When it comes to video poker
Deuces Wild games, it’s a case
of so many choices, so little
time, well, sort of. Part I
made it clear why all games
are not created equally and
shed light on how to narrow
your choices.
Brief Summary of Part I: We
took an in-depth look at the
things you’ll want to consider
before you decide which of the
Four Deuces games is best for
you. You can refer to part I
for a table of both the
frequency along with the
percent of the expected return
(ER) from each winning hand.
You’ll learn the correct
strategy for each of four good
deuces games. The only way
your long-term results will
resemble the ER is if you play
mathematically correctly,
that’s what this part II is
all about. Here are the games:
Full Pay Deuces (FPDW), Loose
Deuces (LD), Not-So-Ugly
Deuces (NSUD), Illinois Deuces
(ID).
Table 2.1 (shown below) should
be with you when you go to the
casino, so you can match the
paytable with the casino’s
game.
Overview for Deuces Wild:
Referring to Table 2.1, you’ll
notice that hands at the
bottom of the paytable, that’s
both three of a kind and a
straight, return the same
amount for a 5-coin bet for
each of these four games. The
royal pays the same for each
game as well as the wild
royal, both at the top of
Table 2.1. Three out of the
four games pay the same for
four deuces, with loose deuces
returning 2,500 coins for this
rare hand. It’s the middle
hands, then, that have
seemingly minor differences.
These differences, however,
have a major impact on the
correct way to play each game.
Whether you’re playing the
only game available in the
casino, or just want to switch
to another deuces game for
variety, you’ll have to make
strategy changes to maximize
the ER.
Switching Games: It would be
great if all four games were
always available in every
casino, but unfortunately that
isn’t the case. Full-Pay
Deuces Wild is my favorite of
the four, but it’s rarely
available outside of Nevada
and getting harder to find
there. Also, FPDW is mostly
available in quarters and
often ineligible for cash and
promotions. In short, you’ll
want to be prepared to play
the best game available
considering all the things
detailed in part I. Use Table
2.2 (page 36) as a reference
to check before switching
games and to re-check during
play. You will find that it’s
easy to hold the cards with
the best odds for all four
games because they are on the
same chart. In a short time
you won’t need to look,
because patterns will be
remembered. If you want to
know how to play every dealt
hand, then use my strategy
cards, free with my book, The
Video Poker Edge.
Grouping Games: If you refer
to Table 2.2 (shown below),
then you’ll notice that FPDW
and LDW have similar
strategies, while NSUD and ID
have a lot in common.
FPDW and LDW: Noteworthy
differences are at the top of
the hierarchy, where you are
more aggressive in pursuing
the deuces in LDW, a 2,500
coin return for a 5-coin bet,
and play some dealt wild
royals and five of a kind
hands differently. Notice that
when you’re dealt a wild royal
with three deuces that you
hold all cards in FPDW, but
hold just the deuces in LD.
NSUD and ID: I call these
20/20 games because they both
return 20 coins for a full
house and four of a kind,
unlike the other two games.
This is why you hold both pair
in these games and just one
pair in the other two games.
Knowing a reason why you play
a certain way helps you
remember major plays.
Perfect Play: There are two
groups of people who strive
for perfect play, professional
players and some recreational
players. Professional Video
Poker Players: There aren’t
many who earn their living by
playing video poker. Here’s
why. Casinos are in business
to make money and they create
the rules. True, they make
mistakes and you can
capitalize on those errors
until they figure things out.
Also, they may have some
positive games since very few
people are able to play
computer-perfect video poker
because of too many games and
too many dealt-hand
possibilities. The positive
games will be in lower
denominations, like quarters
and on single-line, not
multi-play machines. With
perfect play you’ll earn
around $7 per hour on a FPDW
quarter machine, maybe some
comps as well.
Recreational Players: There
are recreational players that
want to play perfectly because
they like the challenge as
well as the good odds on
having a free or inexpensive
vacation. If they’re playing
close to home in a Midwest
casino, then they can play
longer on their bankroll and
have more chances to go home a
winner. More and more
recreational players are
learning the correct play.
Key Plays: The purpose of key
plays is to make sure you play
frequently dealt hands or
hands that have a big return
correctly. This is especially
true if you are switching
games.
Frequently Dealt Hands: Some
hands, like two pair, are
dealt so often that you’ll
lose a lot of your bankroll if
you make mistakes or play
inconsistently. For example,
you’ll notice on Table 2.2
that you hold both pair in
both NSUD and ID, but you hold
just one pair in both FPDW and
LDW. Obviously, mistakes in
some hands, like these, will
cost more than others.
High Return Hands: The second
category of key hands are
those with a high return for
your wager. They may be
infrequent, but a mistake is
going to cost a lot. An
example is holding either a
dealt straight or a flush
instead of four to a royal.
Notice in all of these games
you hold just four to a royal.
