Pontoon

There are a number of variants for blackjack and two of them are called pontoon. One is called the RTG pontoon that is an online casino game. The other one is the Australian game close to Spanish 21 in US and Canada. If you want to learn the latter version, then this is the page you should check. The Australian pontoon offers nicer bets compared to the regular game format.

The game uses Spanish decks of 48 cards. 8 decks are used in total. The 10s have been removed. The 10s are removed do the advantage is on the dealer. For the player's advantage, there are a number of rules and bonuses that are given and these are standard across Australia.

Rules (Fixed)

  1. Soft 17 is hit by the dealer
  2. You cannot double once you split.
  3. Hole cards cannot be taken by the dealer.
  4. 9 to 11 are the only cards that can be doubled. If the hand is soft, the ace is counted a 1.
  5. There is such a thing as a late surrender. If the dealer gets a blackjack, the player loses all bets.
  6. A blackjack is absolute win.
  7. There is such a thing as a double down rescue to cancel the amount of the same value to the original bet.
  8. If the player doubles, bonuses are not played. There will be various payout values depending on the number or cards played.
  9. There are some bonuses that you cannot get if you split or bonus.

Rules (Variable)

  1. The decks can range from 4 to 8.
  2. You can split, either one or two.
  3. You cannot split aces once it has been split.
  4. Any number of cards or 2 cards can be doubled

Rules (Hole Card)

If you make a split or double and blackjack was taken by the dealer, it will depend on the casino. The casinos follow the terms that are unique to Australia.

  • The original bets only are also used in North America where a player loses the original bet if a dealer wins with a blackjack. The dealer checks the hole card if it is possible to make a blackjack. This rule is not mentioned in Australia.
  • There is another one called BB+1 where the player can lose the hands that he busted and the original amount of bet if there is still any left.