How to Play Deuces Wild Video Poker

Deuces Wild is a popular variety of video poker, where any ‘two’ you are dealt will be a wild card – making this version of the game the one where you’ll see the biggest hands appears. Every game of video poker has a unique strategy due to the changing pay charts and with these differences in rules, Deuces Wild perhaps offering some of the biggest changes in strategy.

In this article I start with an explanation of the Deuces Wild poker and take a look at a standard pay table. Then I move on explain the best strategy for playing Deuces Wild – this being in the form of five tables based upon the number of twos you have in your hand.

How to Play Deuces Wild

Here is an example hand when playing Deuces Wild Poker. As you can see in the hand below, you have a 2’ in the hand which is wild, which in this case becomes a ‘10’ giving you a full house (the ‘2 could equally become a 4 and still give you a full house.)

Deuces Wild Video Poker

You’ll notice the pay table has five columns and you’ll receive a different payout amount of hitting a natural Royal Flush as opposed to a Wild Royal Flush. Youll also spot that five of a kind is listed, which you can achieve by a combination of two’s and any other card. Four twos is the second biggest payout in the game. You should always play with 5 coins (the right hand column in the chart) as for a Royal Flush you’ll gain 4,000 coins, whereas if playing with 4 coins you’ll win just 1,000 coins.

Deuces Wild Strategy Chart

Four Two’s

Stick with what you have and pick up 1,000 coins.

Three Two’s

If you have made a ‘Wild Royal Flush’ stick with it, otherwise discard all the non-2 cards.

Two Two’s

  1. Stick with any made hand which is 4 of a kind or higher (if 4 of a kind exactly discard the other card and hope for a fifth)
  2. With 4 to a Royal Flush, keep these 4 cards and discard the other.
  3. If you have 4 to a straight flush with 2 connected cards of 6-7 or higher, keep these 4 cards and discard the other.
  4. For any other combination of cards, keep your two deuces and discard all others.

One Two

  1. Stick with any made hand which is 4 of a kind or higher (if 4 of a kind exactly – discard the other card and hope for a fifth)
  2. With 4 to a Royal Flush, keep these 4 cards and discard the other.
  3. Full House
  4. If you have 4 to a straight flush, with three consecutive cards of 5-7 or higher, keep these cards and discard the other.
  5. Keep 3 of a kind and discard the other two also keep made straights and flushes
  6. With 4 to a straight flush, keep these four and discard the other card

No Two’s

  1. If you have a Royal Flush bingo! If you have 4 to a Royal Flush, discard the other card.
  2. Keep any made hand from 3 of a kind to straight flush (with 3 of a kind exactly, discard the other two cards)
  3. With 4 to a straight flush, discard the other card
  4. With 3 to a Royal Flush, discard the other two cards
  5. With any pair, discard the other three cards
  6. With 4 to a flush, discard the other card
  7. With 4 to an open-ended straight, discard the other card
  8. With 3 to a straight flush, discard the other two cards
  9. With 4 to an inside straight draw discard the other card (unless the missing card is a 2)
  10. With 2 to a Royal Flush (J,Q or higher) discard the other three cards
  11. Discard all five cards

Using the Charts

When using the Deuces Wild strategy chart, youll look up the hand you are originally dealt with in the chart – first by counting the number of two’s and then applying it to the chart. In many cases your hand will apply to more than one category in the chart, in which case youll apply the highest one on the list. Here is an example:

With this hand, you havent been dealt a two, so youll head to the ‘No Twos’ section of the chart. This hand actually applies to three different parts of the chart. Firstly, you have three to a straight flush which is ranked number 8 on the chart. Secondly, you have 4 to an open ended straight which is ranked number 7 on the chart. Finally you also have 4 to a flush, which is ranked number 6 on the chart. As such, you’ll pick the highest ranked, meaning you should hold all but the ‘five of clubs’ here.