Pontoon card game rules and odds

What is the pontoon card game?

Pontoon is a British twenty-one game, a close relative of blackjack that grew from the same eighteenth-century roots. The English game vingt-un was the immediate ancestor of blackjack, and pontoon is the popular British member of that family. The name is most likely a corruption of the French vingt-et-un, as the Wikipedia history of blackjack (opens in a new tab) notes.

Many people in the UK first met pontoon at the kitchen table, with words like twist (take a card) and stick (stop drawing). The version you meet at an online casino is a tidier, fixed-rule game with its own odds. This page is about that casino version, because that is the one with a published house edge and a payout table you can check.

If you want the family tree in more depth, our history of blackjack covers vingt-un, the first printed rules of 1800 and the American renaming around the time of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Three games called pontoon: which one are you playing?

The word pontoon is stretched across three different games, and mixing them up leads to some costly assumptions. Wizard of Odds points out that what Australians call Pontoon is the game Americans call Spanish 21, played with the tens removed, and that it is a separate game from the online Pontoon found in casino lobbies.

When a UK casino tile simply says Pontoon, it is almost always the second game in the table. The rest of this page follows the rules that Wizard of Odds analyses in its online Pontoon rules and house edge (opens in a new tab) page, which it says Real Time Gaming, Playtech and several other studios follow.

Online pontoon rules, step by step through a hand

The standard online pontoon game uses eight 52-card decks. You get two cards face up and the dealer gets two cards face down, with no up card at all. If the dealer's hidden pair is a pontoon, it is revealed at once and every bet loses. Otherwise you play your hand under these rules:

• Twist (hit): you may take a card at any point, even after doubling.
• Stick (stand): only on a total of 15 or more, or on any five-card hand. On 14 or less you must keep drawing.
• Double: allowed on two, three or four cards, once per hand, including on hands made by splitting.
• Split: two cards of equal rank may be split, with one re-split allowed for up to three hands. Split aces may draw and double.
• Bust: going over 21 loses straight away, before the dealer plays.

After all players finish, the dealer turns both cards over and draws to 17 or more, hitting soft 17 in the standard game. The dealer also stops on any five-card hand. In the Microgaming version, Wizard of Odds records that split aces get one card each and the dealer stands on soft 17.

Pontoon hand rankings

Unlike blackjack, pontoon ranks hands by type before it looks at the total. A five-card 16 beats a three-card 21. The order, from best to worst, is:

1. Pontoon: an ace with any ten-value card, including on a split hand.
2. Five-card trick: any five cards that haven't gone over 21. All five-card tricks rank the same, whatever the total.
3. 21 or less with four cards or fewer: ranked by total, so 21 beats 20, 20 beats 19 and so on.
4. Bust: any hand over 21, which always loses.

Because a five-card trick ranks above an ordinary 21, there are moments when drawing a fifth card to a small four-card hand makes sense even though the total is already decent. Blackjack players who are used to five-card charlie style rules will recognise the idea, but in pontoon it is built into the main game.

Pontoon payouts and odds compared with blackjack

Pontoon's payouts are simple: 2 to 1 for a pontoon or a five-card trick, even money for any other win. Compare that with blackjack, which pays a natural at 3 to 2 at good tables and 6 to 5 at poor ones (see blackjack payouts).

How often does a pontoon turn up? From a full eight-deck shoe there are 416 cards, 32 aces and 128 ten-value cards. The chance of a two-card pontoon is 2 × 32/416 × 128/415, about 4.75%, or roughly once every 21 hands. Getting paid 2 to 1 instead of 3 to 2 on those hands is worth an extra £5 on a £10 bet each time, and that money helps pay for the ties you lose.

Why pontoon ties lose and the dealer hides both cards

The two rules that make pontoon feel harsh are linked to the two that make it generous. Losing every tie is a big cost: in blackjack a push hands your stake back, while in pontoon the same result takes it. The bigger natural payout, the five-card trick and the flexible doubling are how the game gives that value back.

Hiding both dealer cards also changes how you think. In blackjack, a dealer 6 tells you to stand on a stiff hand and let the dealer bust. In pontoon you have no such clue, and the rule that you can't stick below 15 takes away the option of standing on 12 to 14 anyway. That is one reason pontoon strategy is quite different from a blackjack strategy chart.

The dealer's instant win with a hidden pontoon is similar to a dealer checking for blackjack. Wizard of Odds records that all wagers are collected at once, so you never put extra money in on a hand that has already lost.

