Hi again! I just need to clarify two issues with any takers:
a) On page 52 of her book, Katarina states that a 7 is 20% more powerful in Pontoon/Spanish 21 compared to BJ. The next page of her book is a chart showing the data of EOR (effect of removal) and we see that the EOR% of 7 in Pontoon is 0.04 whereas the EOR% of BJ is 0.24%. I thought that the higher EOR makes the number more powerful. On the same page and chart we see the EOR% of 2-6 in Pontoon is a bit lower compared to the EOR% of 2-6 for BJ and she states the small values of 2-6 are not as harmful to the Pontoon player compared to BJ - this makes sense because we can draw to 5 or more card 21 and get pay bonuses. However the statement about 7 is a bit conflicting to me - can anyone clarify?
b) In Basic Strategy, there are differences between how you play the following hands in Spanish 21 and Pontoon:
A,A vs A and A,A vs 10.
In Pontoon, the ace is more threatening compared to the ace in H17 Spanish 21 US games. Even though the majority of Australian casinos dont take ENHC when the dealer gets a natural, most will take BB+1 and OBBO. Pontoon is played with the NHC whereas Spanish 21 is played with the hole card.
In Pontoon, you should hit A,A vs A whereas with Spanish 21 because the dealer finds out that he doesnt have a natural at the start of the round, you should split and this move is considered offensive in both BJ and Pontoon even if you cannot draw to split aces. Also in Pontoon, you should hit your A,A vs 10 if BB+1 applies.
Is that a correct statment?
I have read more about Pontoon and can now make a comparision between Spanish 21 and Pontoon. I can now state that that Pontoon/Sp21 is better than BJ but a larger bankroll is required. A more larger bankroll is required if you play the double-double games as offered in the state of Washington. With Pontoon and Spanish 21, variance will be much larger than BJ because there is double/splitting, the option to forfeit after a double and surrendering on weak hands at high counts. Because S.D = squared root of variance, since variance in Pontoon is larger than BJ, standard deviation will be ONLY slightly higher compared to BJ, thus a slightly higher bankroll is required. Instead of having at least 2,000 units to minimize RoR, you probably need 2,300 units. I wish I was a mathematician to give you the exact number of units. In the double-double game, you will need more than the usual bankroll.
Pontoon is better than Spanish 21 because its played with a NHC. One in every twelve hand, you will draw 21 and win automatically whereas with Pontoon, if the dealer gets a natural at the start of the round, then unless you have a natural, you will lose. In Pontoon, the dealer's hole card will be given after all the people on table has made a playing decision. Even though Pontoon doesnt allow soft doubling (well it does but if you double A is counted as 1 and not as 1 or 11) - but soft doubling is not worth that much in the long run. Not doubling on 10 or 11 will be costly to the BS players and counters alike, but if you dont soft double even on 5 and 6, it won't cost you that much in the long run. Newb99 had a chart which illustrated the penalty for not doubling at various true counts. Also with soft doubling, you are still an underdog to win and you would never soft double against the dealer upcard of 7 or above. Therefore, you wouldnt forfeit after soft doubling generally speaking.
http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showthread.php?t=15719
The only difference is that with Pontoon, you can only surrender on ten and ace whereas with Spanish 21, you can surrender on any dealer's upcard. However, aces are far more powerful and stronger than any other number (incl. 10) in Pontoon compared to Spanish 21. Both games offer late surrender NOT unconditional early surrender. At high counts, Spanish 21 is superior compared to Pontoon because as the count increases, you should surrender more often but I think aces and to a lesser extent ten are quite powerful.
Therefore I conclude at the present time, that the double-double game is better than the AU version of Pontoon which is better than the North American S17/H17 games.