Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon

1. Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Boats
2. Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Boat
3. Difference Between Blackjack And Pontoon
4. Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Dealers
5. Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Fishing Boats

Introduction

There are a few basic differences between Pontoon and a regular game of blackjack. Higher number of decks results in a decrease in the house edge. Both the dealer’s cards are dealt face-down. The dealer peeks for pontoon once his cards are dealt.

There are two completely different blackjack variants known as Pontoon. One is played at Internet casinos using Real Time Gaming software, and is described in my page on RTG Pontoon. The other is played in Australia, and is very similar to what is called Spanish 21 in North America. This page shall address the latter Australian version. I can't speak for the rest of Australia, but in Sydney, Pontoon offers a much better bet than conventional blackjack, with a house edge about 1/3 less.

• Key differences between pontoon and blackjack. Keep in mind pontoon is a variation of blackjack so to the uninformed the two may seem largely the same, but there are subtle differences that dictate game strategy significantly. Terminology: Hit, stand and double down (you only get one more card in BJ) are all terms you hear in blackjack.
• Generally, Pontoon rules are similar to those of a normal game of blackjack but often it is seen and said that Pontoon offers worse winning odds than regular blackjack.

Fixed Rules

1. Dealer hits soft 17.
2. Double after split allowed.
3. Dealer does not take a hole card.
4. Player may double on 9 to 11 only. If player were to double on a soft hand, the ace would be forced to count as 1.
5. Player may take 'late surrender.' If the dealer has a ten or ace up, a laminated marker saying 'surrender' will be put on the player's bet. In the event the dealer gets a blackjack, the player will lose the entire bet.
6. A player 21 or blackjack wins immediately.
7. Player may surrender after doubling, known as 'double down rescue.' The player forfeits an amount equal to his original bet. The surrender is adjudicated immediately, so it is like early surrender.
8. A five-card 21 pays 3 to 2, a six-card 21 pays 2 to 1, a seven-or-more-card-21 pays 3 to 1. However, the bonuses are not paid if the player doubled.
9. A 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 of mixed suits pays 3 to 2, of the same suit pays 2 to 1, and of spades pays 3 to 1. These bonuses do not pay after doubling.
10. Suited 7-7-7, when the dealer has a seven face up, pays $1000 for bets of $5-$24 and $5000 for bets of $25 or over. In addition, all other players receive a $50 'envy bonus.' This bonus does not pay after doubling or splitting.

The European no-hole-card rule strongly favors the player in Pontoon. This is because a player 21 automatically wins, even if the dealer gets a blackjack. In American Spanish 21, the dealer blackjack beats anything except a player blackjack, depressing the player's odds.

Variable Rules

1. Four to eight Spanish decks.
2. Hole-card rule. There are various possibilities, which are explained below.
3. Number of splits allowed, either one or two.
4. Resplitting aces may or may not be allowed.
5. Doubling may be allowed with any number of cards, or only two.

Hole-Card Rules

What happens when the player doubles or splits, and the dealer gets a blackjack, depends on which casino you are in. In most cases, the rules followed are found nowhere else on earth besides Australia, so new terminology had to be established. Other sources on Pontoon and blackjack do not use the same terminology as I do, or use them differently. I have decided to go with the terms as used in the book The Pro's Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon by Katarina Walker. Please do not write and tell me I have the terminology wrong, quoting some other web site. Nobody knows Pontoon better than Walker, so I can think of no better standard to measure to.

• OBO (Original Bets Only): This is the rule followed in North America, where the player loses only his original bet if the dealer gets a blackjack. Usually the dealer will peek at the hole card if a blackjack is possible, so players won't waste time trying to beat an unbeatable hand. I have an unconfirmed report that the OBO rule is followed in Queensland.
• BB+1 (Busted Bets Plus One): Under this rule, the player will lose any hands he busted, plus an amount equal to his original bet, if he has anything left.
• OBBO (Original and Busted Bets Only): Under this rule, the player will lose any hands he busted, plus an amount equal to his original wager per hand. In other words, if the dealer gets a blackjack, the player is penalized for splitting, but not doubling.
• ENHC (European no Hole Card): Under this rule, the player loses every bet on the table if the dealer gets a blackjack.

Let's look at an example. Suppose the player bets $10 and then splits eights against a dealer ten, to the following:

Hand 1: Player hits to 18.
Hand 2: Player hits and busts.
Hand 3: Player doubles to 20.

Then, the dealer gets a blackjack. The following is what would happen under all four possible hole-card rules.

OBO: The remaining $30 on the table would push, because the player already lost $10 on the hand that busted.
BB+1: The dealer would take $10 from the remaining $30 on the table.
OBBO: The dealer would take $20, $10 from each of the two hands left.
ENCH: The dealer would take all $30 on the table.

Strategy

The following table shows the basic strategy for Pontoon.

Next are the three tricky hands that depend on the hole-card rule being followed.

Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Boats

If the player splits eights against a ten, under the BB+1 rule, then he will be motivated to hit less. This is because a busted hand is always lost, but if the dealer gets a blackjack, only one split hand will be lost. In this situation, the player should stand on 16, instead of hitting. The only exception is if it is that last hand to be played, and all earlier hands busted.

