Pontoon

Pontoon is played with a standard 52-card pack of playing cards. The cards from 2 to 10 count as face value, the picture cards count as ten and ace counts as 1 or 11, according to the needs of the player. In this game, the computer keeps track of the total for you.

At the start of the game, the cards are shuffled and two cards are dealt, face down. The screen display will show the player's card face up, but the computer doesn't know what cards the player is holding. The player must now lay a bet on this first card, before another card is dealt to both the player and the dealer.

The player starts the game having 100 chips, and must not lose them all, or will have lost the entire game.

Originally published in Input #17, page 534