Origins of the game
    Pontoon and Blackjack, also called B.J., Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un or Van John, are the most popular bank card games. Their origin is disputed, but they are certainly related to the French Ferme and Chemin de Fer, and the Italian Seven and a Half. Pontoon is one of the best known small-stake games of home and pub in Britain. It was probably the most popular game of the armed forces in both world wars, and is now much played in casinos in its American form of Blackjack.

Basic rules and objectives
    Pontoon and Blackjack, and all their variants, are gambling games, played against a banker or dealer. Players hope to get a total card value of 21, or to come closer to it, without going over, than the dealer, against whom all betting is done. A hand, whose point count exceeds 21, is lost immediately. A two-card hand with a value of exactly 21 is called pontoon, blackjack, or a natural.
     They are examples of the few banking games to reward skill. The rules have no acceptable universal standard. Different schools have different rules.