Pontoon card game: Australian casino rules and house edge

Key facts

Australian casino pontoon is dealt from 48-card decks with the four 10s removed. A Pontoon is an ace with a jack, queen or king, and it pays 3 to 2 even if the dealer also gets one.
Any hand of 21 wins and is paid immediately, before the dealer takes a second card. Five card 21s, 6-7-8 and 7-7-7 pay bonuses of 3 to 2 up to 3 to 1.
The ACT's approved rules allow 3 to 8 decks and splitting to four hands; Crown Melbourne's allow 4 to 8 decks and three hands. Both have the dealer hitting soft 17.
In our calculation, with correct play and one split, the house edge is about 0.24% with 3 decks, 0.35% with 6 and 0.38% with 8. Crown's 6 to 5 Pontoon raises it to about 1.61%.
The super bonus for three suited 7s against a dealer 7 comes along about once in 640,000 hands, but when you hold suited 7s against a 7 it turns hitting into the right play for most bet sizes.

Pontoon in Australian casinos

In an Australian casino, pontoon is a version of blackjack played without the 10 cards. Jacks, queens and kings stay in, so a Pontoon, the game's version of blackjack, is an ace with a picture card. Each state regulator approves the exact rules. Two published rule books describe it in detail:

Casino Canberra: the ACT's Casino Control (Pontoon) Approval 2018 (No 1), in force since October 2018.
Crown Melbourne: the Crown Pontoon rules inside its blackjack rules, version 29.0, approved by the VGCCC on 5 May 2026. Crown's Spanish Blackjack is played under the same rules.

Queensland's rule book has no game called pontoon, but its Spanish blackjack schedule is the same game in all but name; our Spanish 21 guide covers that version and the strategy changes in detail.

How a round of pontoon plays

The ACT rules set out a round in the order it happens at the table:

Bets. Up to three players can bet on one box; the player seated there makes the decisions.
Initial deal. All cards are face up. Each box gets one card, the dealer one card, then each box a second card. The dealer does not take a second card yet.
Insurance. If the dealer's card is an ace, you can insure for up to half your bet, paid at 2 to 1.
Interim settlement. Any player with a Pontoon is paid 3 to 2 straight away, whatever the dealer is showing.
Surrender. If the dealer shows a jack, queen, king or ace, you may give up half your bet. If the dealer then makes Pontoon, the surrender is cancelled and you lose the whole bet.
Your play. Split, double, draw or stand. Any hand that reaches 21 is paid at once at the bonus odds and removed. With a hard total under 12 you must draw unless you double.
Dealer's hand. The dealer draws to a hard 16 or soft 17, and stands on hard 17 or soft 18 and above.
Final settlement. Higher total wins, ties stand off, and a dealer Pontoon beats every hand that has not already been paid.

Step 6 is the heart of the game. Because the dealer's second card has not been dealt, a 21 you make cannot be beaten by a dealer Pontoon that turns up later.

Pontoon rules: ACT and Crown side by side

Rule	ACT (Casino Canberra)	Crown Melbourne (Crown Pontoon)
Decks	3 to 8 decks of 48	4 to 8 decks of 48
Pontoon	3 to 2, wins even against a dealer Pontoon	3 to 2, paid regardless of the dealer's first card
Doubling	Original two cards, split hands, or any hand under 21 with three or more cards	Original two cards (not a Pontoon), split hands except aces, or any hand under 21 with three or more cards
Withdrawing a double	Allowed if the hand is 21 or less; you forfeit the original bet	Allowed on the same terms
Doubled hands	Paid 1 to 1, no bonus odds	Paid 1 to 1, no bonus odds
Splitting	Up to four hands; aces once, one card each	Up to three hands; aces once, one card each
Dealer Pontoon after you double or split	Takes only your original bet	Takes only your original bet
Surrender	Against J, Q, K or A; void on dealer Pontoon	The same
Dealer	Hits soft 17	Hits soft 17

Pontoon payouts

Both rule books use the same pay table for winning hands that were not doubled:

Winning hand	Odds
Pontoon (ace and a picture card, first two cards)	3 to 2
21 made with exactly five cards	3 to 2
21 made with exactly six cards	2 to 1
21 made with seven cards or more	3 to 1
6, 7, 8 or three 7s as the first three cards, mixed suits	3 to 2
The same, all one suit other than spades	2 to 1
The same, all spades	3 to 1
Every other winning hand	1 to 1

The super bonus. Three 7s of the same suit, with the dealer's first card any 7, pay a fixed $1,000 on a bet under $25 or $5,000 on $25 or more (Crown's rules say $2 to $24 for the smaller prize). Every other bet in that round, winning or losing, receives $50. Splitting a pair of suited 7s forfeits it.

Pontoon house edge

We solved the game for the ACT and Crown rules with correct strategy, allowing one split per hand. The extra resplits both rule books allow would lower these figures slightly.

Decks of 48 cards	House edge in our calculation
3	about 0.24%
4	about 0.30%
6	about 0.35%
8	about 0.38%

That puts well played pontoon below ordinary Australian blackjack, which we calculate at 0.55% with 6 decks; the chart for that ordinary game is in our blackjack strategy guide. The bonuses do real work: without them the 6 deck figure would be about 0.72%. The super bonus is left out because its value depends on your bet; at small bets it trims the edge a little further.

