Deuces Wild Video Poker Strategy
One of the most popular ways to spice up a game of poker is to add some wild cards. While video poker can be a lot of fun, some players are also looking for a game with more excitement and bigger hands. These players tend to enjoy Deuces Wild Video Poker, a game that adds the fun of wild cards to the player-friendly action of video poker.
However, Deuces Wild Video Poker isn’t just for those who like wilder games. If you can find a Deuces Wild machine that offers the full pay chart, you’ll also have one of the few chances around to hold an advantage over the casino. That’s right – a full pay Deuces Wild Video Poker machine offers a return of 100.8% — meaning you’ll actually show a profit over the casino in the long run!
The basics of how to play Deuces Wild are quite simple. After you begin playing, you will be dealt five cards. You may discard as many of these as you like, which will be replaced by new cards. Your new hand is final, and you will be paid based on the strength of your final hand.
The first step in any video poker strategy is finding the right machine to play on, and Deuces Wild is no exception. If you want the full pay machine that will give you the chance to beat the casino, you should be looking for the following table:
Royal Flush (natural, no wild cards): 800 per coin
Four Deuces: 200 per coin
Wild Royal Flush: 25 per coin
Five of a Kind: 15 per coin
Straight Flush: 9 per coin
Four of a Kind: 5 per coin
Full House: 3 per coin
Flush: 2 per coin
Straight: 2 per coin
Three of a Kind: 1 per coin
As with any video poker game, you should always play Deuces Wild with the maximum number of coins. Typically, this means playing with five coins. If you play with fewer than five coins, the natural royal flush will likely pay off at a much lower rate, running your chances for beating the house.
Unlike in Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild Video Poker requires you to make a much stronger hand to win (at least three of a kind) than in Jacks or Better, thanks to the fact that the wild cards make these hands much more common. The presence of the wild cards also makes optimal strategy much more complicated to learn.
Simple Deuces Wild Strategy
However, there are similar strategies that take a lot less time to master, and still come close enough to the optimal strategy for Deuces Wild Video Poker to hold an edge over the casino. The following strategy was developed by Michael Shackleford, who is also known as the Wizard of Odds. The returns from using the chart below are only 0.1% less than those received from using the optimal strategy, and is much easier to use.
To use the following chart, first figure out how many deuces you have, and go to the relevant section of the chart. Then pick the top hand that you can hold onto from among those listed, and keep the appropriate cards. That’s it!
Four Deuces: Keep your entire hand, of course!
Three Deuces
1. Royal Flush
2. Three Deuces
Two Deuces
1. Royal Flush, Five of a Kind, Straight Flush or Four of a Kind
2. Four Cards to a Royal Flush
3. Four Cards to a Straight Flush (with two consecutive non-wild cards of six or higher)
4. Two Deuces
One Deuce
1. Royal Flush, Five of a Kind, Straight Flush or Four of a Kind
2. Four Cards to a Royal Flush
3. Full House
4. Four Cards to a Straight Flush (with three consecutive non-wild cards of five or higher)
5. Flush, Straight, or Three of a Kind
6. Four Cards to a Straight Flush
7. Three Cards to a Royal Flush
8. Three Cards to a Straight Flush (with two or more consecutive non-wild cards of six or higher)
9. One Deuce
No Deuces
1. Royal Flush
2. Four Cards to a Royal Flush
3. Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House or Three of a Kind
4. Four Cards to a Straight Flush
5. Pair
6. Four Cards to a Flush
7. Four Cards to a Straight (open-ended)
8. Three Cards to a Straight Flush
9. Four Cards to a Straight (gutshot)
10. Two Cards to a Royal Flush
11. Discard All Cards