Just a cursory look at the
numbers makes it clear as to
why. Referring to Table 2.1
you can see a straight or
flush returns either two or
three times your wager in
every game. (Bet five coins
and your return is either 10
or 15 coins for a straight or
flush.) However, a royal
returns 800 times your bet and
your odds are one in 47 (47
cards left in the deck, one
will make the royal; referring
to Table 2.1, 800 x 5 = 4000).
Vocabulary: Royal flush: ace,
king, queen, jack and 10 in
the same suit, without deuces.
Wild royal: a royal that
includes one or more deuces.
Consecutive: cards that have
no spaces in between them; for
example, five, six and seven.
Gap: a space that must be
filled for cards to be
consecutive. For example, a
nine and a queen have two gaps
that must be filled with a 10
and a jack to make them
consecutive.
Understanding Table 2.2: Dealt
hand: this refers to the hand
you are dealt before you
decide which cards, if any,
you will hold. I selected key
hands that are high-paying but
played differently for some
games or frequently dealt
hands. For example, people
assume that you always hold
all cards when dealt a wild
royal, because it returns 125
coins for a five-coin bet, a
good payout. However, if you
refer to Table 2.2 you’ll see
that you hold just the three
deuces in loose deuces. The
2,500 coin return for a
five-coin bet is the reason.
Be careful that you don’t rely
solely on intuition for your
strategy, because video poker
is often counterintuitive.
Sometimes the statistically
best play is surprising.
Hold Cards: These are the
cards you will keep.
Exceptions: the first choice
of exceptions is highlighted
in yellow, second choice is
highlighted in blue. For
example, if you’re playing
loose deuces and you’re dealt:
king of hearts, queen of
hearts, and four of hearts
plus any two deuces, then you
were dealt a Flush. However,
you’ll see the first choice,
highlighted in yellow, is hold
four to a royal, therefore
hold the two deuces plus the
king and queen to a royal. In
other words, your first choice
is in yellow and your second
is in blue. If none apply,
then follow the holds in the
dealt hand column.
If further explanation is
needed, then you will find it
in the following notes section
for Table 2.2:
*Illinois Deuces is often
found on progressive royal
machines, mostly on quarters.
If the royal pays over $1,327
on quarter machines or over
5,308 coins are returned for a
five-coin bet on any machine,
then you hold four to the
royal instead of a wild royal.
** It is a counterintuitive
correct play to hold five of a
kind for 10s through kings for
FPDW. The reason is that if
you discard two high cards, as
you must to go for the four
deuces, then you have less of
a chance to back into a wild
royal. Once a card is
discarded, it’s out of play
until the next game.
*** One of the main and most
important differences in
deuces wild games is when to
hold two cards to a straight
flush with one or two deuces.
You need both the start card
and the number of gaps this
changes from game-to-game.
Having this table is a good
reminder when you’re switching
to a different game. The best
tool is my strategy cards,
free with my book, The Video
Poker Edge.
Taboos: Several years ago,
when I first started writing
video poker strategy cards,
one of several formats were
Taboo cards, a separate card
for each game. Each Taboo
represents a major and costly
mistake, as well as something
I have frequently seen players
do. Most of the Taboo
information is already covered
in the Key Play table 2.2;
however, there are a few
remaining. Here are some that
apply to all four of these
games.
Taboos for FPDW, LDW, NSUD and
ID. 1. Never hold one, two, or
three unrelated high cards,
given no deuces. Hold no
cards. (This is different from
two or three suited high
cards). 2. Never draw a new
hand with four to any straight
or flush. Hold four to the
straight or flush. 3. Never
hold two or three cards to a
straight or flush. Hold no
cards. (This is different from
three to a straight flush or
two to some royals). 4. Never
hold a straight or a flush
with two deuces. Hold only the
deuces. 5. Never throw away a
straight or flush with zero or
one deuce. Hold all cards. 6.
Never throw away a straight
flush with zero, one or two
deuces. Hold all cards. 7.
Never hold a straight flush
with three deuces. Hold only
the deuces.
Other Deuces Games: There are
dozens of different Deuces
Wild games on the casino
floor. Do not assume that
Table 2.2 or the Taboos apply
to these games. Also, be aware
that both the hand-ranking as
well as the return for winning
hands will differ from game to
game. Keep in mind that it’s
the amount returned for a
winning hand compared to the
likelihood that you’ll get
that hand that determines the
theoretical ER. This is true
for each and every game of
chance. So who wins the duel
of the deuces? Each player
must write their own ending,
based on the things they most
value.
— Linda Boyd turned to the
more profitable game of video
poker after years of playing
blackjack and live poker. Boyd
spent many years as a
mathematics educator, a career
that proved invaluable in
helping her design the
statistical tactics featured
in her book, “The Video Poker
Edge.” Free strategy cards are
included with the purchase of
her book. Purchase online at
www.squareonepublishers.com.
