Pontone styled card game below is a code to play a game of a popular card game, Pontone. you play your game against the dealer. your hand is randomly made and so is the dealers from the set of cards. you play through the normal game of pontone either "hitting" or "sticking". When you finish your play the dealer plays his and the winner is decided at the end.

import random

unused_cards = ['AS','2S','3S','4S','5S','6S','7S','8S','9S','10S','JS','QS','KS','AC','2C','3C','4C','5C','6C','7C','8C','9C','10C','JC','QC','KC','AH','2H','3H','4H','5H','6H','7H','8H','9H','10H','JH','QH','KH','AD','2D','3D','4D','5D','6D','7D','8D','9D','10D','JD','QD','KD']
used_cards = []
player_1_hand = []
dealer_hand = []


this calculates the total of each players hands    

def calculate_hand(player):
    global total
    total = 0
    for i in range(len(player)):
        card = player[i]
        if len(card) == 2:
            value = card[0]
        else:
            value = card[:2]

        if value == "A":
            total+=1
        elif value == "J" or value == "Q" or value == "K":
            total += 10
        else:
            total += int(value)

    return total


this part of the code is the dealer playing his hand

def dealer(j):
    global dealer_total
    for i in range(2):
        drawn_card = random.choice(j)
        used_cards.append(drawn_card)
        unused_cards = [f for f in j if f not in used_cards]
        dealer_hand.append(drawn_card)

    dealer_total = calculate_hand(dealer_hand)
    dealer_play = True

    while dealer_play:
        if dealer_total&lt;12:
            drawn_card = random.choice(j)
            used_cards.append(drawn_card)
            unused_cards = [f for f in j if f not in used_cards]
            dealer_hand.append(drawn_card)

        elif dealer_total&lt;=12 and dealer_total&lt;16:
            determine_hit = random.randrange(2)
            if determine_hit == 1:
                drawn_card = random.choice(j)
                used_cards.append(drawn_card)
                unused_cards = [f for f in j if f not in used_cards]
                dealer_hand.append(drawn_card)

            else:
                dealer_play = False

        dealer_play = False

        dealer_total = calculate_hand(dealer_hand)

    if dealer_total &gt; 21:
        dealer_win = False
    else:
        dealer_win = True

    print(dealer_hand)
    return dealer_win


this part draws the original hand for the player    

def drawhand(j, player):
    global stick   


    for i in range(2):
        drawn_card = random.choice(j)
        used_cards.append(drawn_card)
        unused_cards = [f for f in j if f not in used_cards]
        player.append(drawn_card)

    stick = False

    print(player)
    player_total = calculate_hand(player)


this is the main game loop where you play the game.     

def gameloop(j):
    global stick
    global dealer_total

    win = True
    drawhand(j, player_1_hand)
    while not stick:
        play = input("stick or hit")

        if total == 21:
            print("pontone")
            stick = True

        if play == "stick":
            stick = True

        elif play == "hit":
            draw_card = random.choice(j)
            used_cards.append(draw_card)
            unused_cards = [j for j in j if j not in used_cards]
            player_1_hand.append(draw_card)
            player_total = calculate_hand(player_1_hand)
            print(player_1_hand)

            if total == 21:
                print("pontone")
                stick = True
            elif total&gt;21:
                print("bust")
                win = False
                stick = True

    player_total = calculate_hand(player_1_hand)


    dealer_win = dealer(j)

    if (dealer_total &lt;= player_total and win != False) or dealer_win == False:
        print("you win")
    else:
        print("you lose")

gameloop(unused_cards)


If you have any ways on how to improve this please share.
The improvement I would like to suggest you deals with the big picture of your program rather than its details: the functions dealer() and gameloop() (which is far from being a good function name) are long. This makes them difficult to test and they certainly, among other things (as explained briefly here), violate the single responsibility principle.