I'm going to use the rules in Sydney as the base rules. The variable rules in other parts of Australia are as follows.

• 8 decks.
• BB+1.
• Player may split only once.
• Player may double on any number of cards.

Under the Sydney rules, the house edge is 0.42%.

The following list is of rule variations you may encounter in Austalia. The table shows the change in the player's excpected value, so positive effects are good.

Effets of Rule Variations

Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Boat

The next table summarizes the Pontoon rules in various parts of Australia.

Pontoon Rules Summary for Australia and Malaysia

Updates

I have had the following unconfirmed reports of rule changes since I wrote the rule table above.

• In Adelaide the player may now split twice.
• The Adelaide casino now uses four decks instead of eight. (6/9/13)
• Sydney uses six decks instead of eight. (5/7/16)

The probability of hitting the Super Bonus is 1 in 668,382, with six decks, and 1 in 549,188, with eight decks. The reduction in the house edge depends on the bet amount, and to a lesser extent, the number of players. With no other players, and bets of exactly $5 or $25, the Super Bonus lowers the house edge by 0.030% in a six-deck game, and 0.036% in an eight-deck game. At a bet of exactly $5, the Envy Bonus lowers the house edge by an additional 0.0015% in a six-deck game, and 0.0018% in an eight-deck game, per additional player.

For bet amounts other than those indicated above, the benefit of the Super Bonus will go down as the bet amount goes up.

Acknowledgments

Katarina Walker is the undisputed queen of Spanish 21 and Pontoon. I only had time to visit one casino during my trip to Australia in 2008, the Star City in Sydney. Kat's book and answers to my many e-mail were invaluable for knowing Pontoon rules in the rest of Australia. She has also been good about catching minor mistakes in my Spanish 21 page. I'm sorry to report that Kat died in 2015.

MGP was kind enough to give me a copy of his amazing blackjack calculator. Put in any set of rules, and it will give you the correct strategy and house edge. It handles all kinds of obscure rules, including all the Pontoon rules. MGP was extremely patient and gracious in answering my numerous questions too. I think, and hope, the blackjack world will be hearing more from MGP in the future.

Difference Between Blackjack And Pontoon

Pontoon is very similar to blackjack in some aspects but completely different in others. For starters, both of the starting cards are dealt face down for everyone involved; meaning that you have no idea what the dealer has until you’ve completely finished betting. Now, you are allowed to look at your cards but you can not see what other players have until the end of the match (unless they bust).

Before we go any further, however, it is necessary for us to point out that there are actually two blackjack variations called Pontoon. The British version (which we are talking about here) is completely different from Pontoon played in Malaysia and Singapore; the latter version is a variation of the game MatchPlay 21 (also known as Spanish 21). For details on the Asian version of Pontoon, check out our Match Play 21 tutorial.

Making Blackjack/Pontoon

The goal of pontoon is the same as blackjack as well; get as close as possible to 21 without going over. All of the card values are also the same and it is played with a standard, 52 card deck (some casinos use two decks) and it is not shuffled until someone hits blackjack. Speaking of which, a natural blackjack in this game is called a pontoon, and just like in traditional blackjack it beats everything. A pontoon pays 2:1.

A Five Card Trick/ Other Rankings

Here’s where things start to get a whole lot different when compared to blackjack. The second best overall hand is a five card trick, and you do not even need to end up with 21 in order for it to be a winner. If you were dealt 2/6, for example, and the next three cards came out 3/A/4, your hand of 16 would beat any dealer hand except for a pontoon. A five card trick also pays 2:1.

From there, the rankings are just like blackjack; get as close to 21 as possible without going over. There is one slight catch however; you can not stand with a total of 14 or under.

Buy a Card/Twist Variation

Another huge difference between blackjack and pontoon is the actual betting. It starts out the same, but once you have your two cards in hand then you have to decide how to play it from there. Players can twist (which means “take a hit”) just like normal blackjack but you can also opt to buy a card, which means that you’re going to double up your bet and take a hit/twist at the same time. In pontoon, the dealer wins on all ties though, which more than evens out the take a hit advantage.

Now, the big difference between a double down bet and buying a card is that in Pontoon you can continue to take extra cards afterwards. You can also buy a card with any total; it is not limited to 9, 10, or 11. The only limitation is that you can not buy a card after you twist, so the double-down type wager is only offered on your 3rd card.

Pontoon Strategy

Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Dealers

Since the secondary goal of pontoon is to win the hand with five cards, it changes up the betting strategy a little bit. Let’s say that you start out with a fairly lousy hand like A/2 or 2/4; you should definitely buy a card instead of taking the twist. The reason for that is if your 3rd card is another low/mid-range number, you’re going to take another hit anyway so you might as well be playing towards the 2:1 odds with double the bet. Even if your third card is a king, with A/2 you’d be forced to take a 4th card- which could easily lead to a 5th one.

Differences Between Blackjack And Pontoon Fishing Boats

Honestly, we are not thrilled with this version of blackjack because you’re truly betting in the dark; our staff simply could not get used to losing all ties while not being able to see either of the dealer’s cards before standing. The Asian version of Pontoon or American blackjack is a much more fair bet overall.