The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (186 page)

literal y won or lost on the turn of a card; and

point-count games, in which the punters draw cards one by

one until their combined face value most nearly reaches, but

does not exceed, a given total or ‘point’.

Twenty-One/Pontoon

n players, n × 52 cards

Pontoon, the domestic British version of Twenty-One, has been so

cal ed since the First World War. The name is almost certainly a

corruption of Vingt-et-Un, via a hypothetical form ‘Vontoon’. (‘Van

John’ is also at ested.) Unlike casino Blackjack, Pontoon has no

of icial rules and varies widely from school to school.

Preliminaries Each player should start with at least twenty chips,

counters, matchsticks, or other convenient staking units. Cards have

numerical values only, suits being irrelevant. Numerals Two to Ten

numerical values only, suits being irrelevant. Numerals Two to Ten

count as marked, courts 10 each, Aces 1 or 11 as their holders

declare.

The bank Select the first dealer/banker at random, such as by

dealing cards around face up until someone gets a Jack. Decide

how the bank is going to pass. For example:

each player in turn banks for as many deals as there are

players, or

it automatical y goes to the player who gets a pontoon, or

anyone may of er to buy it from the banker between deals.

Also agree the maximum permissible stake.

Object In each deal, the punter’s aim is to end up with cards

total ing more in face value than the banker’s – but not exceeding

21, otherwise he is ‘bust’ and loses. A 21 consisting of an Ace and a

card worth 10 is a ‘pontoon’, and pays extra, but a banker’s

pontoon is unbeatable, as he always wins in cases of equality.

Deal Shuf le the cards thoroughly at start of play. Thereafter, they

are not shuf led between deals but only after one in which a player

gets a pontoon.

The banker deals one card face down to each player including

himself. Everyone except the banker examines his card and stakes

one or more chips on it, up to a previously agreed maximum. The

banker then deals a second card to each, but does not yet look at

his own. If anyone has a pontoon, he turns the Ace face up and

stakes nothing more.

Dealing more cards The banker then addresses himself to each

player in turn and asks whether he wants more cards. The punter

may do one of the fol owing:

Stick. Decline extra cards, provided that he has a count of 16

or more.

or more.

Buy. He increases his stake and is dealt another card face

down. The amount staked for each new card must be not less

than that staked for the previous one, nor more than the total

amount he has staked so far. (Variant: Each new buy may be

for less but not more than the previous one.)

Twist. He is dealt one card face up free of charge. Having

once twisted, he may twist further cards but may not

subsequently buy.

Buying or twisting continues until the punter either sticks or

busts. On declaring ‘bust’, he loses his stake and hands his cards to

the banker, who places them at the bot om of the pack.

When al have been served, the banker turns his two cards face

up, and may, if he wishes, turn more cards face up until he is

satisfied with his count, or busts.

Pay-of If the banker gets:

A pontoon, he wins al the stakes.

Twenty-one on three or more cards, he pays double to anyone

with a pontoon, but wins al the others’ stakes.

Under twenty-one, he pays anyone with a higher count the

amount of their stake (doubled for a pontoon), but wins al

the other stakes.

A bust, he keeps the stakes of those who also bust, but pays

anyone with a count of 16 to 21 (doubled for a pontoon).

Optional extras

Five-card trickNo one may receive more than five cards. A five-card

hand worth 21 or less beats everything except a banker’s pontoon,

and is paid double.

Royal pontoonA hand consisting of three Sevens beats everything

except a banker’s pontoon, and is paid treble.

Split ingA punter (but not the banker) whose first two cards are of

the same rank may split them and play each one as a separate

hand, buying a second card for each and general y acting as if he

were two people. Some permit only Aces to be split, others permit

anything but Aces to be split. (In fact, Aces and Eights are the only

rank worth split ing.) Some, if a split Ace becomes a pontoon, do

not pay it double or permit that player to take the bank.

Blackjack (Twenty-One)

n players, n × 52 cards

Using the basic playing strategy, a good card counting system and a sound

betting technique, it is possible to obtain a significant advantage over the

house.

Dr M. Zadehkoochak, The Book of British Blackjack

Anyone playing Blackjack in Northern Nevada should be arrested

for stupidity.

Playboy magazine

Blackjack denotes both the American home game and the

international casino version. The home game is normal y played

with one pack and lit le formality, the casino game with multiple

packs shuf led together and a house dealer. In British casinos the

rules of play are governed by law, but no such predictability

at aches to American procedure, which is governed instead by the

laws of a free market. Players wil natural y gravitate to the casino

laws of a free market. Players wil natural y gravitate to the casino

of ering the most at ractive rules, meaning a smal er edge for the

house. Inter-house competitiveness, therefore, makes the so-cal ed

Strip rules (named after The Strip in Las Vegas, former US Highway

91, along which al the new and modern casinos are situated) the

most favourable in the world for the players. They may give the

house a tiny edge of approximately 0.5 per cent, but make up for it

in increased volume – and plenty of players who are enjoying

themselves too much to bother about correct basic strategy, Strip

rules or not. If that comment from Playboy stil applies, it’s not

entirely the fault of the casinos.

PreliminariesAny number can play, and any number of 52-card

packs are shuf led together and dealt from a shoe.

DealThe punters place their bets and the dealer deals two cards face

up to each of them. He then deals himself either one card face

down (British practice) or one face up and one face down

(American).

