Deuces Wild is a popular variant of video poker, where the objective is to get the best possible poker hand. However there is a twist – all deuces count as “wild” cards. So, should you have a pair of kings with a deuce on the board, you will actually hold three of a kind kings. The deuce will count towards being a king, thus the name Deuces Wild.
To start the game you will first need to load up on credits and then choose the amount of credits that you want to bet on the hand you are about to play. Press the “deal” button and the machine will then deal you the first five cards. Now you will have the option to “hold” as many cards as you want. Press “deal” again to go to the next round. The cards you held in the first round will remain “held” on the screen.
It is always good to hold a pair or any deuce. You do not want those cards to be changed. Once you have selected the cards that you wish to hold, you simply press “deal” again and you will receive new cards for those you did not hold. After the second round of dealing, the game ends. It is now time to determine if your hand is good enough for a prize. Prizes will be paid according to the strength of your hand. More about that later.
Deuces wild is a very fun game to play and brings a lot of excitement. Compared to regular video poker you will see a lot more winning hands because of the wild deuces. Notably though. there is a difference in the strength of the hand compared to regular video poker. You can read more about that in the rules and pay-outs of the game.
The deuces wild game deals cards from one regular 52 cards-deck. So it will eliminate the chance of you receiving multiple cards of the same denomination or suit. It also provides you a fairer chance of winning. After the hand finishes, the complete deck will be reshuffled automatically. Take note of this as you will not be able to count cards.
All deuces are “wild” cards. They will count towards whatever benefits you the most. For example if you hold three queens in a hand with one deuce, the “wild” deuce will make your winning hand a “four of a kind” by counting towards an extra queen.
There are two rounds of each game of deuces wild. In both rounds you can choose to hold some cards after which new cards are dealt for those you did not hold. The second round is also called “showdown” round after which no further cards will be dealt. The strength of your hand will then be decided on and you will receive winnings accordingly.
The hand ranking system for deuces wild is pretty similar to regular poker. However there are some differences that you should be aware off before playing the game. Below you can see what specific hands qualify as winning. As you can see, two pair is not a winning hand. We will start with the lowest winning hand to the highest winning hand:
As you can see it is slightly more difficult to win a minimum prize when you play deuces wild. On the other hand, there are more frequent pay-outs in deuces wild, making it extremely exciting to play. Especially when you love video poker.
Take a look at the below Deuces Wild cheat sheet to see what hand rankings are the best. You can bookmark this page, or download it.
Below is a general pay-out scheme for deuces wild. Please regard this as a general guideline only. Pay-outs vary depending on what casino you are playing at. For better and for worse, pay outs are roughly as per the below:
Always double check the pay-outs of your casino. Compare them to those of other casinos and when needed switch casinos. The higher the pay-outs, the better your overall odds at winning are. Odds are always important when playing against the house.
Deuces Wild is a video poker variant with the objective to show the best possible poker hand after cards are dealt. To play the game deuces wild video poker, you have to know there are three rounds of dealing cards and two rounds where you can hold cards. If you understand the basic rules of poker, you will not find it hard to learn to play deuces wild. However, there is a twist to the game, something to help you make a good winning hand, which is that all deuces go as “wild” cards. In other words, when you are dealt a deuce, you can make it count as any card you prefer and benefit most of. Inevitably, this leads to the question, what cards do you hold in Deuces Wild, and what cards to your discard? Find out more in the next paragraph
The lowest hand that pays out is three of a kind, or in other words three of the same cards. Therefore, when after the first round of dealing cards you have a pair or two the of the same cards, in deuces wild it is always good to hold this pair.
While pairs do not pay out, they are good to hold in Deuces wild, with the potential of making three of a kind or improve to bigger pay-outs with a four of a kind, a full house or even five of a kind with the fifth card being the deuce.
Of course, the name of the game says it all, deuces are wild and therefore hold up to any card you wish them to represent. Keeping this in mind, you absolutely want to hold a deuce. Holding a deuce could help in making any possible hand including a straight of flush after the final round of dealing. In the first round it can be beneficial to hold a deuce in combination with another card to keep all options open for improving your hand in the next and final round before showdown.
While in regular No Limit Hold’em Poker, holding 2 pair has pretty good showdown value, it is an interesting topic of discussion in relation to Deuces Wild. So should you hold 2 pair in Deuces Wild? Find out more below.