Pontoon Blackjack
The next blackjack game that we’ll look at in this Blackjack Games Guide is a version that is most popular in the United Kingdom, Pontoon Blackjack which is also referred to as British Blackjack.
Take the time to read this handy Blackjack article before playing Pontoon Blackjack for real money.
Pontoon Blackjack Rules Overview
Similar to Classic Black jack, in British Blackjack the dealer is required to Hit when having a soft 17 and it’s also played using 8 standard decks of 52 cards. But that’s as far as the similarities go.
For starters, British Blackjack is not a Hole-Card game, which means that the dealer will not show an up card at any point throughout the game.
Due to the unique rules of British Blackjack, the dealer will first need to check if he’s got a Pontoon hand once the cards have been dealt.
Another variation in the rules of Pontoon Black jack is that as opposed to Classic Blackjack all ties (also known as Push) are won by the dealer.
Beating the Dealer’s Hand
Apart from a natural hand of Pontoon dealt to the dealer, there are two hands in this game that will beat a dealer’s 21: a Five Card Trick and a Pontoon hand.
A Pontoon hand is effectively a Blackjack hand using an Ace and any of the Face or 10 cards. Usually a natural hand of blackjack returns stakes at 3:2 but a Pontoon hand in this variant will pay the stake at 2:1.
Another way to beat the dealer’s 21 is with a Five Card Trick. This is when you draw 5 cards or more without going bust regardless of the total point value. Beating the dealer’s hand using a 5 Card Trick will yield a 2:1 payout on the player’s stake.
Learn how to boost your winning odds with this useful and quick Play Pontoon Online review.
Other Rule Variations
Unlike most variations of blackjack, in British blackjack it’s not possible to buy Insurance; which isn’t a big deal if you bear in mind that the odds of the dealer drawing a natural Blackjack hand are only 4.82%. Doubling, however, is possible and there is no limit as to how many cards the player 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 British Blackjack
It’s important to mention that depending on the online casino where you choose to play British Blackjack, the casino rules could differ.
If we compare two of the most popular games developer companies Microgaming and Playtech, we will see that albeit a small difference, the casino advantage changes from 0.39% to 0.38% respectively. Some other online casinos can potentially increase this casino edge up to 0.73%.
There are other factors that will change the house edge including the use of the basic blackjack strategy sheet which can help you reduce the house’s advantage by as much as 0.5%.
Like in any other blackjack variant the number of decks used in the game can have a huge impact on the house advantage over the players. If you were to play Pontoon Blackjack using only 2 decks of cards, the casino edge would go up by 0.47%, so always check this before playing for money.
To conclude, Pontoon Blackjack is an exciting alternative to Traditional Blackjack which guarantees to provide hours of entertainment and massive gaming profits.
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