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Pontoon card game online – play free
Pontoon · 8 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · both dealer cards face down · ties lose
How Pontoon differs from blackjack
- Both dealer cards stay face down until the end. You play without seeing any of them. The dealer checks them for a pontoon first; if she has one, she takes every bet at once.
- Your words are different: twist (take a card), stick (stand, only on 15 or more), buy (double your stake for a card, on two to four cards, and you may twist again after it).
- Pontoon (an ace and a ten-value card as your first two cards) pays 2:1. Five cards that do not go over 21 make a five-card trick: the hand stops and pays 2:1.
- Ties lose. The dealer stops on any five cards, and her five-card hand beats everything except a pontoon.
- This table: 8 decks, dealer hits soft 17, split a pair of the same rank up to three hands (aces too), no insurance.
Play chips
Not money. Nothing here can be won or cashed out.
Your decisions
matched the strategy table
Cost of mistakes
average cost of plays that differ from the chart
Session
"Expected" is the house edge for these rules times the amount bet. A result above it is the short-run spread; the average keeps going down.
Pontoon strategy table for this game
Hard totals
| 2 cards | 3 cards | 4 cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | T | – | – |
| 5 | T | – | – |
| 6 | T | T | – |
| 7 | T | T | – |
| 8 | T | T | B |
| 9 | T | B | B |
| 10 | B | B | B |
| 11 | B | B | B |
| 12 | T | T | B |
| 13 | T | T | B |
| 14 | T | T | B |
| 15 | S | S | B |
| 16 | S | S | B |
| 17 | S | S | T |
| 18 | S | S | S |
| 19 | S | S | S |
| 20 | S | S | S |
| 21 | – | S | S |
Soft totals
| 2 cards | 3 cards | 4 cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | T | – | – |
| 13 | T | T | – |
| 14 | T | T | B |
| 15 | T | T | B |
| 16 | T | T | B |
| 17 | T | T | B |
| 18 | T | T | B |
| 19 | S | B | B |
| 20 | S | B | B |
| 21 | – | Bs | B |
After a buy: hard totals
| 2 cards | 3 cards | 4 cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | – | T | – |
| 7 | – | T | – |
| 8 | – | T | T |
| 9 | – | T | T |
| 10 | – | T | T |
| 11 | – | T | T |
| 12 | – | T | T |
| 13 | – | T | T |
| 14 | – | T | T |
| 15 | – | S | T |
| 16 | – | S | T |
| 17 | – | S | T |
| 18 | – | S | S |
| 19 | – | S | S |
| 20 | – | S | S |
| 21 | – | S | S |
After a buy: soft totals
| 2 cards | 3 cards | 4 cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | – | T | – |
| 14 | – | T | T |
| 15 | – | T | T |
| 16 | – | T | T |
| 17 | – | T | T |
| 18 | – | T | T |
| 19 | – | T | T |
| 20 | – | T | T |
| 21 | – | S | T |
Pairs
| 2 cards | |
|---|---|
| 2,2 | T |
| 3,3 | T |
| 4,4 | T |
| 5,5 | B |
| 6,6 | T |
| 7,7 | T |
| 8,8 | P |
| 9,9 | S |
| 10,10 | S |
| A,A | P |
The columns are the number of cards in your hand: there is no dealer card to look at. The cell for your current decision is outlined while you play.
How to play Pontoon
- Place a bet and press Deal. You get two cards face up. The dealer gets two cards face down, and you do not see either of them.
- The dealer checks her cards for a pontoon. If she has one, she turns it over and takes the bets at once. A pontoon of yours only ties it, and ties lose.
- Play your hand. Twist to take another card. Stick to stop, which you may do only on 15 or more (or with five cards). Buy to double your stake and take a card: on two, three or four cards, once per hand, and you may twist again after it. Split two cards of the same rank into two hands.
- Five cards without going over 21 are a five-card trick. The hand stops there.
- When everyone has played, the dealer turns her cards over. She takes cards until she has 17 or more, also takes a card on a soft 17, and stops on any five cards.
- Hands are paid: a pontoon and a five-card trick 2:1, any other winning hand 1:1. If you go over 21 you lose, even if the dealer goes over too.
Hands rank from the top:
- Pontoon: an ace and a ten, J, Q or K, as the first two cards of a hand. After a split it counts too.
- Five-card trick: any five cards totalling 21 or less. All five-card tricks are equal.
- 21 or less with four cards or fewer, higher total first.
In blackjack words: twist is hit, stick is stand and buy is double.
