Pontoon Card Game F.A.Q. How do you play the Pontoon card game? To play Pontoon you need a dealer and at least one player. The goal of the game is to hit 21 points or get closer than the dealer to this score. As highlighted in this guide, a player has several ways to improve their initial hand. These including 'twisting' or buying additional cards. How to Play Pontoon. 09:02 Jul 14th, 2018 Games Land Based, Online Gambling. Pontoon is a card game that was made popular in the UK and is now making its way to the U.S. It is a variant of the American game Blackjack and was originally based on the French card game Vingt-et-un.
Actually, all Pontoon rules have a lot in common with conventional blackjack’s ones: try to get 21 points and beat a dealer with your cards. The card values are also the same with blackjack’s ones:
When a dealer (a banker) is chosen, players decide by themselves what a minimum bet will be; minimum and maximum bets are determined before a game’s start.
After the bets are made, a dealer begins dealing cards: his two cards are usually faced down while the cards of players are usually faced up. A dealer checks his hand and if he has pontoon there, all players lose their bets.
Pontoon has three special card combinations which should be known by players; they are the following:
The combination of two cards which gives you 21 points at once is called to be pontoon; it is similar to blackjack actually: an Ace + 10 points (Jack, Queen or King) = pontoon, and you will have your bet doubled if you have such a card combination.
If you have 3 or 4 cards dealt and they give you 21 points as a result, they will beat other hands of less than 21. But they will not beat pontoon and five cards tricks.
If you have 5 cards in your hand and they do not exceed 21, they will give you your bet doubled and will beat any card combination except pontoon: even if another player has 21 points from his three or four card combination, five cards trick will beat it (even if your five cards trick is less than 21 points). Only pontoon can beat five cards trick.
Buy– if you have less than 21 in your hand and want to get one more card. Double your bet and receive one more card from a dealer faced down.
Twist – if you have less than 21 in your hand and want to get one more card. You should not do anything with your bet but a dealer will give you one more card faced up in this case. You can twist up to 5 cards or up to the moment you will exceed 21 points.
Stick – if your points are no less than 15 you have a right to stick and leave your current cards without a chance to get any more cards.
Split – if you have two initial cards to be of the same value (two Kings, two 8’s etc.) you can split them and continue a game with two hands. Then, you should add one more bet (equal to your first one) for the second hand and get two more cards faced down from a dealer.
…until the moment he busts. A banker has a right to add some additional cards to his initial two if he has less than 21. If he busts, all players receive their winnings. If a banker has less than 21 but he does not want to take any more cards, then all players open their cards to determine a winner.