Crypto Pontoon is shady...

[KSOT]

In the last 2 days I've busted $500 flat-betting $5 or less trying to clear bonuses at Intercasino and VIP casino. I understand about variance and all, but the speed and manner in which this happened seemed way too unrealistic. Felt like I was dealt a 14 or 15 95% of the time and the dealer only busted roughly 5% of the time. Always peeling off the exact card they needed to tie me. Pulling off 5-card tricks every time I got 21, etc...

I don't know if I trust it anymore. Maybe I'll go back to blackjack. Less variance won't drive me as insane.

</whine>

[usmfan]

As I have said before, pontoon was created by the devil. However, it is not rigged at the Cryptos. The variance is a wild-eyed crazy bitch at this game.

[aargh57]

Been whoring crypto pontoon for the last 5 months or so. Doesn't seem shady to me. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. The big advantage in pontoon is getting the 5 card tricks, doubling down, and getting pontoon. Sometimes this will bring you way up and you'll win a ton. Other times you'll bust out $500 flat betting $5 or less bonus whoring. I think the big difference is the ties being pushed in BJ and losing them in pontoon. This makes for a lot more losses and since you have to wait just as long in both games to get dealt BJ's you will have longer losing periods (this is just intuition, I could be wrong). But since the pontoon is paid 2 to 1 instead of 3 to 2 you get ahead quicker when you hit them (plus you get the occasional 5 card tricks and can double any time which makes up for this). Anyway, just stick with it and you will increase your bankroll. And if not you will have acheived great inner piece by playing the lovely game of pontoon.

[Homer]

So, to clarify, is it shady or is it just variance?

[bpb]

So Crypto rigged its pontoon game but its BJ game is A-OK.

Thanks for clearing that up ...

[TomG]

I felt the same way about Pontoon a few months ago. So I switched back to blackjack, but everytime I got dealt a series of low cards, I would get frustrated and wish I was playing Pontoon. Pontoon is frustrating too, but it's also really exciting with all of the doubling down hoping to make 5-card tricks. There's just something about doubling down on a hard 16 and making 26 that makes me feel like a total schmuck. Well of course I busted, I doubled down on a freakin' hard 16!! Ahh, I love it.

[JJguy]

Littlewoods casino gave me 50 GBP to play with in their casino. I gave pontoon a shot. I was quickly up 30 pounds then I lost 16 hands in a row and my balance was 0. That was my first and last time playing pontoon. I decided not to risk any of my own money on a game with such huge swing potential....

[Ali]

[ QUOTE ]
I decided not to risk any of my own money on a game with such huge swing potential....

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you decide to quit poker? Too bad.

[JJguy]

haha, maybe I will. Personally, I have a hardtime accepting a downswing of $100 playing $1-2 limit. Pontoon just not a game for me I guess- seems riskier.

[lala]

yeah i recently started playing pontoon after playing blackjack for awhile, and its a lot more frustrating when you are losing as you have bigger losing streaks but still a fun game and a break from playing BJ all the time.

[Ron Burgundy]

[ QUOTE ]
haha, maybe I will. Personally, I have a hardtime accepting a downswing of $100 playing $1-2 limit. Pontoon just not a game for me I guess- seems riskier.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like tiddlywinks is the game that fits your personality.

[KSOT]

Lost another $110 betting $2 at a time in blackjack to clear the Eurobet $50 bucks and I didn't even get the freaking bonus after completing the WR >_<

I guess it's just me today...

[froggy527]

I messed around with Pontoon on intercasino. But it was
just the play money version. I stuck to the Wizards strategy
sheet. Assuming that the play version and the money version
are about the same. I can safely say that I'm glad that I didn't play the money version!

[Aytumious]

I turned the totalbet and ukbetting bonuses -- roughly $50 -- into $1200 one month back when they were risk free. Very shady indeed...

[BigTurkey]

nah.

I took the cryptos for over 1K this month playing pontoon. I've been whoring them all for maybe two years now and I don't think I've had a losing month.

[Synergistic Explosions]

I hit three Royals on Double Bonus 10 play VP clearing my Intercasino bonus this month.

Now I'm really drunk after drinking this huge bottle of pretty good Pinot.

[thing85]

[ QUOTE ]
I hit three Royals on Double Bonus 10 play VP clearing my Intercasino bonus this month.

Now I'm really drunk after drinking this huge bottle of pretty good Pinot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do you clear the bonus with VP?

[Synergistic Explosions]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I hit three Royals on Double Bonus 10 play VP clearing my Intercasino bonus this month.

