The object of the game is to assemble the best poker hand possible with five cards. The minimum requirement for a payout is to hold at least three of a kind. You are dealt five cards at the beginning of a round and can decide which you want to hold and discard. After you discard a card, it is replaced. Afterwards you are paid based on your hand strength. You might be unfamiliar with the standard poker hands that appear in Deuces Wild, so here's a quick summary in ascending order:
- Three of a Kind: This hand contains three matching cards, for instance, three 4's.
- Straight: This hand contains any five sequential cards, irrespective of their suits. An ace can feature as the start or end of the sequence.
- Flush: This hand is five cards of a singular suit—for example, five spade cards, irrespective of sequence.
- Full House: This hand contains both a pair of cards and three of a kind. Suits are not important here, as long as the cards have the same value.
- Four of a Kind: This hand has four matching cards, irrespective of the suit, for example, four 6's.
- Straight Flush: This is a full hand that’s both sequential and equal in a suit.
- Five of a Kind: This hand is exclusive to Deuces as it relies on using a 2 to complete what would otherwise be Four of a Kind.
- Royal Flush: This is the strongest hand in video poker and is similar to a Straight Flush. However, here it’s only the highest value cards. These are the 10, J, Q, K, A of one suit.
- Four Deuces: This is a hand containing four 2's.
- Natural Royal Flush: This is a Royal Flush as above, without including any wild cards, in this case, deuces.
Video poker is mainly played by betting the maximum amount of coins. Beginners don't usually know this, but it's essential to keep in mind. There's a simple reason behind this strategy; looking at the paytable, you'll see a superior payout for a Royal Flush if you bet five coins. This means the potential returns are far higher than if you bet conservatively.
Basic Strategy for Deuces Wild
The best strategies for Deuces are explained in terms of how many deuces you hold. These are the most vital and most valuable cards in the game, and you should never get rid of them if you have them in your hand. Another rule to keep in mind is never keeping a single card hand unless it's a deuce.
Four Deuces
This is an excellent hand to hold onto. You're almost guaranteed a big payout.
Three Deuces
This is a tricky hand. If the cards that aren't deuces have the right values to form a Royal Flush, keep your hand intact. Otherwise, let go of the cards that aren't deuces.
Two Deuces
Here’s where it gets a little complicated. If you hold Four of a Kind or better, keep your hand. If you have four cards of the five necessary for a Royal Flush, keep the four and toss the remaining card. If you have four cards of a middle-value Straight Flush, for instance, two of the cards are higher than 6, keep the four and toss the remaining card. With all other combinations, hold your deuces and toss the rest.
One Deuce
The rules here are identical to if you hold two deuces, with a few additional guides. You should always keep a full house should you have one. The best practice is always to keep three of a kind and get rid of cards that aren't deuces. If your other cards amount to nothing, keep your deuce and toss the rest.
No Deuces
This is a reasonably easy hand to make decisions for. If you have three or more cards for any combinations, keep them and discard the rest, and hope for a deuce. If you have two or more cards for high-value combinations like a Royal Flush, keep them and discard the rest. If you have no hope of creating any combinations, discard all your cards.
There you have it. You can use the list above to master the Deuces Wild video poker machine.
Even though this strategy is highly rewarding, it’s highly volatile as well. Therefore it will likely take more than one hand to beat the casino and overcome variance. However, in the long run, you also increase the amount you’ll win with every played hand.
There are a lot of rules to remember when playing Deuces Wild video poker. Hence, we suggest you print out the charts and keep them while playing until you are 100% certain what to discard and keep each time.
