Deuces Wild Poker Machine Strategy



The best way to learn our Deuces Wild strategy is to use it as you play. We suggest learning our strategy at Bovada Casino. Bovada Casino offers Deuces Wild for both play money and real money. One of my favorite parts about Bovada Casino is that you don't have to download the casino to play - you can practice right in your web browser. Practice Deuces Wild at Bovada Casino now!

Introduction The following strategy is my 'simple strategy' for deuces wild video poker. Using the strategy on a full pay machine will result in an expected return of 100.71%. Compared to the optimal strategy return of 100.76%, mistakes in the simple strategy will cost 0.05%, or one total bet every 1869 hands. Deuces Wild is among the video poker games with the best payouts sometimes may rank as the top play, which a casino would offer. We will take a look at the most popular options and gaming strategies - Full-Pay Deuces Wild and Not-So-Ugly Deuces Wild.

This page provides what I believe to be the absolutely best strategy for playing full pay Deuces Wild video poker. I'm going to cover 'expert strategy,' which means that the strategy below is the best strategy you can possibly use, and will provide the maximum 100.76% return for Deuces Wild. Keep in mind that the 100.76% return is only for Deuces Wild games with full pay tables (9/5).

Here is an example of the full pay Deuces Wild pay table which was used for this strategy:

HandPayout
Natural Royal Flush800
Four Deuces200
Wild Royal Flush25
Five of a Kind15
Straight Flush9
Four of a Kind5
Full House3
Flush2
Straight2
Three of a Kind1

Make sure to note that the above table is assuming that you're betting five coins per hand. If you bet less than five coins per hand the Natural Royal Flush payout will diminish.

Expert Deuces Wild Strategy

Here is how you should use this page:

  1. Determine how many Deuces are in your hand.
  2. Find the appropriate section depending on how many Deuces are in your hand.
  3. Find the highest match for your hand on the list. For example, if you have AAJ109 with four spades, and 'One Pair' is higher on the list than 'Four to a Flush' you should keep the one pair and forget about the flush.

Strategy for Hands with No Deuces

Here are the ranks for hands with no deuces. Remember, find the highest match on the list for your hand and hold those cards. The middle column shows the expected return for the specific hand. In the example column, h = Hearts, s = Spades, c = Clubs, d = Diamonds, T = Ten, s = Suited.

HandExpected ReturnExample
Pat Royal Flush800.0000Th-Jh-Qh-Kh-Ah
Royal Flush Draw19.5319Th-Jh-Qh-Kh-4h
Pat Straight Flush9.00006h-7h-8h-9h-Th
Four of a Kind5.8511Ac-Ad-As-Ah-5c
Pat Full House3.0000Ac-Ad-As-Js-Jc
Three of a Kind2.0176Ac-Ad-As-Js-Tc
Pat Flush2.0000Ac-Jc-6c-5c-4c
Pat Straight2.00004c-5s-6h-7h-8h
Open Straight Flush Draw1.61704c-5c-6c-7c-10h
Three to a Royal (Q-J-T suited)1.3987Qs-Js-Ts-4c-3c
Inside Straight Flush Draw1.3830Qs-Js-9s-8s-4c
Three to a Royal (K-Q-Js, K-Q-Ts, K-J-Ts)1.3164Ks-Qs-Js-9c-4c
Three to a Royal (Ace + any two)1.2794As-Ks-10s-8c-6h
One Pair0.5613As-Ac-Jc-10h-5c
Four to a Flush0.5106Ac-Jc-6c-5c-4h
Open Ended Straight Draw (not 3-4-5-6)0.51065c-6c-7h-8c-Js
Open Three to a Straight Flush (5-6-7s » 9-T-Js)0.49776c-7c-8c-10h-Jh
4-5-6 suited0.43204c-5c-6c-8h-9h
Three to a Straight Flush, One Gap (7-Q High)0.43208c-9c-Jc-4h-3h
3-4-5 suited0.40333c-4c-5c-8s-9s
J-T suited0.3882Jc-10c-8s-6s-4h
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ no penalty*)0.3580Qs-Ts-7c-6c-3h
3-4-6 suited, 3-5-6 suited (w/ no penalty*)0.35523c-4c-6c-9h-Jh
Three to a St. Flush, 2 Gaps, 7-K Hi (w/ no penalty*)0.35527c-9c-Jc-4h-5h
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ one penalty)0.3488Qs-Ts-7s-5h-3h
3-4-5-6 unsuited0.34043c-4s-5h-7d-As
Inside Straight Draw (not A-3-4-5)0.34044c-5s-7d-8h-Js
3 to a St. Flush, 2 Gaps, 7-K Hi (w/ one penalty*)0.34047c-9c-Jc-4c-5h
3-4-6 suited, 3-5-6 suited (w/ one penalty*)0.34043c-4c-6c-Jc-Qs
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ two penalties*)0.3385Qc-Jc-6c-5c-3h
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ three penalties*)0.3293Qc-Jc-9h-5c-3c
K-Q suited, K-J suited, K-T suited (w/ no penalty*)0.3278Kc-Qc-8s-7s-3h
Everything Else » Draw Five New Cards0.3223Ks-Jh-8c-6s-3h

Strategy for Hands with One Deuce

Here are the ranks for hands with one deuce. Remember, find the highest match on the list for your hand and hold those cards. The middle column shows the expected return for the specific hand. In the example column, h = Hearts, s = Spades, c = Clubs, d = Diamonds, T = Ten, s = Suited.