Now I'm really drunk after drinking this huge bottle of pretty good Pinot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do you clear the bonus with VP?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you can stick around for the long term, I'd suggest you try the VP. The 10 play bonus bonus VP is the best. It's quick, it's painless, it's mindless, and it will eventually be profitable in at least one month each year. The profit will be much much more than all that grinding away at BJ could ever produce.

But hey, why believe me. I'm drunk as a skunk right now.

[thing85]

You certainly raise a good point...but isn't the EV of BJ > VP? So in the long run, won't BJ earn you more?

[Synergistic Explosions]

Post deleted by Synergistic Explosions

[thing85]

Maybe I'll give it a try. Does anyone else handle the cryptos this way?

[Synergistic Explosions]

That was for your eyes only. Lets not ruin a good thing.

[edfurlong]

He deleted it but its clear that he has a lot of gamble in him, and has been drinking.

[Synergistic Explosions]

[ QUOTE ]
He deleted it but its clear that he has a lot of gamble in him, and has been drinking.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never gamble, but I have been drinking.

[edfurlong]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
He deleted it but its clear that he has a lot of gamble in him, and has been drinking.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never gamble, but I have been drinking.

[/ QUOTE ]

Chuck your post back up then. Gambling with free money instead of using it to get a much better edge is gambing. Its not gambling with your own money, but its gambling with the edge that you could have had.

Also drunk and havn't thought it out, but I'll leave it.

Much love.

Gobble gobble.

[Homer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I hit three Royals on Double Bonus 10 play VP clearing my Intercasino bonus this month.

Now I'm really drunk after drinking this huge bottle of pretty good Pinot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do you clear the bonus with VP?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you can stick around for the long term, I'd suggest you try the VP. The 10 play bonus bonus VP is the best. It's quick, it's painless, it's mindless, and it will eventually be profitable in at least one month each year. The profit will be much much more than all that grinding away at BJ could ever produce.

But hey, why believe me. I'm drunk as a skunk right now.

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't the double bonus there 99.1% now? I know it used to be 99.9%, but I thought they changed the paytable.

[Tater10]

just analyzed their double bonus:
RF: 4200
SF: 250
4 aces: 750
4 2/3/4: 450
4 of a kind: 250
FH: 40
Frush: 25
Str8: 20
3k: 10
2 pr: 10
JOB:5

This machine returns 99.9367% with optimal play. not bad. Most double bonus machines only pay even money on 2 pair.

[Reef]

pontoon has a lot more variance than blackjack

[KSOT]

Decided to get back on the horse tonight and go for another few monthlies. Did totalbet, instantly lost more than the bonus, quit for the night. Did ukbetting, instantly lost more than the bonus, quit for the night. Did william hill, instantly lost twice the bonus, quit for the night.

Intercasino - Flatbet $5 for 312 hands, finished -$218
Totalbet - Flatbet £3 for 25 hands, won 6, finished -£38
UKBetting - Flatbet £3 for 14 hands, won 3, finished -£26
William Hill - Flatbet £3 for 55 hands, won 19, finished -£44

I wish I were the guy who said he's never had a losing month whoring these sites. I'm down over $400 and I still have lots of requirements left to clear >_<

SHADY!

[thing85]

[ QUOTE ]
Decided to get back on the horse tonight and go for another few monthlies. Did totalbet, instantly lost more than the bonus, quit for the night. Did ukbetting, instantly lost more than the bonus, quit for the night. Did william hill, instantly lost twice the bonus, quit for the night.

Intercasino - Flatbet $5 for 312 hands, finished -$218
Totalbet - Flatbet £3 for 25 hands, won 6, finished -£38
UKBetting - Flatbet £3 for 14 hands, won 3, finished -£26
William Hill - Flatbet £3 for 55 hands, won 19, finished -£44

I wish I were the guy who said he's never had a losing month whoring these sites. I'm down over $400 and I still have lots of requirements left to clear >_<

SHADY!

[/ QUOTE ]

I know it's a grind, but I think you're betting too high. It's no surprise you busted out. $5/hand is great when you're on the upswing of variance, but I prefer to very between $1-$3 and find myself never busting out. If you 3 or 4 table poker while clearing it, the grind isn't bad at all.

[KSOT]

I did that when I first started casino whoring but grew impatient with it. I guess I should be learning my lesson here though. I'll finish them off that way...

