Deuces Wild: A Guide to Basic Rules and Strategy

Deuces Wild is a popular variant of video poker and available at most internet casino sites.

You can play for a few cents or hundreds of bucks per hand. And some variants let you win a share of a great progressive jackpot.

Deuces Wild plays like classic regular poker, but (as the name suggests) the twos act as wild cards. That means more winning hands and bigger prizes all-round.

This page is for you if:

You want to grasp the basic rules of Deuces Wild
You want to get the bonus round lowdown
You're curious about Deuces Wild strategy and tips
You want to find the best online casinos to play the game

How to Play for Real Money

When you play Deuces Wild for real money, you will be playing with a standard deck of 52 cards. One difference in this video poker game is that all Deuces (the 2 card) in the deck are wilds. This means you can use any 2 to “fill in” for any card to form a winning hand.

Once you have found an online casino, Deuces Wild can be found under the video poker option. To begin, you will choose how much you want to wager. This typically starts off at $0.25, with an average max wager of $5-$10.

After this, you will select how many coins you’d like to bet per hand. The minimum is 1, the maximum 5. Keep in mind you’ll receive a huge bonus if you can make a Royal Flush on a max. bet. The fun starts as soon as you click ‘Deal’.

Learning the Rules of Deuces Wild Poker

After your cards have been dealt, you have to choose which you’d like to 'hold' and which to discard. Simply click on the cards you want to hold. The remaining cards will be re-dealt once to help improve your hand. In Deuces Wild there is no limit to how many cards you can get rid of.

Once you have received the new cards, you will look to see if you hold any winning hands. If so, you’ll receive a nice payout according to the paytable on-screen. If not, you lose your bet.

When you visit a casino online, Deuces Wild hand rankings are the same as in table poker. If you are familiar with these, you will not have to learn anything new. If you don’t know what these are, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the hands and payouts.

Typical Deuces Wild Payouts

Royal Flush 1000/1
Four twos/deuces 200/1
Wild Royal Flush 30/1
Five-of-a-Kind 20/1
Straight Flush 10/1
Four-of-a-Kind 4/1
Full House 4/1
Flush 4/1
Straight 3/1
Three-Of-A-Kind 1/1
Two Pair 1/1
Pair of Aces 1/1

(All payouts relate to 1 coin wagered)

Bonus Round Action: Winning More Cash

If you want to win at Deuces Wild online, the most important thing to remember is not to get rid of any Deuce (2). This card can make a difference between winning a 4 of a Kind or Flush for example.

At an online casino, Deuces Wild games will also offer you the option to double your winnings after you’ve won a round. To play this little mini game, a pop up will appear with your current winnings and two covered cards which are alternately lit up.

If you click “Gamble”, you will have to select the highlighted card in a quick click of the mouse. Both cards will be turned over. If yours is higher than the house’s, your winnings are doubled. If not, you lose everything. If the cards are a tie, you are given a second chance, but if these are also a tie, the house wins.

This wager also comes with a half-Gamble option in which you will only wager half of your winnings. You can always skip this, add your real money to your bankroll and continue with the game.

Learning Basic Deuces Wild Strategy Tips

So, you've been dealt your initial hand; now what? Well, your first cards will dictate what you do with them. Do you hold the picture cards and go for pairs or aim for twos only?

Here are some optimal tips to help your bankroll grow.

Deuces – Hold all your cards; the hand doesn’t get better than this!
Three Deuces – Keep all if you have a 5 of a Kind or Royal Flush. If not, keep the Wilds.
Two Deuces – Keep any hand that is a 4 of a Kind or better or 4 cards to a Royal Flush. Otherwise, hold the Deuces.
One Deuce – Keep any winning hand sans 4 cards to a Royal Flush. Keep 4 cards to a Straight Flush or 3 cards to a Royal Flush. Otherwise, keep only the 2.

No Such Luck for a Wild

No Deuce - Keep all paying hands, but hold 4 cards to a Royal Flush rather than a lesser paying hand.
Hold a 4 card Straight Flush or 3 cards to a Royal Flush.
Hold a 4 card Flush or a consecutive 4 card Straight.
Hold 3 cards to a Straight Flush.
Hold any two of 10, J, Q or K if they're in the same suit.

Understanding the Bet Max and 'Double Your Bet' Options

When you play Deuces Wild online for money, you will have the option to bet max (5 coins) on every round. Initially, this requires you to wager more money. However, should you end up with a winning hand, your payout will be significantly higher. If you understand this gambling game and can afford it, bet max.

Some online casino Deuces Wild games will give you the chance to double your bet after you have landed a winning hand. As tempting as it can be, we can’t say we recommend it.

At a casino online, Deuces Wild is one of the video poker games which offer some appealing odds. This is primarily due to the inclusion of the Wild cards. In a 52 card deck, there is (on average) a Wild nestled between every 13 cards. If you draw all 5 cards in a hand, you will be given a Wild every 1.3 hands. You will be dealt a Wild in the first hand every 2.6 hands. That's not too bad to start a game off on a winning note.

Finding the Best Deuces Wild Sites on the Net

Beyond the sort of tips you'd expect – holding 2s, doubling your bets and so on – there isn't much in the way of strategy that players can take advantage of when playing Deuces Wild. That's nice if you want to switch your brain off, but not so good if you want to flex your tactical side! Follow any of these links to head to a top online casino where you can try Deuces Wild.