Crown also lists a 6 to 5 Pontoon, which keeps every rule except the Pontoon payout. Cutting 3 to 2 to 6 to 5 lifts the 6 deck house edge to about 1.61% in our calculation, more than four times the standard game. The same rule book names other variations, such as Pontoon Pandemonium and Magnificent Sevens, each with its own rules; read the table sign before assuming any of the numbers above.

Strategy: suited sevens against a dealer 7

Most pontoon strategy matches the Spanish 21 chart: hit more stiff hands, chase bonuses, hit hard 17 against an ace. The super bonus adds one special case that is worth knowing.

Say you hold two 7s of the same suit and the dealer shows a 7. On the base game alone, splitting is better: in our 6 deck calculation, splitting averages about minus 8 cents per $1 bet and hitting about minus 24 cents. But hitting keeps the super bonus alive, and about 1.4% of the time the next card is the third 7 of your suit:

Your bet	Super bonus	Hitting, with the bonus, per $1	Splitting, per $1
$10	$1,000	about +1.17	about minus 0.08
$24	$1,000	about +0.35	about minus 0.08
$25	$5,000	about +2.57	about minus 0.08
$100	$5,000	about +0.46	about minus 0.08
$500	$5,000	about minus 0.10	about minus 0.08

So for almost every realistic bet, hit suited 7s against a 7. The chance of the whole super bonus combination turning up on a given hand is tiny, about 1 in 640,000 with 6 decks, so this matters rarely, but it is the one place where the pay table and the chart pull in opposite directions.

Pundit tip: the super bonus is a fixed dollar prize, so its value shrinks as your bet grows. It is 100 times a $10 bet but only 10 times a $500 bet, which is why the right play flips at high stakes.

Pontoon side bets

Pairs bets are common at pontoon tables, and the missing 10s make pairs more likely: about 8.0% of first two cards with 6 decks of 48. The pay tables decide the price:

Side bet	Pay table	House edge, our calculation
Crown Pairs (Crown Pontoon)	25, 10 and 5 to 1	6.62% with 6 decks, 4.44% with 8
Perfect Pairs (ACT)	25, 12 and 6 to 1	6.99% with 3 decks, 2.62% with 4
Pairs Play (ACT)	11 to 1 for any pair	7.69% with 3 decks, 5.76% with 4, 3.83% with 6

Deck count changes these a lot, so ask how many decks are in the shoe. The full list of blackjack side bets, with their odds, is in our blackjack side bets guide.

Where pontoon fits

Pontoon is one of the cheaper ways to gamble in an Australian casino, provided you play it as pontoon and not as ordinary blackjack. Our online blackjack Australia guide compares it with every other blackjack version, and the house edge table puts it beside roulette, baccarat and the rest. Online pontoon counts as a casino game, so it cannot legally be offered to people in Australia, and ACMA blocks offshore sites that offer it.

Our partner sites

Terms checked 8 to 9 October 2026

We earn a commission if you join through these links; it pays for the site and does not change the facts we show. Listed in no particular order. Every detail comes from the casino's own terms, except ACMA notes, which come from ACMA's blocked list. These are offshore casinos without an Australian licence, so BetStop and Australian dispute services do not cover them: read whether online pokies are legal in Australia and our affiliate disclosure.Commission links. Offshore sites with no Australian licence or BetStop cover: is it legal?

LuckyOnes

Partner · termsTerms checked 9 Oct 2026

Visit LuckyOnesVisit 18+ Affiliate link · T&Cs apply

Withdrawals: AUD 6,000 a day
Max bet (bonus): AUD 8
Min deposit: AUD 30

Names no licence or operating company in its terms or footer
luckyones.com, luckyones1.com and luckyones7.com are on ACMA's blocked list (8 Oct 2026)Main domain on ACMA's blocked list

Wild Tokyo

Partner · termsTerms checked 8 Oct 2026

Visit Wild TokyoVisit 18+ Affiliate link · T&Cs apply

Withdrawals (entry): AUD 800 a day
Max bet (bonus): AUD 8
Monthly cap (entry): AUD 13,000

States a Curacao eGaming licence (no number shown)

18+ Offers and terms change often; the casino's own terms always apply. Never gamble money you need. Free help: Gambling Help 1800 858 858, 24/7.

Frequently asked questions

What are the rules of pontoon in Australian casinos?

Pontoon is played with 48-card decks that have no 10s. You try to beat the dealer without going over 21. A Pontoon (ace and picture card) pays 3 to 2 and always wins, any 21 wins and is paid at once, you can double on any number of cards, and the dealer draws to soft 17.

What does a Pontoon pay?

3 to 2, paid as soon as it is dealt, whatever the dealer is showing. Crown Melbourne's 6 to 5 Pontoon variation pays only 6 to 5, which costs about 1.26% of each bet in our calculation.

Is pontoon the same as blackjack?

It is a blackjack variation. The deck has no 10s, which helps the casino, and several rules help you: your 21s always win, you can double on three or more cards, you can withdraw a double, and some 21s pay bonuses. In our calculation the result is a slightly lower house edge than ordinary Australian blackjack.

What is the house edge in pontoon?

About 0.35% with 6 decks in our calculation, assuming you play the strategy the rules call for and split once. With 3 decks it is about 0.24% and with 8 decks about 0.38%. Side bets such as Crown Pairs cost much more.

Can you surrender in pontoon?

Yes, for half your bet, but only when the dealer's first card is a jack, queen, king or ace, and the surrender is cancelled if the dealer then makes Pontoon. Because your 21s are paid before the dealer's second card, it is rarely worth taking.