Blackjack Thoughts
Here’s a game that’s played mostly in Australian and Malaysian casinos, and many consider a member of the extended blackjack “family.” The game is called Pontoon.
British in origin, the game can be played with a minimum of two or maximum of eight players (around six is ideal). It uses the same base rules as online blackjack, so I’ll primarily go into the differences, step-by-step walking through a single hand.
First, each player receives one card, face down. The players can look at their card, but of course the dealer cannot see it.
Players then make an initial bet. Table minimum and maximum will have been set prior to the start of the hand.
After all initial bets are over, everyone gets a second card, face down.
Scoring/rules are identical to blackjack except in the following ways.
1) If you get “blackjack” (in this game it’s called Pontoon), you automatically win and will flip your hand up to declare. This pays 2:1. If the dealer has Pontoon, everyone automatically loses.
2) Remember when you were kids and someone declared “five card Charlie?” Well, it exists, and it’s the second-best hand in this game, losing only to a dealer’s Pontoon.
3) There are a couple ways to get more cards to improve your hand. The first is called a “twist,” which is a straight hit, but the card will be dealt face-up. You can do this until your hand totals five cards or you bust. The second way is through a purchase. In doing this, you increase your bet at the time by the same or double your initial bet. This gets you another card, face down. Again, you can continue this until your hand totals five cards or your bust.
4) The dealer has no hit/stand rule. He can use your up-cards to help make his decision and hit as many times as he likes until he has five cards in his hand or busts, as well.
5) There’s no double down, but you can split. In doing so, however, you must reveal your hand, and the rest of your hand is played face up. You match your initial bet in the process.
This is a little more involved, in my opinion, then typical strategie de blackjack, since you have the option to increase your wager multiple times throughout the hand. You get a little bit more (2:1 vs. 3:2) on a pontoon blackjack, but you give up some of your edge with reduced rules against the dealer. In regular blackjack, it doesn’t matter if the dealer sees your hand since he has to hit or stand according to the house rules. In Pontoon, he doesn’t, and will use the knowledge of the table’s cards to his advantage. Thus it costs more to receive more cards that remain face down (although if you have a great starting hand, putting more money in the middle is exactly what you’d want to do to maximize your winnings anyway.)