Deuces wild is one of the most popular video poker games in Las Vegas. The best schedule allows the knowledgeable player to have a considerable advantage over the house, and can be found in hundreds of different machines located in dozens of different casinos.

For every “good” deuces wild machine (i.e. where the player has an edge), there are several of “ugly ducks” machines (i.e. where the house has the edge). And these “bad” machines come in dozens of varieties --- some terrible, and some actually pretty good.

In this month’s article, I want to compare the best frequently occurring version of deuces wild (I’ll call it “standard”) along with the second-best version (I’ll call it “good”). We’ll look at how to recognize these machines, what is most important difference between them, and some of the common hands which are played differently.

Let’s look at the different schedules. In every video poker game, the pay schedule gives you critical information on whether you are on a good machine or a bad machine.

	Standard	Good	Weight
Royal Flush	800	800
Four Deuces	200	200
Wild Royal	25	25
Five of a Kind	15	16	2
Straight Flush	9	10	2
Four of a Kind	5	4	36
Full House	3	4	12
Flush	2	3	9
Straight	2	2
Three of a Kind
Optimal Play	100.76%	99.73%

When you compare the schedules, you’ll see the good schedule returns an extra bet for every five of a kind, straight flush, full house and flush. The standard game only gets one more for four of a kind. Superficially, since the good game gives you an extra unit four times, and only costs you a unit once, it would seem to be the better choice.

An examination of the weighting factor, however, shows you the fallacy of this thinking. The weighting factor gives an approximate value to how important a one-unit change is. It is easy to see that the change in the value for four of a kind dominates the rankings.

The good game is worth over 99.7%. While this is a full percent less than the standard game, this is hardly chopped liver. It is better than the 99.5% that 9-6 jacks or better gives you. It is the best game found in several casinos. It is actually better than over 95% of all video poker games found in Atlantic City.

In Las Vegas, the two games are rarely found in the same casinos. Only playing the standard game gives you no deuces game to play at several casinos. That might not seem to be a big loss because there is the standard game at a nearby casino, however casinos frequently come up new promotions all of the time --- some of which are very lucrative. If you want to play deuces wild to take advantage of a promotion at, for example, Binion’s Horseshoe, Monte Carlo, or the Showboat, the good game is as good as it gets.

There are several significant strategy differences between these games. Covering them all is beyond the scope of this article, but discussing several of the most significant ones is certainly in order. The dollar amounts I show assume you are playing the game for dollars.

The correct strategy for the standard game is better known than that of the good game. The reason for this is that several authors (including me) have discussed the standard game at length, but very little has been written about the good game. Therefore, I will address my comments to why the good game has a different play.

Kh Kd 7h 7c 5s --- In the standard game, holding either pair (not both) is worth 25¢ more than holding both pair. In the good game, holding both pair is the best play by 66¢. The reason? Full houses are worth more. Four of a kind are worth less.

7s 7c 4c Ac Kc --- Hold the pair in the standard game --- best by 25¢. Go for the flush in the good game --- best by $1.09. Flushes are worth 50% more in the good game than in the standard game.

5h 7h 9h 8c Ad --- Going for the straight flush (579) or the inside straight (5789) have identical values in the standard game. Going for the straight flush is worth 36¢ more in the good game. This is because both flushes and straight flushes have increased in value.

5h 6h 7s 8h Kh --- The 4-card flush and the 4-card straight have identical values in the standard game. In the good game, going for the flush is worth an extra $1.27. The bonus on flushes pays off again.

Ad 3d 5d 7s Kc --- In the standard game, throwing everything away is worth 21¢ more than keeping the diamonds. In the good games, going for the straight flush is the best play by 9¢. The higher value for the flush is the main reason.

2 6h 7h 9h 8d --- In the standard game, keeping the straight is 32¢ better than going for the straight flush. In the good game, the opposite is true by 96¢.

I can give several other examples, but I’d rather emphasize some important points that we’ve covered.

First. The pay schedule is extremely important. Starting to play deuces wild without knowing which machine you are on is very much like diving into water that may or may not hide submerged rocks.

Second. Small changes in the pay schedule can make major changes in the correct play of the hand --- changes that cost a bundle when you get them wrong. The differences presented today were on relatively common hands. And the cost of the errors was quite high.

Third. The logic behind the different plays makes sense. When flushes pay more, obviously you are going to go for them more often.

Fourth. Even though the strategy differences may have seemed obvious, the value of those differences isn’t. You need computerized help to get this information. I use Video Poker Tutor to help me, but there are other products on the market too.

You think you don’t need computerized help? Then how do you play 2 Ah Kh Th 5h? In the standard game, you get rid of the 5 and go for the wild royal. But in the good game, flushes are worth 50% more. Is that difference enough to make a difference in the play?

Or how about 2 2 4d 5d 6h. In the standard game, you just hold the deuces. But in the good game, are flushes and straight flushes worth enough more so that you hold 2245.

Finally, how about Kh Qh 5c 9s 4d? In the standard game, you draw five new cards. In the new game do you keep KQ? Would your answer be the same if the hand were Kh Qh 5h 9s 4d?

Answers: the correct plays are 2AKT, 2245, KQ and KQ. But I wasn’t sure myself until I checked it out on a computer.

Fifth. Winning players never play games that they aren’t familiar with. They play on the best machines. They know how much the game is worth, and they are reasonably sure what the correct strategy is. Losing players frequently (underlined) play on machines where they don’t have a chance. They guess about the correct strategy, and often they guess wrong.

The information for you to become a winning player is widely available. It requires some effort to learn appropriate strategies, and it requires considerable discipline to limit yourself to beatable games. But it can be done. And doing so will make a major difference in your “take home pay” on your gambling trips. It is for you to decide whether or not it is worth it.

Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com or by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.