Key Scenarios Needed to Master Pontoon

Pontoon is a blackjack-like game with a few major changes. There is no dealer up card, so you have to play completely based off of the information you get from your own hand. You also have to learn how to use the number of cards that are in your hand as a key piece of information since your hand becomes more valuable with more cards because five cards will give you a hand that’s only beaten by a natural 21 (called a pontoon in this game). We’re going to look at a few key scenarios that will help you to get used to these rules and that will help you to get a feel for pontoon.

When you have a hard hand, there are three groups of hands that you can double with, and these are extremely important to know and play with a 100 percent accuracy because they are such a big part of your overall payout rate. With two cards, you’re only going to double with the traditional totals of 10 and 11 that are so strong in blackjack-like games. A hard 9 isn’t strong enough to double until you have at least three cards in your hand, and that’s fairly easy to remember. If you have four cards, however, then your hand is exceptionally strong, and you should double if you have a 16 or lower. That might seem excessive, but it’s always profitable with a 16 or lower if you have four cards. Note that you’re only going to hit with a 17 and stand with 18 or more with four cards.

Doubling with soft hands is the next type of situation to learn. You can double once in any hand with any number of cards, so you’re never going to double with just two cards if you have a soft hand. If you have three cards, then you will double on soft hands with 19, 20 or 21. Doubling on 21 is something you have to get used to in this game since it comes up a lot with soft hands. You’re always going to double if you have four cards to a soft hand since it’s impossible to bust and you’re guaranteed to have a five-card hand. If you don’t double with a soft hand, then you hit unless you have three cards to a 21 or two cards to a 19, 20 or 21 when you will stand instead.