rules is that both the dealer’s cards are dealt face down. Because less information is available upfront to the player, Pontoon is more challenging than the regular blackjack variants.
Both the dealer’s cards been dealt face down requires some changes in the other rules as well. Some of these changes favor the player. Pontoon pays 2 to 1, instead of 3 to 2 for blackjack in normal variants. A five card hand that has not busted pays 2 to 1 against any dealer’s hand except a pontoon. The player can buy a card even after taking any number of additional cards. The player can also twist any number of times after a buying a card. Some of the Pontoon rules favor the dealer. The most significant of these is that ties do not push but go in favor of the dealer. The dealer twists on a soft 17. The player has to twist on a total of 14 or less. The player can split only twice. The net effect of all these changes is that Pontoon has a house edge of 0.4% based on optimum play. This is on par with the house edge offered by standard blackjack variants. Therefore players should have no concerns in wagering on Pontoon. However, the change to the rules requires a different optimum strategy and players should make sure that they wager according to the Pontoon optimum strategy.
As in other online blackjack variants, Pontoon optimum strategy is determined through computer simulation and displayed on a strategy card. The strategy card is necessarily different because there is no dealer face up card. In Pontoon the player’s hand value is indexed against the number of cards dealt to him. A five card hand that has not busted offers a highly payout and therefore the number of cards dealt to the player becomes significant for the optimum strategy.
For the two initial cards dealt the optimum strategy is as follows. The player should stick for hard totals of 15 and more and for an ace with an eight, nine or ten. He should buy a card for hard totals of 10 and 11. He should split eights and aces. And he should twist in all other conditions. When the player has three cards the Pontoon optimum strategy is as follows. The player should stick for hard totals of 15 and more. He should buy a card for hard totals of 9, 10 and 11 and for soft totals of 19 and 20. He should twist in all other conditions. When the player has four cards dealt the optimum strategy is as follows. The player should stick for hard totals of 18 and more. He should twist for a hard total of 17 to try for a five card hand that does not bust. And he should buy a card in all other conditions. Many online casino Pontoon variants provide inbuilt strategy cards that can be used on auto play, thus doing away with the need to memorize the strategy.