Pontoon house edge and what it costs in pounds

The standard online pontoon rules carry a house edge of 0.38% according to Wizard of Odds, and the Microgaming version 0.39%. Its survey of online games also lists a Playtech Pontoon (eight decks, dealer hits soft 17) at 0.32%. Different studios use slightly different rules, so the figure for any one table is in its help screen.

The house edge is the average share of each bet the casino keeps over a very large number of hands. Short sessions can be far better or worse. Here is the average cost at £5 a hand:

So pontoon is one of the cheaper table games you can play, as long as you play it correctly. Using blackjack habits, such as standing on 13, isn't even allowed, and doubling the way a blackjack chart says will cost more than the published edge. Our cost per hour guide shows how to scale these figures to your own pace.

Pontoon strategy: playing without a dealer card

Without a dealer up card, every decision in pontoon depends only on your own hand. That makes the strategy shorter than blackjack's, but some of it feels odd. These principles follow from the rules rather than from any particular chart:

• You must draw on 14 or less, so the only real decision on low totals is whether to double.
• Doubling on three or four cards is allowed, so a small three-card total such as 10 or 11 can still be worth doubling.
• A four-card hand that can't bust with one more card is worth drawing to, because a five-card trick pays 2 to 1 and beats any 21.
• Ties lose, so standing on 15 or 16 is weaker than it looks: the dealer only has to match you.
• Splitting aces is usually strong, because a split ace plus a ten-value card counts as a pontoon.

A full pontoon chart is published by Wizard of Odds. If you play regularly, learn it rather than adapting a blackjack chart, and never treat any chart as a way to make money: the best it can do is bring the cost down to roughly the 0.38% figure.

How to play online pontoon

1. Open the rules panel and check the deck count, the dealer's soft 17 rule and how split aces are handled.
2. Choose your chip and place one bet within the table limits.
3. Receive two cards face up; the dealer takes two face down. If the dealer has a pontoon, the hand ends there.
4. If you have a pontoon, stick and wait to be paid 2 to 1.
5. Otherwise twist until you reach at least 15, doubling on two to four cards if your strategy says so, or split a pair.
6. On four cards, consider drawing for a five-card trick when one more card can't bust you.
7. Once you stick, the dealer reveals both cards and draws to 17 or a five-card hand.
8. Higher-ranked hands win; ties go to the dealer. Collect any winnings before deciding whether to play again.

Pontoon online in the UK: RNG tables and the rules that apply

Pontoon in the UK is mainly an RNG game. Live dealer versions are far less common than live blackjack, so if you want a human dealer you will usually be playing blackjack rather than pontoon. Check the casino's game lobby for the tables it lists.

Every UK-licensed table game follows the Gambling Commission's design rules: no autoplay, a minimum of five seconds per game cycle, no playing several games at once, and your net spend and time played shown in real time. The £5 and £2 stake limits are for online slots only, so pontoon tables can have higher maximum bets. Credit cards can't be used, and your age and identity must be checked before you can play, even in demo mode.

For a direct look at how the two games differ in practice, read our blackjack against pontoon comparison.

Who pontoon suits

Pontoon suits players who like a quick, low-edge card game with fewer decisions on low totals and a bigger payout on naturals. It is less suited to anyone who leans on the dealer's up card when deciding, or who finds losing ties frustrating.

Pontoon and our partner casinos

None of our partners' welcome deals is aimed at pontoon. The Coral offer is a slot offer, 10bet's bonus must be wagered on slots, and Casumo's comes with game restrictions, so table games like pontoon are often excluded or count for less. Look in each casino's game lobby to see whether pontoon is listed, and read the terms first. 18+ and terms apply.

• Casumo: 50% of your first deposit as a bonus, up to £100, for new customers who opt in and deposit at least £20; wager the bonus 10x within 7 days, with a £5 maximum bet while it is active. Game, play and payment restrictions apply.
• 10bet Casino: a 100% match up to £25 for new UK customers who pick the casino welcome bonus at sign-up and deposit within 7 days; wager it 10x on slots within 3 days. Maximum bonus winnings are £1,000 and Skrill and Neteller deposits are excluded.
• Coral Casino: deposit (certain types excluded) and bet £10 on slots to get 100 free spins at 10p each on selected games, with no wagering on spin winnings. You have 48 hours to accept and 7 days to use them; the offer runs from 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.