The game of Pontoon Blackjack is now provided in a growing number of online casinos and has proven to be exceptionally popular all around the world. The game of pontoon is fundamentally the British version of blackjack. Sometimes considered just another name for the card game, Pontoon Blackjack nevertheless has some key differences when compared to blackjack.
Pontoon blackjack is one of the casino games that carries the lowest house odds, is exciting and interesting to play, and entirely worthwhile to study as a game of its own. Understanding the game of Blackjack Pontoon is therefore something to be relished, since the game is just so much more enjoyable when understood, and many casino software developers have included the game of Pontoon Blackjack amongst their repertoire.
Differences Between Pontoon and Blackjack
Pontoon Blackjack is slightly different to regular blackjack and the British version of blackjack. The traditional American-style blackjack is one of the most popular casino games of all, but its sister game, Pontoon blackjack less well known.
Blackjack and pontoon are alike in terms of being based on a score of 21. From a return to player perspective, both pontoon or blackjack players, correctly using the advocated basic strategy correctly should generally at least break even. The objective of the Blackjack Pontoon is to beat the dealer. This means that players need to get as close as possible to the card face value total of 21 without going over this score.
In Pontoon Blackjack the general betting options range from a minimum of 1 coin to a maximum of 40 coins. There are high roller variations of the game that can be found at some online casino sites, but the levels are generally akin to blackjack.
Players have 1, 5 and 10 coin chips to play with, and in general, up to three hands can be played, before splitting. The primary initial difference between pontoon and blackjack that players will see in Pontoon Blackjack are that both the dealers’ cards are dealt face down. Players should also take note that in Pontoon Blackjack, the dealer wins all ties.
The Betting and Pay-Out Changes
There are some distinct betting odds and pay-out differences in Pontoon Blackjack too. In Blackjack, a hand containing an Ace and a ten or picture card, known as natural blackjack, pays out 3:2 to the player. In Pontoon Blackjack, this same hand is called a pontoon, and pays 2:1, which is far better odds.
In regular blackjack, taking 5 cards to score less than 21 would merely be called a 5 card hand, whereas in Pontoon Blackjack, this hand is called a 5-card trick and is the second highest possible hand. Only a pontoon ranks higher. A 5-card trick in Pontoon Blackjack pays out 2:1.
Pontoon Blackjack contains linguistic and game terminology differences as well. Players wishing to be dealt another card, the term is not ‘hit,’ but rather ‘twist’. For players wanting to keep their current cards, in blackjack they would say that they ‘stand’, but in Pontoon Blackjack they would ‘stick’.
The doubling down action in online blackjack NZ is known as ‘buying’ in Pontoon Blackjack. Players should become familiar with the terms as these are the name and action buttons too.