ObjectTo beat the dealer by ending up with cards whose face values

total more than his but do not exceed 21. For this purpose

numerals count at face value and face cards 10 each. An Ace

normal y counts 11, but drops to 1 if 11 would bring the total to

more than 21. A 21 consisting of an Ace and a 10-card is a

blackjack or a ‘natural’, and pays extra.

BlackjackIf you’re dealtablackjackand thedealer’s upcardisanumeral

from 2 to 9, you are paid of at 3-2 and your cards are gathered in.

If the dealer’s upcard is an Ace or 10-card, nothing happens until

his second card is turned. You then get 3-2 only if the dealer does

not have a blackjack: if he does, it is a stand-of .

InsuranceIf the dealer’s upcard is an Ace, you can make a separate

side-bet (usual y restricted to half your main stake) that he has a

side-bet (usual y restricted to half your main stake) that he has a

blackjack. If he has, when the time comes to show it, you win this

stake double; if not, you lose it single. Insurance is usual y a sucker

bet, and British rules al ow it only if you have a blackjack.

Split ing pairsIf dealt two cards of the same rank, you may split

them, and play both as two separate hands, after placing the same

stake on the second as you did on the first. You then get a second

card dealt face up to each of them, and thereafter play them as

separate hands. House rules vary as to which ranks you are al owed

to split. (British rules prohibit split ing Fours, Fives and Tens,

thereby preventing punters from making fools of themselves.)

The fol owing conditions usual y apply:

1. You can’t re-split a card already split (British rules).

2. If you split Aces, you can’t draw more than one more card.

3. In a split, a two-card 21 doesn’t count as a blackjack.

DoublingIf you have a count of 9, 10 or 11, but not a blackjack, you

may double your stake. (British practice. American rules may al ow

you to double on any first two cards.)

DrawingIf you haven’t got a blackjack and have neither split pairs

nor doubled down, you may then cal for more cards to be dealt

face up, one at a time, until you either stand (stop drawing) or bust

(exceed 21). If you bust, you lose your cards and your stake.

Dealer’s countIf one or more players remain in play, the dealer

deals himself a second card face up (or, in America, turns his hole-

card face up).

If the dealer has a blackjack, he wins the stake of anyone who

hasn’t.

If not, he must draw more cards so long as he has a count of

16 or less, and stand when he has 17 or more.

16 or less, and stand when he has 17 or more.

If he busts, he pays evens to anyone who did not bust.

If not, he pays evens to anyone showing a higher count and

wins the single stake of anyone showing a lower. If equal, it is

a stand-of .

Optional extras Some house rules al ow you to drop out of play

after receiving your first two cards. You then get half your stake

back unless the dealer has a blackjack, when you lose it al .

Some al ow you to make a side bet that your first two cards wil

total less than 13, or more than 13. Both pay evens, but both lose if

the total is exactly 13.

In home games, some pay double for a twenty-one consisting of

6-7-8 or a five-card hand that is not bust (‘five-card Charlie’), treble

for three Sevens, and quadruple for a six-card Charlie.

Comment Blackjack is certainly more skil -rewarding than most

casino games. Unlike other card games such as Baccara, it of ers you

mil ions of probability situations and considerable choice of play;

unlike dice and roulet e, once a number has turned up it can’t turn

up again until the pack has been reshuf led. This makes it possible

– if you have the requisite single-mindedness – to keep track of

which cards have gone, and so make a bet er estimate of the odds

applying to al the cards you can see at any given moment. For

example, if so few 10-cards have appeared to date that the rest of

the pack must be relatively rich in them, the fact that the dealer

must draw to 16 or less means that his chances of busting are

relatively greater. ‘Card-casing’ – which, at its simplest, can come

down to just keeping track of the 10-cards – forms the basis of the

system famously promoted by Dr Edward O. Thorp in his 1962

best-sel er Beat the Dealer, though the principle involved is

recorded as early as 1900. A more spectacular exponent is Ken

Uston, author of Mil ion Dol ar Blackjack, who was a Senior Vice

President of the Pacific Stock Exchange before turning to the game

ful time and taking the casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and the

Caribbean for over four mil ion dol ars at the blackjack tables. Card

Caribbean for over four mil ion dol ars at the blackjack tables. Card

counting, however, besides being hard work, is not the sole

guarantee of success. As Zadehkoochak (above) points out, it must

be used in conjunction with a good basic playing strategy and a

sound bet ing technique – to which must be added self-discipline

and patience – in order to obtain a significant advantage. In the

long run, that significant advantage is due to the fact that the dealer

has absolutely no choice of play.

Baccara (Baccarat, Chemin de Fer,

Chemmy, Punto Banco)

n players, n × 52 cards

To say that the actual play of Baccara is simple is an understatement. Most

children’s games are infinitely more complicated, and it is doubtful if Baccara

played without stakes could hold the attention of any but the most backward

child.

Barrie Hughes, The Educated Gambler (1976)

Spelt with a ‘t’ in Britain and Las Vegas, Baccara is a more up-

market but less intel igent version of Twenty-One. It originated in

nineteenth-century France and may be of Oriental inspiration. In

basic Baccara, the house is the bank. In Chemin de Fer, or

‘Chemmy’, the bank passes from player to player. In Punto Banco, it

appears to pass from player to player, but is actual y held by the

house.

Casino play involves three or six 52-card packs shuf led together,

but one is enough for anyone daft enough to play it at home.

Counting numerals at face value and courts 0, the punter’s aim is to

receive cards total ing closer to 9 than the banker’s, for which