Maths checked by Josh Miller · updated Nov 2026How we calculate →
Pontoon is Britain’s home version of twenty-one: get closer to 21 than the banker without going over. The pontoon rules below cover the full game, and the free hand checker above adds up your cards, spots a pontoon or five card trick, and tells you the chance your next card busts you. Holding 7 and 6, that chance is 38.5%.
Pontoon rules
- The deal. The banker deals everyone, banker included, one card face down. Players look and bet. Then a second card each, still face down.
- Pontoon check. An ace and a ten-value card is a pontoon, the best hand in the game. A player with one turns the ace face up.
- Your turn. Going round the table, each player can:
- Stick: stop. You need at least 15 to stick.
- Buy: put up more money (up to your first stake) for a face-down card.
- Twist: take a free face-up card. Once you’ve twisted, you can’t buy again.
- Bust. Go over 21 and you hand your cards in at once. Your stake is lost, even if the banker busts later.
- The banker plays last, turning over both cards and twisting as they like, then pays anyone with a better hand. The banker wins ties.
What beats what in pontoon
- Pontoon: ace plus a 10, jack, queen or king in two cards. Usually pays double.
- Five card trick: five cards totalling 21 or less. Beats everything but a pontoon, usually pays double.
- 21 with three or four cards.
- Everything else by total, closest to 21 wins.
House rules vary a lot. Some tables let you split pairs, some make the banker pay ties, some let a player who gets a pontoon take over the bank. Agree before the first deal.
Pontoon strategy
- Know your bust chance. On a hard 12 it’s 30.8%: only the 16 ten-value cards bust you. On 14 it’s 46.2%, on 15 it’s 53.8%, on 16 it’s 61.5%. Because you can’t stick below 15, a hard 14 is a forced twist with a near coin-flip of busting.
- Soft hands are free. With an ace counted as 11 you can’t bust on the next card. Soft 17 or 18 is often worth another card.
- Think about the five card trick. With four small cards, say 2, 3, 4 and 5 for 14, a fifth card busts you only if it’s an 8 or higher: 46.2%. A trick that pays double makes that worth taking.
- Buy on strong starts, twist on weak ones. Buy when your first two cards are 10 or 11 and a big card would help most. Twist when you’re just trying to scrape to 15.
- Take the bank when you can. Winning ties is a big edge. Over a night, the banker almost always comes out ahead.
Casino blackjack plays differently, with the dealer showing a card and fixed rules. For that, use the blackjack strategy chart. To add up a hand by the blackjack rules, try blackjack card values.