Source
“Hit is called "twist", stand is called "stick", and double is called "buy".”
www.beatingbonuses.com, page saved 4 October 2026
Rules of this game
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Cards | 8 decks of 52 cards. Cards count as in blackjack: 2–10 at face value, J, Q and K 10, an ace 1 or 11. The game above reshuffles when about three quarters of the shoe has been dealt. |
| Dealer's cards | Both face down. The dealer checks for a pontoon before you play; a dealer pontoon takes the bets at once. There is no insurance. |
| Stick | Only on 15 or more, or on five cards. With less you must twist or buy. |
| Buy | Double your stake for one more card, on two to four cards, once per hand, also after a split. After a buy you may keep twisting. |
| Split | Two cards of the same rank, up to three hands, aces too. Split aces are played like any hand, and an ace with a ten after a split is a pontoon. |
| Five-card trick | Five cards without going over 21. Pays 2:1 and beats every dealer hand except a pontoon and her own five cards. |
| Dealer | Takes cards to 17, takes a card on soft 17, stops on any five cards. Her five-card hand beats everything except a pontoon. |
| Ties | Lose. A tie of pontoons and a tie of five-card hands lose too. |
These are the rules Wizard of Odds lists for the online Pontoon of Real Time Gaming and Playtech. Pontoon rules vary between games; the game above and every number on this page use exactly these.
Source
“The dealer will also stop with any five-card hand.”
wizardofodds.com, page saved 4 October 2026
Pontoon vs blackjack
| Pontoon (this game) | Classic blackjack | |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer's cards | Both face down until the end | One face up, one face down |
| Best hand | Pontoon, pays 2:1 | Blackjack, usually pays 3:2 |
| Five cards | Five-card trick, pays 2:1 | Just a total, unless the table has a Charlie rule |
| Ties | Dealer wins | Push, your bet comes back |
| Standing | Only on 15 or more | On any total |
| Doubling | Buy on two to four cards, then keep twisting | Double on the first two cards, for one card only |
| House edge | 0.43% with this table's strategy | 0.62% (6 decks, dealer hits soft 17, 3:2) |
Losing ties and not seeing a dealer card cost you; the 2:1 pontoons and five-card tricks, and buying on more cards, work for you. The rules of classic blackjack are on their own page.
Pontoon strategy
You never see a dealer card, so the strategy table has no dealer columns. What changes the play is the number of cards in your hand: four cards are one step from a five-card trick, which pays 2:1 and beats even the dealer's 21.
- Buy on hard 10 and 11 with any number of cards.
- Stick on hard 15 or more with two cards; with four cards, buy on hard 8–16 and on soft 14–21, and twist on hard 17.
- With three cards, buy on soft 19–21. A soft 21 does not end your hand: with four cards, buying it makes a sure five-card trick on a doubled stake, because no card can take it over 21.
- Split only 8s and aces. Buy with a pair of 5s.
- After a buy, the table "After a buy" under the game says when to twist again.
The full table for this game is under it, and the cell for your decision is outlined while you play. Turn on Show the chart's play before I act in Table settings to see the play first.
House edge
| Rules | Our calculation | Published by Wizard of Odds |
|---|---|---|
| This game: 8 decks, dealer hits soft 17, split aces played like any hand | 0.43% | 0.38% |
| Microgaming version: dealer stands on soft 17, one card on each split ace | 0.37% | 0.39% |
Source
“The house edge is 0.38% under the default rules listed above. These rules are followed by Real Time Gaming, Playtech, Galewind Software, and Cryptologic.”
wizardofodds.com, page saved 4 October 2026
Source
“At Microgaming casinos the rules are the same except split aces get one card each and the dealer stands on soft 17, in which case the house edge is 0.39%.”
wizardofodds.com, page saved 4 October 2026
Our strategy table matches the one Wizard of Odds publishes for these rules in every cell. The gap of a fraction of a percent between the two numbers most likely comes from details of the rules that the game providers do not publish.
How the numbers are worked out
An exact calculation over the cards in the shoe: every hand you can hold, for every number of cards, with the dealer's two hidden cards and her five-card stop. An independent simulator of our own, written without access to the calculation, reproduces the house edge within its margin of error. The game above was checked the same way: playing by the table over many millions of rounds, its result matched the calculation. Split hands are treated as independent.
The family card game of the same name, played at home, has its own rules that change from table to table. This page is about Pontoon as online casinos deal it.
For standard blackjack with the rules you choose, play the classic blackjack simulator.
Every game on this site side by side, with its rules and house edge: types of blackjack.
Keys: T twist, S stick, B buy, P split, Enter deal, F full screen.