Pontoon, the best hand, is reaching 21 with two cards- ace and a face card or a 10.Below are the hands, ranked best to bust. During each hand, players make bets on having a better hand than the banker. The banker is the only player who is not permitted to look at their card.Ĭreate a hand as close to 21 without going over 21. The banker deals each player a single card face down starting to the left. Since the banker has an advantage, this can be chosen randomly (whoever cuts the highest card). THE DEAL: Players designate someone as the banker. RANK OF CARDS: A (worth 11 or 1 point), K, Q, J (court cards are worth 10 points), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
OBJECTIVE OF PONTOON: The aim is to collect cards with a face value more than the banker’s, but not exceeding 21.