Deuces Wild Strategy

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:

Hand	Payout
Natural Royal Flush	800
Four Deuces	200
Wild Royal Flush	25
Five of a Kind	15
Straight Flush	9
Four of a Kind	5
Full House	3
Flush	2
Straight	2
Three of a Kind	1

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:

Determine how many Deuces are in your hand.
Find the appropriate section depending on how many Deuces are in your hand.
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.

Hand	Expected Return	Example
Pat Royal Flush	800.0000	Th-Jh-Qh-Kh-Ah
Royal Flush Draw	19.5319	Th-Jh-Qh-Kh-4h
Pat Straight Flush	9.0000	6h-7h-8h-9h-Th
Four of a Kind	5.8511	Ac-Ad-As-Ah-5c
Pat Full House	3.0000	Ac-Ad-As-Js-Jc
Three of a Kind	2.0176	Ac-Ad-As-Js-Tc
Pat Flush	2.0000	Ac-Jc-6c-5c-4c
Pat Straight	2.0000	4c-5s-6h-7h-8h
Open Straight Flush Draw	1.6170	4c-5c-6c-7c-10h
Three to a Royal (Q-J-T suited)	1.3987	Qs-Js-Ts-4c-3c
Inside Straight Flush Draw	1.3830	Qs-Js-9s-8s-4c
Three to a Royal (K-Q-Js, K-Q-Ts, K-J-Ts)	1.3164	Ks-Qs-Js-9c-4c
Three to a Royal (Ace + any two)	1.2794	As-Ks-10s-8c-6h
One Pair	0.5613	As-Ac-Jc-10h-5c
Four to a Flush	0.5106	Ac-Jc-6c-5c-4h
Open Ended Straight Draw (not 3-4-5-6)	0.5106	5c-6c-7h-8c-Js
Open Three to a Straight Flush (5-6-7s » 9-T-Js)	0.4977	6c-7c-8c-10h-Jh
4-5-6 suited	0.4320	4c-5c-6c-8h-9h
Three to a Straight Flush, One Gap (7-Q High)	0.4320	8c-9c-Jc-4h-3h
3-4-5 suited	0.4033	3c-4c-5c-8s-9s
J-T suited	0.3882	Jc-10c-8s-6s-4h
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ no penalty*)	0.3580	Qs-Ts-7c-6c-3h
3-4-6 suited, 3-5-6 suited (w/ no penalty*)	0.3552	3c-4c-6c-9h-Jh
Three to a St. Flush, 2 Gaps, 7-K Hi (w/ no penalty*)	0.3552	7c-9c-Jc-4h-5h
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ one penalty)	0.3488	Qs-Ts-7s-5h-3h
3-4-5-6 unsuited	0.3404	3c-4s-5h-7d-As
Inside Straight Draw (not A-3-4-5)	0.3404	4c-5s-7d-8h-Js
3 to a St. Flush, 2 Gaps, 7-K Hi (w/ one penalty*)	0.3404	7c-9c-Jc-4c-5h
3-4-6 suited, 3-5-6 suited (w/ one penalty*)	0.3404	3c-4c-6c-Jc-Qs
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ two penalties*)	0.3385	Qc-Jc-6c-5c-3h
Q-J suited, Q-T suited (w/ three penalties*)	0.3293	Qc-Jc-9h-5c-3c
K-Q suited, K-J suited, K-T suited (w/ no penalty*)	0.3278	Kc-Qc-8s-7s-3h
Everything Else » Draw Five New Cards	0.3223	Ks-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.

Hand	Expected Return	Example
Pat Wild Royal Flush	25.0000	2h-Ks-Qs-Js-Ts
Pat Five of a Kind	15.0000	2h-Ah-Ac-As-Ad
Pat Straight Flush	9.0000	6s-2h-7s-8s-9s
Four of a Kind	5.8511	Ac-As-Ah-2h-6s
Four to a Wild Royal	3.6383	10s-Js-2h-Qs-4c
Pat Full House	3.0000	3s-3c-2h-Js-Jc
Open Straight Flush Draw, 2-5-6-7s » 2-9-T-Js	2.2340	2s-6c-7c-8c-Qh
Three of a Kind	2.0176	2h-Kc-Ks-5d-9s
Pat Flush	2.0000	2h-6c-9c-Jc-Ac
Pat Straight	2.0000	2h-6c-7s-8d-9h
2-3-4-5 suited, 2-4-5-6 suited	1.9574	2h-3d-4d-5d-Kc
Four to a Straight Flush	1.6596 - 1.9574	6s-7s-2h-10s-Kd
2-A-3-4 suited, 2-A-3-5 suited, 2-A-4-5 suited	1.4255	2h-Ac-3c-4c-Ks
Three to a Wild Royal, Jack High	1.3154	Js-2h-10s-4c-5c
Three to a Wild Royal, Queen High	1.2192	Qh-2c-Jh-4s-3s
Three to a Wild Royal, King High	1.1425	Ks-2c-Qs-4h-3h
Open Three to a Straight Flush, 2-6-7s » 2-9-Ts	1.0879	2h-7s-8s-Jc-Ad
Three to a Wild Royal, Ace High (w/ no penalty*)	1.0463	Ac-2h-Jc-4s-3s
Everything Else » Keep Deuce and Draw Four	1.0289	2h-4c-8s-Jd-As

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.

Hand	Expected Return	Example
Pat Wild Royal Flush	25.0000	2h-Ks-Qs-Js-2c
Pat Five of a Kind	15.0000	2h-2c-Js-Jd-Jh
Pat Straight Flush	9.0000	2h-2c-6s-7s-8s
Four of a Kind	5.8511	2h-2c-Js-Jc-5s
Four to a Wild Royal	4.6170	2h-2c-Js-As-4h
Open Four to a Straight Flush, 2-2-6-7s » 2-2-9-Ts	3.3191	2h-2c-6s-7s-Kc
Everything Else » Keep Deuces and Draw Three	3.2426	2h-2c-As-5c-9d

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.

Hand	Expected Return	Example
Pat Wild Royal Flush	25.0000	2h-Ks-Qs-Js-2c
Pat Five of a Kind Tens through Aces	15.0000	2h-2c-2s-Ac-Ad
Everything Else » Keep Deuces and Draw Two	14.9408	2h-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.

Hand	Expected Return	Example
Pat Four of a Kind Deuces	200	2h-2s-2d-2c-Ah

*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

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.

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!