HandExpected ReturnExample
Pat Wild Royal Flush25.00002h-Ks-Qs-Js-Ts
Pat Five of a Kind15.00002h-Ah-Ac-As-Ad
Pat Straight Flush9.00006s-2h-7s-8s-9s
Four of a Kind5.8511Ac-As-Ah-2h-6s
Four to a Wild Royal3.638310s-Js-2h-Qs-4c
Pat Full House3.00003s-3c-2h-Js-Jc
Open Straight Flush Draw, 2-5-6-7s » 2-9-T-Js2.23402s-6c-7c-8c-Qh
Three of a Kind2.01762h-Kc-Ks-5d-9s
Pat Flush2.00002h-6c-9c-Jc-Ac
Pat Straight2.00002h-6c-7s-8d-9h
2-3-4-5 suited, 2-4-5-6 suited1.95742h-3d-4d-5d-Kc
Four to a Straight Flush1.6596 - 1.95746s-7s-2h-10s-Kd
2-A-3-4 suited, 2-A-3-5 suited, 2-A-4-5 suited1.42552h-Ac-3c-4c-Ks
Three to a Wild Royal, Jack High1.3154Js-2h-10s-4c-5c
Three to a Wild Royal, Queen High1.2192Qh-2c-Jh-4s-3s
Three to a Wild Royal, King High1.1425Ks-2c-Qs-4h-3h
Open Three to a Straight Flush, 2-6-7s » 2-9-Ts1.08792h-7s-8s-Jc-Ad
Three to a Wild Royal, Ace High (w/ no penalty*)1.0463Ac-2h-Jc-4s-3s
Everything Else » Keep Deuce and Draw Four1.02892h-4c-8s-Jd-As
Deuces Wild Poker Machine Strategy

Strategy for Hands with Two Deuces

Here are the ranks for hands with two deuces. Remember, find the highest match on the list for your hand and hold those cards. The middle column shows the expected return for the specific hand. In the example column, h = Hearts, s = Spades, c = Clubs, d = Diamonds, T = Ten, s = Suited.

HandExpected ReturnExample
Pat Wild Royal Flush25.00002h-Ks-Qs-Js-2c
Pat Five of a Kind15.00002h-2c-Js-Jd-Jh
Pat Straight Flush9.00002h-2c-6s-7s-8s
Four of a Kind5.85112h-2c-Js-Jc-5s
Four to a Wild Royal4.61702h-2c-Js-As-4h
Open Four to a Straight Flush, 2-2-6-7s » 2-2-9-Ts3.31912h-2c-6s-7s-Kc
Everything Else » Keep Deuces and Draw Three3.24262h-2c-As-5c-9d

Deuces Wild Poker Machine Strategy Guide

Strategy for Hands with Three Deuces

Here are the ranks for hands with three deuces. Remember, find the highest match on the list for your hand and hold those cards. The middle column shows the expected return for the specific hand. In the example column, h = Hearts, s = Spades, c = Clubs, d = Diamonds, T = Ten, s = Suited.

HandExpected ReturnExample
Pat Wild Royal Flush25.00002h-Ks-Qs-Js-2c
Pat Five of a Kind Tens through Aces15.00002h-2c-2s-Ac-Ad
Everything Else » Keep Deuces and Draw Two14.94082h-2c-2s-6d-Jc

Strategy for Hands with Four Deuces

Here are the ranks for hands with four deuces. Remember, find the highest match on the list for your hand and hold those cards. The middle column shows the expected return for the specific hand. In the example column, h = Hearts, s = Spades, c = Clubs, d = Diamonds, T = Ten, s = Suited.

Deuces Wild Poker Machine Strategy Chart

Strategy
HandExpected ReturnExample
Pat Four of a Kind Deuces2002h-2s-2d-2c-Ah

Deuces Wild Poker Machine Strategy Games

*Penalty cards are any cards which you plan to discard that hurt your chances of completing a draw. For example, if you have 7c-9c-Jc-8s-5h and plan to keep the 7c-9c-Jc, the 8s that you're discarding actually hurts you because there is one less card in the deck that completes your straight. However, it still makes sense to discard the 8s because you have better expected return going for the straight flush than to draw to the inside straight.

Alternate Deuces Wild Pay Tables

Deuces Wild Poker Machine Strategy Game

One thing to keep in mind is that this strategy was created for use in full pay Deuces Wild games. Since most video poker casinos offer less than full pay games, you may have to modify this strategy to the specific machine you're playing. If you notice that the four of a kind payout is only 4x instead of 5x, you should devalue a pat four of a kind as well as three of a kind draws to four of a kind. Learn about other Deuces Wild return tables.

Play Deuces Wild

Now that you know the proper Deuces Wild strategy, you can take it to the machines and test your skills. We recommend playing at English Harbour casino because they have the best pay tables online. Although the games aren't full pay, they're as close as you're going to get online.