Pontoon Rules: How the British Card Game Differs from Blackjack

The table follows the traditional rules as recorded by the card-game historian John McLeod.^{1 (source)} Home games vary, and almost every family has its own version of the minimum stick total and the payouts, so agree the rules before the first deal.

The biggest practical difference is information. A blackjack player sees the dealer’s up-card and can play by a chart. A pontoon player sees nothing of the banker’s hand until the banker plays, and the banker, unlike a casino dealer, can choose when to stop.

If the banker holds a pontoon at step 3, the round ends at once and the banker collects double from every player.^{1 (source)} Otherwise players act one at a time, starting from the banker’s left. A player who goes over 21 shows their cards and loses the stake straight away.

After the round, the used cards go to the bottom of the pack and play continues without a shuffle, unless someone held a pontoon. Then the pack is shuffled and cut before the next deal.^{1 (source)}

Buying lets you raise your stake on a good card while keeping it hidden from the banker. The traditional rule allows each purchase to be between your first stake and twice that amount.^{1 (source)} Once you have twisted a card, you cannot go back to buying for the rest of the hand, so players with a strong start often buy first and twist later.

The minimum stick total exists to stop players sitting on very low hands and hoping the banker busts. Without it, a cautious player could stick on 12 every time, which would change the game completely.

The five card trick changes how you play small cards. In blackjack a hand of five low cards adding up to 15 is just a 15. In pontoon, if you hold four cards totalling 14, a fifth card of 7 or less gives you a hand that only a pontoon can beat. That is often worth the risk of a twist you would never take in blackjack.

A 21 reached in three or four cards is simply 21: it beats lower totals but loses to a pontoon or a five card trick. Groups differ on whether an Ace and ten made after splitting counts as a pontoon, so settle that before you play.

When the banker plays, there are three outcomes. If the banker busts, every player still in is paid, double for a pontoon or five card trick. If the banker stays on a total of 21 or less in four cards or fewer, players with higher hands are paid and players with equal or lower hands lose. If the banker makes a five card trick, only a pontoon beats it, and every other player pays double.^{1 (source)}

A player who makes a pontoon without splitting takes over the bank from the next deal, unless the banker also held a pontoon.^{1 (source)} If several players do so on the same deal, the one nearest the dealer’s left takes it. Many households skip this and rotate the bank instead, which is fairer when the stakes are counters or matchsticks.

Because you cannot see any of the banker’s cards, pontoon has no exact equivalent of the blackjack strategy chart. The decision rests on your own total and how many cards you hold. With 15 in two cards, a twist busts on any card of 7 or more, which is more than half the pack, so most players stick. With 15 in four cards, a fifth card of 6 or less makes a five card trick, and the twist becomes attractive.

Splitting Aces is popular for a good reason: each Ace starts a hand that can become 21 with one ten-value card. Splitting 10s rarely is, because 20 already beats most totals the banker can reach. Our basic strategy chart shows how much more precise blackjack decisions can be when one dealer card is visible.

The name has travelled. In some countries, “Pontoon” is the casino name for a game played with the house as permanent banker, a fixed dealer rule and payouts set by the house, which makes it a branch of blackjack rather than the British parlour game. If you see pontoon in a casino lobby, read its rules screen: the stick minimum, the five card trick and who wins ties can all be different from the game on this page.

For the table game you will actually meet in a British casino, see our blackjack rules, and our house edge guide for how it compares with other games. The traditional game also explains some of the blackjack slang British players still use, such as calling a 21 in two cards a “pontoon”.