Pontoon Blackjack

Game Overview

Blackjack is an exciting multi-hand Blackjack that allows you to play up to 3 simultaneous hands of Blackjack. Each hand plays only against the dealer (i.e. the bank), independently of other hands. Six (6) decks of cards are used to play. Your goal as the player is to draw cards (i.e. hit) until your hand adds up to 21, or comes as close as possible without exceeding 21. If your first two cards total 21, you have Blackjack.

Basic Blackjack Rules

If the total value of your cards is closer to 21 than the dealer's, you win as much as you have wagered. If you have Blackjack, you win 3 to 2 times your bet (assuming the dealer does not also have Blackjack). Aces count as either 1 or 11, dressed cards as 10, and remaining cards according to their number values. If the total of your cards exceeds 21, you bust and lose your wager. If you have the same card total as the dealer, from 17 and up, no one wins and you get your stake back in a so-called stand off. Blackjack beats a score of 21.

The Blackjack game at our Casino follows the standard "Las Vegas Strip" rules, with the following exceptions:
· The deck is shuffled after each round.
· The player may split only once.
· The player may double after splitting.
· The dealer only checks for Blackjack if his open card is an Ace and insurance is taken.

Pontoon Rules

Players will want to get closer to '21' than the dealer does without busting. The dealers' hands can also bust (they must hit soft 17s), which players will win from, or players can get a "Pontoon" which is another way of saying a "blackjack" or "21."  But while the objective of Pontoon is the same as blackjack, some of the rules are not.

For starters, one key difference is that when you 'push' with the dealer, you do not tie and get your wager back. In Pontoon, all pushes are losses for the player. Additionally, players cannot 'stand' whenever they'd like. All hands valued at 14 or less must be hit. Players can only stand on hands valued at 15 or higher.

The biggest difference though has to be that the dealers hand is dealt completely faced down. This will obviously eliminate much of the strategy used in standard blackjack games. However, despite some of the setbacks that these rules create, there are a few more rules that will work to a player's advantage.

The dealers do not play their hands until the all of the action is completed from the players. In fact, they don't even check for natural 21s. This enables players to catch up and create a 21 from their hand which is ruled to beat the natural 21s that the dealers have.

Players can only double down once, but unlike blackjack, they can still hit their hand afterward. This is a huge advantage in itself since we've all been in the situation in blackjack where we try to double down on an 11 only to see our 3rd card be dealt a 3 and have to stand.

Hands can also be split up to two times. The exception to this would be when a player is dealt AA; they could only split their hands once and will only receive one card for each hand.

The last aspect of Pontoon that will give players a significant edge will be what's referred to as the "5-card trick." This pays out odds of 2:1 if players can hit their hand and receive up to 5 cards total without going over 21. The odds of this being possible will increase as the number of decks in play increase.

Betting

The player places a bet by placing the cursor on the desired chip and clicking with the left mouse button and place the bet in the 'place bet'field on the table. The wagered chip will appear in the betting box on the Blackjack table. The player can retract a bet before the game begins by clicking on the wagered chip with the left mouse button.

Betting Limits Lucky joker blackjack

The minimum wager in the normal stake Blackjack game is 1.00, and the maximum wager is 50.00.

Betting Limits Lucky joker blackjack - low stakes

The minimum wager in the normal stake Blackjack game is 0.20, and the maximum wager is 5.00.

Betting Limits Lucky joker blackjack - high limit

The minimum wager in the normal stake Blackjack game is 5.00, and the maximum wager is 200.00.

Split

If your first two cards are of the same value, you may split them into two separate hands, placing a second wager of equal value. You then proceed to draw cards as usual. However, if you split two Aces, you get only one additional card for each hand. If you split two Aces and one of your hands totals 21, this is not considered Blackjack, but 21.

Double

When you have been dealt two cards, and think that a third card will give you a position to beat the dealer's hand, you can double. Your wager is doubled, and you are allowed to hit and receive just one additional card.

Insurance

Insurance is a game of its own within Blackjack, and gives you the chance to protect yourself when you believe that the dealer might have Blackjack. If the dealer's first card is an Ace, he is considered to have a fair chance of getting Blackjack. If you believe that the dealer's dark card is of value 10, you may buy insurance against dealer Blackjack at the price of half your initial bet. If the dealer does have Blackjack, the insurance pays 2 to 1, corresponding to the amount of your initial bet. If you have bought insurance, and the dealer does not have Blackjack, you lose your insurance. Your initial bet is then settled by comparing your cards with the dealer's. Should you and the dealer both have Blackjack, the game results in a push.

Rules for the Dealer

The dealer must draw cards until he has at least 17, and must stand at 17 or higher. If the dealer gets 16, he must take another card. The dealer may not decide whether or not to draw a card based on your hand, but must abide by the existing dealer rules.

Payouts  Blackjack 3 to 2
Insurance 2 to 1
Win 1 to 1

Placing a Bet:

To place a bet, select a chip denomination from the lower right-hand corner of your screen. Once selected, click on the desired bet marker on the table to place a bet. Continue to click on the bet markers to increase your bet.

Removing a Bet:

To remove a single chip, click on with your left mouse button on the chip in the betting box, you want to remove.