Deuces Wild strategy with two and three deuces dealt

10 June 2017

By Jerry Stickman

Deuces Wild is a popular video poker game. The payback for full-pay Deuces Wild is more than 100%. The variance (which directly affects how much bankroll is required) is relatively low and the playing strategy is reasonably simple. But the real attraction of Deuces Wild is the additional bonus you win for getting four deuces.

Because many higher-paying hands are possible because of the four wild cards (the twos) in the deck, the lowest-paying hand in Deuces Wild is a three of a kind. Because of this, there are no high pairs to worry about. High cards mean absolutely nothing (except for a royal flush).

This is probably the hardest thing to get used to when playing Deuces Wild. There is always the tendency to save a lone high card or two. That simply does not work in Deuces Wild.

There are dozens of different pay tables for Deuces Wild games. Each different pay table could have a different playing strategy.

For the purpose of this article only three versions of the game are included. They are:

1) Full-pay – 100.76% return, paying: 25/15/9/5/3/2/2/1.
2) Not So Ugly Deuces (NSUD) – 99.72% return, paying: 25/16/10/4/4/3/2/1.
3) Ugly Deuces – 98.91% return, paying: 25/15/9/4/4/3/2/1.

Because the twos are wild cards, strategy charts are ordered by the number of deuces that are dealt. Let’s take a look at portions of the strategy for playing Deuces Wild Video Poker. The more deuces that are dealt, the simpler the playing strategy is.

Here are the playing strategies for four deuces, three deuces and two deuces being dealt in the original hand.

What to do when you are dealt four deuces:

If you are dealt four deuces, you save them — period. There is only one strategy line when dealt four deuces.

What to do when you are dealt three deuces:

• If you are lucky enough to be dealt three deuces, there are very few choices to make. If fact, there are only three possible plays depending on what other cards were dealt with them.


• If you are dealt a wild royal flush, you always keep it.


• If you are dealt five of a kind (a pair along with the three deuces), deciding whether to save it or not depends on the payback of the game. For any game other than full-pay deuces, save any 5-of-a-kind.


• If, however, you are playing the full pay game, save for a five of a kind only if they are 10s through aces. If they are anything lower (threes through nines), save the three deuces only.

There you have it. There are only three lines in the strategy if you are dealt three deuces; 1) the wild royal flush, 2) a five of a kind and 3) the three deuces.

What to do when you are dealt two deuces:

• First, save any hand of four of a kind or better.


• Next, save four cards of a wild royal flush (suited AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, KT, QJ, QT, JT).


• If you are playing the full-pay game, the next save is four cards of an open straight flush (suited 67-9T). If not a full-pay game, save any four card straight flush (suited 67-9T, 45-56, 57-9J).


• Finally, if none of the above hands are dealt, save just the two deuces.

There are only four lines in the strategy if you are dealt two deuces. As you can see, as long as you get at least a couple of deuces dealt to you, the playing strategy is very simple. But what about when you are dealt only one deuce – or worse – you are dealt zero deuces?

The strategies get more complex when one or zero deuces are dealt. Also, the pay tables have more of an impact on the strategy. Normally, the top two lines of Deuces Wild Video Poker games remain the same across all pay tables. The royal flush pays 800-for-1 (4,000-for-5), and four deuces pays 200-for-1 (1,000-for-5).

When you are dealt two, three, or four deuces, the resulting hands are going to be from high up the pay table. Those lines hardly change at all so the strategy hardly changes at all. When you are dealt only one deuce or no deuces, the entire pay table comes into play. Any change anywhere can cause a change in the playing strategy.

If, after reading this, you decide you want to try playing some Deuces Wild Video Poker, check out the offerings at your favorite casino. Try to find one of the games mentioned above as they offer a decent return with a fairly low variance. Once you see what they have, get a strategy chart for that specific game out of a video poker book you may have or online. Or, if you have a video poker strategy-producing computer app, use that to generate the proper playing strategy.

Deuces Wild video poker can pay well. It has a couple of jackpots and is relatively easy to play. All of these are good reasons to consider adding this game to your casino repertoire.

May all your wins be swift and large and all your losses slow and small.


Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He authored the video poker section of "Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker!" You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerry@aol.com