‘LOOSE DEUCES’ DEUCES WILD STRATEGY

Indiana. It’s a game that many video poker aficionados seek out so it’s worth including here.

The basic premise of ‘Loose Deuces‘ is that the payout for the ‘Four Deuces‘ mini jackpot is significantly higher. Instead of paying 1000 coins with max coins in a ‘Four Deuces’ on a ‘Loose Deuces’ machine will return 2500 coins! In of dollars and cents (assuming US dollars) this increases the payout from $250 to $625! As is always the case when one component of the pay table is significantly higher you’ll find other hands paying lower as compensation. We’ll take a look at this when we discuss the pay table.

It’s also worth noting that there are several different pay tables for ‘Loose Deuces‘ machines. We’ll cover what is considered ‘full pay‘ ‘Loose Deuces‘ machines. Depending on what pay table you encounter you might need to make some minor strategic adjustments but the basic concepts we address below will still be effective. The adjustments will be in a lower return on the Five of a Kind and Straight Flush. Finally, there have been some sightings of what might be called a ‘Loose Deuces‘ machine but ones that only pay 2000 coins for the four deuces. Fortunately, these aren’t very common but they are out there—and might even be branded as ‘Loose Deuces‘.

‘LOOSE DEUCES‘ DEUCES WILD

One reason that ‘Loose Deuces‘ Deuces Wild machines are somewhat hard to find is that they’re very good machines for the player. Full pay ‘Loose Deuces’ machines return 100.97% with perfect play. Even the lowest paying ‘Loose Deuces‘ pay table is playable in most situations as it returns 99.42% with perfect play. Although properties in Nevada have been making money with these machines for years many newer casinos—usually in jurisdictions with limited competition—have no interest in giving the player a fighting chance.

The payout for Straight Flush is higher than on Full Pay Deuces. The payout for Four of a Kind is lower. This may seem like a fairly reasonable ‘trade-off‘ but in reality, it isn’t—a Deuces Wild player will get more Four of a Kind hands than Full House and Flush hands combined. The major difference, however, is the increased payout for the Four Deuces that we discussed above. Also, you’ll note that the base payout for the natural Royal Flush (without deuces) is higher. That is of no relevance to us since we’ll always be playing with five coins in and that payout is identical to Full Pay DW.

‘LOOSE DEUCES‘ DEUCES WILD STRATEGY

As you’d expect, the strategy for ‘Loose Deuces’ is to focus on the Four Deuces mini jackpot. This is tough at first since in many cases a mathematically correct play will mean throwing away a strong winning hand. In the long run, however, this is the way to play it. One of the nice things about the ‘Loose Deuces‘ strategy is that it is very simple compared to other DW variants and you don’t have to memorize a different decision hierarchy for the number of deuces you’re dealt. Simply put, the strategy is to hold the deuces and discard the rest:

• Don’t hold high cards no matter how many you have. Discard the entire hand.
• If you are dealt four to a straight flush with two deuces hold the deuces and discard the rest.
• Don’t hold three to a straight or flush. Discard the entire hand.
• If you don’t have any deuces hold a pair over four cards to a straight/flush. Longterm, you’re much better off going for a four or five of a kind than the relatively low paying straight and flush.
• If you are dealt three deuces in ANY CIRCUMSTANCE hold the deuces and discard the rest. And this means ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.
• if you’re dealt a wild royal flush, straight flush or five of a kind with three deuces you break up the hand, hold the deuces and discard the rest. In the long term the 2,500 mini jackpot will more than make up for the 125, 75 and 50 coin payout hands you’re discarding.
• If you are dealt a straight or flush with two deuces hold the deuces, discard the other three cards
• If you are dealt a straight or flush with 0 or 1 deuce hold the entire hand.
• Never keep two pair, hold one and discard the rest.

That’s it—as you can see the goal is to go all out for the Four Deuces. The increased payout of 2,500 coins more than compensates for winning hands that you break up over the long haul.