Has anyone heard of a type of Blackjack with no dealer, players play against each other? My coworker says thats how he used to play as a kid but he can’t remember the rules. I say that removing the dealer changes the game so much you can’t even call it Blackjack anymore. A quick search online didn’t turn anything up, and Wiki is silent on the subject, leading me to believe it doesn’t exist. Anyone out there played this?
That’s how I learned to play as a kid. It was one of the many games played during neighborhood poker. We called it “21”. I learned this years before I learned Vegas rules.
Everyone antes and takes two cards face down.
Rounds of betting follow, with each person either standing or hitting, getting one card per round when they hit.
Continue with more rounds until everyone stands in the same round. You can hit after you have stood, provided you haven’t stood three rounds in a row. Once you stand 3 consecutive times, you can’t hit for the rest of the hand.
After everyone stands in the same round, you show: Winner is the highest non-bust hand and takes the pot.
So how did the betting work? If I didn’t like the looks of my hand, could I just fold? I’m actually intrigued now. What you are describing sounds like it might be fun.
[QUOTE=HoboStew]
So how did the betting work? If I didn’t like the looks of my hand, could I just fold?/QUOTE]
The first round of betting started with the player on the dealer’s left. In each subsequent round, the lead bettor position rotated clockwise. Folding was allowed at any time. The one catch in betting was you couldn’t bluff if you had busted. Well, you could, but the rule was you had to show your hand to collect if everyone else folded, and you couldn’t collect the pot if you had busted. So usually you’d fold if you busted, unless every one checked.
Another rule I just remembered was anyone who was originally dealt blackjack could show their cards immediately and win. Of course, this meant you collected nothing but the antes, so it wasn’t a good idea.
We called it Pontoon, the rules are different from casino Blackjack.
Of course there is a dealer. You can’t play without a dealer. However, the role of dealer roteates from player to player. If you get Pontoon (ten-Ace) you get to be dealer next turn. you then keep the dealership until someone else gets pontoon.
All players get their two cards face down. The dealer does not show a face up card. Players in turn may twist (get another card) or stick. Twist cards are dealt face up. when the player sticks or busts play passes to the next player.
At the end of the round all players show their hands. Highest hand wins the pot. 5 card trick beats Pontoon. Pontoon beats normal 21. Ties pay the dealer.
I played this way, too. Nowadays, in my home game, we play similar games like 727 or 222 (or 333 
), which are basically the same game, with Hi-Low splits. Bluffing is more productive with these games.
I’ve played blackjack privately, but the way it generally works is that the dealer rotates, and acts as a traditional dealer. People make their bets, the hand is played out, then the deal rotates to the next person and the deck is shuffled to reset the odds.
I’ve played it somewhat similarly, except the dealer keeps dealing until somebody gets a blackjack and then they become the new dealer.
Pontoon, of course, is also the name of a different casino game. Good luck finding it anywhere because the house edge is low (though the variance is pretty high) and it’s not as well known. Only place I’ve ever found to play it is online, and it’s the kind of game where you can make or lose a lot of money very quickly. The rules for casino Pontoon:
Dealer gets both cards face down. Dealer peeks all hands.
Dealer must twist on 16 or less and stands on hard 17s up to 5 cards.
Pontoon is the same as a blackjack (that is, any A-Ten/Face).
Player must twist (hit) on 14 or less except for a 5-card hand.
Player may double down at any time.
Player may hit after doubling.
Player may split (one resplit, for a total of three hands) and may double after splitting.
Player may split and draw/double to aces (again, up to three hands.)
Splitting aces and getting a 2-card 21 is a pontoon.
5-card Charlie pays 2:1.
Pontoon pays 2:1.
Pontoon beats 5-card hands.
Dealer wins all ties, including 5-cards and pontoons.
As you can see, the variance can be huge. Starting with a one-unit bet, the player could get AA, split (2 units), get a 10 and another A, split again (3 units), get two more pontoons and thus win 6 units. Similarly, the player could get dealt a hand that, when played correctly, results in three hands all going to 5-cards with double downs (so 6 units total bet) and lose to a dealer 5-card (instead of winning 12 units). Both have happened to me. Under the default rules (the only ones worth playing, in my opinion) the house edge is 0.38%. It’s competitive with blackjack (depending on the rule set used) and one of the best bets in a casino, assuming you can find it and have the bankroll to handle the variance and the amount of bets potentially needed.