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What is BlackJack - aka Pontoon

Pontoon is the British version of the internationally popular banking game Twenty-One, best known form of Blackjack in American casino. Where the game in play is "PONTOON" the approved rules of Blackjack shall apply except where the rules are inconsistent with rules of "PONTOON" in which case the rules of "PONTOON" shall prevail.

Blackjack is one of the most regularly played casino games and is equally popular in the online form of casinos. This fun filled and popular classic can be found in every online casino.

Rules of Blackjack

Pontoon is played using traditional decks of cards. Each deck of cards in play shall consist of 48 cards without the joker and the 4 "Tens".

Players achieve "Pontoon" when the initial 1 card is an Ace with either a King, Queen or Jack.
The objective of the game is to draw cards totalling 21 or close to, but not exceeding 21. "Pontoon" and point total of "21" will be paid immediately.
  
The dealer must draw until hard total of 17 or greater is achieved. (As compared to Blackjack where Dealer must stand on soft 17).
 
Players can surrender half of the initial bet only when the dealer's first card is an Ace or any Picture cards. However, if dealer achieves Pontoon the surrender will be considered void.
  
Players can double their bet on any 2 initial cards. If the initial cards consist of an "Ace", the face value of the cards will be 1 and not 11. However if the dealer achieves Pontoon they will only collect the player's original bet. Players can also double down on any split except splitting "Ace". After doubling, you will have the option to play or lose the original bet only.
  
All payments will be made in accordance to the "Pontoon Payout Odds".

Overview in playing Blackjack

In blackjack each player gets one card facing down and then bets that the card dealt plus the additional cards given face down will better the dealer's hand without going past the total of 21. Remember an ace counts for 1 or 11, the face cards as 10 and all the other cards count depending on their face value. A score of twenty one on the first 2 cards would be called 'blackjack'.

How to play Blackjack?

After receiving an initial two cards, the player has up to four standard options: "hit," "stand," "double down," or "split". Each option has a corresponding hand signal. Some games give the player a fifth option, "surrender".

• Hit: Take another card from the dealer.

signal: (handheld) Scrape cards against table. (face up) Tap the table or wave hand toward body

• Stand: Take no more cards; also known as "stand pat", "stick", or "stay".

signal: (handheld) Slide cards under chips. (face up) Wave hand horizontally.

• Double down (only available as first decision of a hand): The player is allowed to increase the initial bet by up to 100% in exchange for committing to stand after receiving exactly one more card. The additional bet is placed in the betting box next to the original bet. Some games do not permit the player to increase the bet by amounts other than 100%. Non-controlling players may double their wager or decline to do so, but they are bound by the controlling player's decision to take only one card.

signal: Place additional chips beside the original bet, and point with one finger.

• Split (only available as first decision of a hand): If the first two cards have the same value, the player can split them into two hands, by moving a second bet equal to the first into an area outside the betting box of the original bet. The dealer separates the two cards and draws a further card on each, placing one bet with each hand. The player then plays out the two separate hands in turn, with some restrictions. Occasionally, in the case of ten-valued cards, some casinos allow splitting only when the cards have the identical ranks; for instance, a hand of T-T may be split, but not of T-K. However, usually all ten-value cards are treated the same. Doubling and further splitting of post-split hands may be restricted, and blackjacks after a split are counted as non-blackjack 21 when comparing against the dealer's hand. Hitting split aces is usually not allowed. Non-controlling players may follow the controlling player by putting down an additional bet, or decline to do so, instead associating their existing wager with one of the two post-split hands. In that case they must choose which hand to play behind before the second cards are drawn.

signal: Place additional chips next to the original bet outside the betting box. Point with two fingers spread into a V formation.

• Surrender (only available as first decision of a hand): Some games offer the option to "surrender", usually in hole card games and directly after the dealer has checked for blackjack (but see below for variations). When the player surrenders, the house takes half the player's bet and return the other half to the player; this terminates the player's interest in the hand. The request to surrender is made verbally, there being no standard hand signal. 

Insurance in Blackjack

If the dealer's upcard is an ace, the player is offered the option of taking "insurance" before the dealer checks the hole card.

Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has blackjack and is treated independently of the main wager. It pays 2:1 (meaning the player receives two dollars for every dollar bet) and is available when the dealer's exposed card is an ace. The idea is that the dealer's second card has a fairly high probability (nearly one-third) to be ten-valued, giving the dealer blackjack and disappointment for the player. It is attractive (although not necessarily wise) for the player to insure against the possibility of a dealer blackjack by making a maximum "insurance" bet, in which case the "insurance proceeds" will make up for the concomitant loss on the original bet. The player may add up to half the value of their original bet to the insurance and these extra chips are placed on a portion of the table usually marked "Insurance Pays 2 to 1".

Players with a blackjack may also take insurance, and in taking maximum insurance they commit themselves to winning an amount exactly equal to their main wager, regardless of the dealer's outcome. Fully insuring a blackjack against blackjack is thus referred to as "taking even money", and paid out immediately, before the dealer's hand is resolved; the players need not produce to place more chips for the insurance wager.

Insurance bets are expected to lose money in the long run, because the dealer is likely to have blackjack less than one-third of the time. However the insurance outcome is strongly anti-correlated with that of the main wager, and if the player's priority is to reduce variation, it is reasonable to pay for this.

Furthermore, the insurance bet is susceptible to advantage play. It is advantageous to make an insurance bet whenever the hole card has more than a chance of one in three of being a ten. Advantage play techniques can sometimes identify such situations. In a multi-hand, face-up, single deck game, it is possible to establish whether insurance is a good bet simply by observing the other cards on the table after the deal; even if there are just 2 player hands exposed, and neither of their two initial cards is a ten, then 16 in 47 of the remaining cards are tens, which is larger than 1 in 3, so insurance is a good bet. This is an elementary example of the family of advantage play techniques known as card counting.

Bets to insure against blackjack are slightly less likely to be advantageous than insurance bets in general, since the ten in the player's blackjack makes it less likely that the dealer has blackjack too.