WHEEL POKER DEUCES WILD

Two more variations on the ‘Wheel Poker’ series—both ‘Deuces Wild’ games. In this article, we’ll look at the basic ‘Deuces Wild‘ versions of the game. ‘Wheel Poker’ is one of the more popular of the ‘added bet bonus‘ type of game that has become very popular in casinos over the past few years. This game has five ‘Bonus Poker‘ variations (which we’ve covered in earlier articles) as well as two ‘Deuces Wild‘ variations.

The ‘added bet bonus’ format is very likely the most popular type of video poker machine in casinos today. The underlying premise with these games is identical…

…the player must stake an additional bet, ranging from one extra coin (as is the case with this game) all the way up to an entire additional bet. By doing so, he activates a ‘bonus feature‘ that pays him an additional amount on certain hands (usually ‘Four of a Kind’). Even though this is a ‘Deuces Wild‘ game the ‘Four of a Kind‘ bonus feature is still applicable. The bonus feature is activated by ‘Four Deuces’, a ‘Five of a Kind with One Deuce’ or a ‘Four of a Kind with no Wild Cards’.

As is the case with most of the ‘added bet bonus‘ style games you can play this game as a regular ‘Deuces Wild‘ game by betting just five coins per hand. This is usually not a good idea. If you’re going to play this type of game you need bet all six coins to activate the bonus feature. If you want to play a regular ‘Deuces Wild‘ game you won’t have a problem finding a game in a casino or online. With the bonus feature activated payout on ‘Wheel Poker Deuces Wild is 98.54%.

THE ‘WHEEL POKER’ BONUS FORMAT

The ‘slots players and offers a decent payback percentage as well. The game is usually found on ‘MultiGame‘ machines which include the 7 different game variations in 3 play and 5 play versions. The player wagers six coins per hand (5 + 1 bonus) meaning that he’ll bet 18 coins in the 3 play version and 30 coins in the five play version.

The bonus is activated when the player hits a natural 4 of a Kind. When this happens the player is immediately asked to press a ‘Spin’ button on the screen. A wheel (very similar to the wheel on the ‘Wheel of Fortune‘ game show) drops down from the top of the screen. The wheel has numbers from 100 to 2000. The wheel spins and once it lands on a number that amount is added to the player’s win for that hand.

WHEEL POKER DEUCES WILD STRATEGY

Like the rest of the ‘Wheel Poker‘ games the strategy is identical of regular ‘Deuces Wild‘. ‘Deuces Wild‘ strategy decisions are determined not only by the hand you’re dealt but also by how many deuces you’re holding. The chart below will show the ranking of hands to hold in descending order. If a particular hand isn’t on the list discard everything and draw five cards.

FOUR DEUCES:

Hold all four Deuces and collect the 1000 coin (with max bet) ‘mini jackpot‘.

THREE DEUCES:

Hold the three deuces and draw two cards. The ONLY exception is if you’ve been dealt a pat Royal Flush. In that case, hold all five and collect the 125 coins.

TWO DEUCES:

Hold any ‘pat‘ Four of a Kind, Five of a Kind, Straight Flush or Royal Flush.

If you don’t have a pat hand, hold the two deuces and draw three cards with the following exceptions:

• Four to a Royal Flush
• Four to a Straight Flush

These three exceptions notwithstanding, hold the two deuces and draw three.

ONE DEUCE:

With one deuce and no deuces, the strategy gets a bit more complex. Not many situations to with four, three and two deuces but it’s important that you memorize the following decision hierarchies. Here are the hold strategies for a hand with a single deuce:

• Dealt 4 of a kind, 5 of a kind, Straight Flush or Royal Flush
• Four to a Royal Flush
• Full House
• Four to a Straight Flush
• Dealt Three of a Kind, Straight or Flush
• Three to a Royal Flush
• Three to a Straight Flush ONLY if you have two consecutive cards six or higher. So:

2W 7 8 X X

would be a playable hand and you should draw two to the straight flush.

2W 4 5 X X

would not be playable. You should hold the deuce and draw four cards.

• Any other hand not listed above is unplayable. Hold the deuce and draw four.

NO DEUCES:

• Dealt Royal Flush
• Four to a Royal Flush
• Dealt Three of a Kind, Full House, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush
• Four to a Straight Flush
• Three to a Royal Flush
• Any Pair
• Four to a Flush
• Four to an Outside Straight
• Three to a Straight Flush
• Four to an Inside Straight
• Two to a Royal Flush J-Q high. In other words, 10-J, 10-Q, J-Q
• Discard all five cards and draw a new hand

The important thing to about playing a hand with no deuces. Don’t even THINK of playing it the same way you would a Jacks or Better hand. If you don’t have anything to work with you’re much better off drawing a new hand knowing that four deuces remain in the deck than trying to draw with only one or two outs to complete a low paying hand.