Pontoon Blackjack Rules, Strategy & Bonuses

• Pontoon Rules
• Pontoon Strategy
• Pontoon House Advantage
• Best Pontoon Bonuses

Pontoon is an exciting blackjack variation and one of my favorite games. Although not a very well known game amongst casino players, the extremely low house advantage makes Pontoon Blackjack a very attractive game. The main reason for Pontoon’s anonymity is that until recently, it was only offered on Cryptologic and Real Time Gaming platforms. Within the last few years though both Playtech and Microgaming have introduced Pontoon Blackjack to their casinos as well.

Pontoon Rules

Pontoon is a bit more complex than regular Blackjack, but still an easy enough game to learn. The specific rules of Pontoon are as follows:

• Pontoon is played with 8 standard decks, and all card values are the same as in blackjack.
• Any 5-card hand is paid 2:1 on the original wager, regardless of the point total of the hand. This includes hands that were split. Obviously, this does not apply to hands that have busted.
• All Blackjacks (known as Pontoons) pay 2:1 on the original wager.
• All other player wins pay even money.
• Dealer wins all ties, including Pontoons and 5-card hands.
• The rank of hands in Pontoon is as follows:
  • Any blackjack (called a Pontoon)
  • Any 5-card non-busted hand (all 5 card hands are of equal value regardless of point total)
  • Same rules as regular Blackjack from here on down with a 21 point hand with less than 5 cards being the next highest hand, and any busted hand being the worst hand.
• After placing a wager, each player receives 2 cards face up while the dealer gets 2 cards face down.
• The dealer will check his cards for a Pontoon (Blackjack), and if he has one, all wagers are lost.
• Players must hit (up to 5 cards) all point totals less than 15.
• Players can Hit, known in Pontoon as “Twist” at any point, including after doubling down.
• Players can Double Down on any 2,3,or 4 card hand, but may only double down once per hand. Doubling is also allowed on split hands.
• Players may split up to 2 times, for a maximum of 3 hands. Splitting is only allowed on cards of equal rank, including aces. When splitting aces, a Pontoon pays out 2:1, and doubling and splitting are allowed.
• After all player hands are completed; the dealer will play out his hand. The dealer must draw to all point totals of 17 or more, except must hit all soft 17’s. All dealer non-busted 5-card hands have the same value as a player 5-card hand.

Pontoon Strategy

The chart below gives the optimal Pontoon strategyfor all Pontoon situations. To use the chart, find your hand’s point total along the left hand side, and compare that to the number of cards in your hand to find the correct play. Please note that the soft hands apply to all soft hands of that value, not just the hand shown. Also, some players don’t realize at first that if you double at any point on any hand that results in a 5 card hand, you get paid 4:1 on your original wager! If you play Pontoon Blackjack at any Cryptologic casino, the graphics of the game only show that you get paid 2:1 on such hands, but if you look at the amount paid, it is indeed 4:1.

Pontoon House Advantage

The house advantage of Pontoon following optimal Pontoon strategy is only .38%! This makes Pontoon one of the lowest house advantage games available anywhere and a great option for clearing bonuses where it is offered and allowed to completed the wager requirements.

Pontoon Bonuses

The list of casino bonuses below are the best bonuses available on which to play Pontoon Blackjack. Not only is Pontoon offered at these casinos, but also Pontoon wagers count towards the wager requirement.