Pontoon Blackjack
In this next edition of our Blackjack Games Guide, we review the popular Pontoon Blackjack game, aka British Blackjack.
You should also read our UK Blackjack article to know more about this popular British Blackjack game and where to play.
The Rules of Pontoon Blackjack
The similarities between Traditional Blackjack and British Black jack include the use of eight standard decks of cards and forcing the dealer to Hit on a soft hand of 17. But these are the only rules that Traditional Blackjack and British Black jack share.
For starters, Pontoon Blackjack is not a Hole-Card game, which means that you will not see any of the dealer´s two cards at any point throughout the game.
In Pontoon Blackjack the dealer will immediately check for Pontoon once the cards have been dealt.
Unlike Classic Black jack when you play British Black jack any Push hands (ties) will not return your bet but will be won by the dealer instead.
How to Beat a Dealer’s 21 Hand
There are two ways in which you can beat the dealer’s 21 in Pontoon Blackjack: getting a Pontoon hand or building a 5 Card Trick.
What’s a Pontoon hand you ask? This is when the player has a hand that totals 21 in value using an Ace and a Face or 10 card. A typical hand of natural Blackjack would return your stake at 3:2 but a Pontoon hand will payout at 2:1.
A 5 Card Trick is when you build a hand using five or more cards without going exceeding 21. This hand will beat a dealer’s 21 hand even if the total point value is less than 21. Much like a Pontoon hand, a winning 5 Card Trick hand will pay your stake at 2:1.
Check out this helpful Play Blackjack Online page to learn more about the odds of winning on Pontoon Blackjack.
Other Rules
Different to what you would expect from other variations of blackjack, there’s no Insurance option in British Blackjack. This isn’t something to worry about if you take into consideration that the dealer has just a 4.82% odds of getting a natural 21. Luckily, there is no limitation on Doubling Down or the number of cards that you can draw.
Splitting pairs is allowed in Blackjack and it’s also possible to get a Pontoon hand after splitting. The limitation is that if you split a pair of Aces you will be dealt one more card only.
The Casino Advantage in Pontoon Blackjack
Similar to other versions of blackjack, different casinos could change the playing rules of Pontoon Blackjack.
For instance, if you decide to play British Blackjack at any of the Microgaming online casinos, the house edge over the players is 0.39% whereas if you were to play on a Playtech gaming site, the casino will have a slightly lower advantage of 0.38%. Other online casinos may retain a higher edge of up to 0.73%.
There are other factors that will change the casinos edge including the implementation of the basic blackjack strategy sheet which can help you lower the casino’s advantage by as much as 0.5%.
Like in any other blackjack variant the number of decks used in the game make a great impact on the casino’s edge over the players. If you were to play British Blackjack using just 2 decks of cards, the casino edge would increase by 0.47%, so always check this before playing for money.
To sum up, Pontoon is a thrilling game of blackjack that offers fast-paced action and fantastic odds of boosting your bankroll. Get yourself a lucrative free bonus from any of the top online casinos and have fun playing Pontoon Blackjack online.
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