[aargh57]

I don't think there's anything shady about them at all. Like I said earlier, sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. The last one I did I lost over $1000 but that's because I was betting $50 a hand to clear it fast. (It was on Carribean Sun which changed it's WR). However, if I had done just $10 bets I probably would've been OK. Other crypto casinos that I've played I've never went negative yet. Just know that the bigger the bets, the higher the variance. If you're impatient betting $1-3 dollars fine (I am too) just have a big enough roll to cover the variance and you'll be fine. If you shy away from crypto because you think they're shady you're missing out on some good bonuses every month.

[parappa]

[ QUOTE ]
Decided to get back on the horse tonight and go for another few monthlies. Did totalbet, instantly lost more than the bonus, quit for the night. Did ukbetting, instantly lost more than the bonus, quit for the night. Did william hill, instantly lost twice the bonus, quit for the night.

Intercasino - Flatbet $5 for 312 hands, finished -$218
Totalbet - Flatbet £3 for 25 hands, won 6, finished -£38
UKBetting - Flatbet £3 for 14 hands, won 3, finished -£26
William Hill - Flatbet £3 for 55 hands, won 19, finished -£44

I wish I were the guy who said he's never had a losing month whoring these sites. I'm down over $400 and I still have lots of requirements left to clear >_<

SHADY!

[/ QUOTE ]

Does anyone have a quick 'n' dirty way of estimating pontoon variance? If this were blackjack, I'd be upset about these results, but these kind of losses have been routine for me in pontoon. Just wondering if anyone can give me a shortcut to computing the SD.

[KSOT]

Agonizing as it is, $1 bets seem to be getting the job done with little risk.

I don't know what I'll do on Intercasino though. Their minimum bet for Pontoon is $5. I don't know if I could mentally survive another month there like this one. Maybe I'll *shudder* go back to clearing it via poker.

[thing85]

[ QUOTE ]
Agonizing as it is, $1 bets seem to be getting the job done with little risk.

I don't know what I'll do on Intercasino though. Their minimum bet for Pontoon is $5. I don't know if I could mentally survive another month there like this one. Maybe I'll *shudder* go back to clearing it via poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I always do Intercasino with poker simply because $5 Pontoon, being the higher-than-blackjack-variance game that it is, is just asking to bust out. Just grind with poker, it's worth it if you have other stuff to keep you from going insane. Better that then busting out early and having a huge WR in subsequent months.

[kfellmy]

I used to do well at the Crypto casinos but don't know what happened. I didn't book a winner for two months (after a year of prosperity) and stopped playing there. Then Crypto sites starting messing with bonuses and raked hand descriptions. So I haven't been back.

[Malificent]

[ QUOTE ]
Agonizing as it is, $1 bets seem to be getting the job done with little risk.

I don't know what I'll do on Intercasino though. Their minimum bet for Pontoon is $5. I don't know if I could mentally survive another month there like this one. Maybe I'll *shudder* go back to clearing it via poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I always do it with $1/hand, 5 hands multihand BJ. Clears at slightly slower speed than the equivalent flat betting amount ($5 hand), but also has less variance.

[velvetdog]

I've been whoring for three months now and it's embarassing to say that after studying TOP and SSHE for months I've added more to my stake thru Pontoon than poker. I've played Intercasino and William Hill and am looking for additional sites to whore. My monthly cycle begins with Pontoon, then moves onto poker.

Variance works both ways and the house advantage (which means more to me than variance) is lower in pontoon than BJ according to the Wizard. After card counting in BJ for 10 years in Nevada casinos, I have to say I like the mindlessness of Pontoon following Wizard's basic strategy. And it's quick: 2-3 hours at 5$/bet in intercasino vs ~40 hours single tabling at 1/2 w/ interpoker.

I think that online Pontoon w/ bonuses is more profitable than grinding it out with B&M single deck BJ, but of courese Variance can be a cold hearted bitch from hell. I'm very skeptical that Cryto Pontoon would be rigged.

[Ron Burgundy]

[ QUOTE ]
I used to do well at the Crypto casinos but don't know what happened. I didn't book a winner for two months (after a year of prosperity) and stopped playing there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Two whole months? Goddamn! RIGGED!

[KSOT]

Gonna have to take back what I said in my last post. I finished UKbetting tonight and they decided to releive me of another £30 by the time I was finished. This was flat betting £1. £1!!!!

That's £56 I spent for a £25 bonus! If this isn't a collaborative Crypto doomswitch, I don't know what is >_>

[BigDave]

Just look at your spreadsheet of this months results, give this spreadsheet the finger, yell "Paybacks are a BIATCH", and get back on the horse next month.

I usually mix in some Black Jack after a bad month.

[Borknagar]

Question. Do you get 1 loyalty point for every 10 pounds bet for Pontoon, like with blackjack?