Real Deal Pontoon

Real Deal Pontoon - Information & Game Rules

The aim of Pontoon is to beat the house by gaining a hand of two or more cards with a greater value than the house, without exceeding 21.. A hand of 22 or over automatically ends the game in favour of the house (a [bust]). In the event of a tie, the house has the advantage and will win the hand. Cards in Pontoon are worth their face value, with the exception of Kings, Queens and Jacks, which are worth 10, and Aces which are worth either 1 or 11.

Any player with a 'Pontoon' (an Ace and any 10-value card), or a 'Five-card trick' (five cards totalling 21 points or fewer) is paid 2:1. Any other winning hand is paid evens (1:1).

Note

  • Your winnings will be credited to your account immediately.
  • You will lose your stake amount if you lose the game.

How to play

Select your stake by clicking on a chip with a suitable value upon it from the bottom of the screen. The chip will rise and the edge of the chip will rotate, indicating that it has been selected for betting. Click on the table betting area (highlighted circles) to place a bet at the value of the chip selected. If desired, each additional click will add one unit of the chip value selected to the bet.

Click on a different chip at the bottom of the screen to change the chip value for betting. It is possible to mix chip values on the same bet. The total currency value is displayed in the stake field at the top of the game. Hover the mouse over the bets to display the values staked on each hand.

The following buttons are now available:

  • Click the Clear All button to remove all chips from the table. You can change your stake at this stage and select new chip values.
  • Click the Double Bets button to double the value of your stakes. You can keep doubling your bets as long as you have sufficient funds.
  • Click the Undo button to undo the last action.
  • Click the Deal button to start the game.

The cards are dealt from the shoe on the right of the screen. Two cards will be dealt to each hand you are playing and two cards to the dealer. The dealer's cards are placed face down. The dealer will peek at her hand to see if she has Pontoon; if she has, she will turn the cards over immediately and your stake will be lost and the game ends, regardless of your hand. If she does not, the game continues. Your cards are placed face up. Each of your hands is played one at time from the right. An arrow indicator shows which hand is being played.

The value of your first hand will appear above the cards. If you have Pontoon (21) on your first hand, the game will automatically stick that hand and move directly to your next hand.

If you do not have 21, you can either take more cards ('twist') or remain at your current total ('stick'). Should you decide to continue to take more cards, click the Twist button until you have either gone over 21 ('bust') or you wish to retain your card total and call a 'stick'(i.e. click the Stick button. You may stick on any total greater or equal to 15, or on any 5-card hand. Depending upon your card values, you may also be offered options to 'Buy' or 'Split' your hand. These options and others are discussed in more detail in the 'Special Plays' section.

Should you decide to 'Stick', the dealer will then reveal their cards. Whether the dealer can now draw any more cards depends on the total of their hand. If the dealer's hand totals less than 17, they must draw another card. If the dealer's hand equals 17 or over, they may not draw any more cards unless the dealer has a soft 17 (an Ace card and a six), then another card must be drawn. If the dealer's total is less than 17, they continue to draw cards until reaching a value equal to or greater than 17, or a five-card trick (five cards totalling 21 or fewer) is achieved.

Winning or losing the game

  • If the dealer busts, you win the game.
  • If any of your hands bust, the hand is placed on the table and you immediately lose the bet for that hand.
  • If any of your hands are higher than the dealers, without going over 21, you win the bet for that hand.
  • If the dealer's hand is higher than any of yours, without going over 21, the dealer wins the bet for that hand.
  • If both your hand and the dealer's hand are the same (a 'push'), the dealer wins the bet.
  • If you or the dealer attains a 5-card hand without going over 21, it is considered a five-card trick. When this happens, stick is automatically selected. This hand is only surpassed by Pontoon.

Rebetting

  • Click the Rebet + Deal button to repeat the last bet with the same number of hands and the same stakes AND deal the cards. Note: This action cannot be undone when selected.
  • Click the Rebet button to repeat the last bet with the same number of hands and the same stakes WITHOUT dealing the cards. You may want to alter the stakes at this stage. Note: This action cannot be undone when selected.
  • Click the Rebet x 2 + Deal button to repeat the last bet with the same number of hands and DOUBLE the stakes AND deal the cards. Note: This action cannot be undone when selected.
  • Click the New Game button to clear all bets and start a new game.

Rules

  • 8 decks of cards, re-shuffled after each round.
  • The dealer must hit on 16 or soft 17.
  • The dealer must stand on a hard 17.
  • Player must hit on 14 or fewer.

Special plays

Special plays will appear as buttons during the course of the game, when you have the option to play them on any of your hands. The rules that govern these special plays are as follows:

Split

If your first two cards are of identical value, you may split them and place an additional bet (equal to your original bet) to play two hands instead of one. Each of the cards then becomes the start of a new hand. Each split hand is played out one hand at a time.

You may re-split ONE of the split hands (if they are of identical value), playing up to a maximum of three hands at any one time. Therefore, if you were playing all five hands, and you split all of the hands (because all of the cards were identical value) - you would have 15 hands in a single game (the theoretical maximum).

You may twist and double after splitting, including Aces.

Pontoon is possible on a split hand and paid 2:1.

Each split/re-split hand can win in its own right; payouts are identical to non-split hands.

Buy

This option enables you to double your initial bet. You may double when you have two to four cards, but only once per hand. This includes after splitting, and once for each split hand. You may twist after doubling.

Soft

This is displayed alongside an Ace card when your hand is low enough for the Ace card to be assigned its higher value of 11 without going bust. For instance, where an Ace is the first or second card to be drawn. You can always draw at least one card to a soft hand without busting.

Game results

After you have finalised your hand, the dealer will then finalise theirs. The results of the game are clearly displayed by each hand and any winnings are displayed in the Paid field in the top bar.

Bets and payouts

  • Pontoon payout is 2:1
  • Five-card trick payout is 2:1
  • Winning hand (excluding Pontoon and Five-card trick) payout is Evens
  • Same as dealer (push) then dealer wins and you lose your stake
  • Bust (any hand totalling 22 or over) you lose your stake

Card deck

Pontoon uses eight full card decks, which are reshuffled after every hand and played with a 52-card deck.

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