Figuring Out a New Strategy on the Fly — Deuces Wild Version

Last week I listed some rules about when you should make strategy adjustments based on pay schedules for games without wild cards. Today I’m doing the same thing for Deuces Wild games.

Again, I strongly recommend knowing the strategy for at least one game ‘cold.’ This game could be Full Pay Deuces Wild, NSU Deuces Wild, pNSN (called Airport Deuces by some), or some other variation, but if you don’t know at least one game, these rules will be of marginal value.

To the abbreviations I used last week, add W which stands for a wild card in general or, in this game, a deuce.

A key part of knowing Deuces Wild is knowing how 3- and 4-card straight flushes rank. Here I’m including a list I use in my classes. Even if you’re not familiar with Dancer/Daily notation, you should be able to understand the relative values of these combinations. Not all of these categories are eligible to be held in all games, but you should be aware of the relative ranking in the game they are held.

Summary of categories of SF3 and SF4

SF3 -2 = double inside; SF3 -1 = single inside; SF3 +0 = non-inside;

SF4 -3 = triple inside; SF4 -2 = double inside; SF4 -1 = single inside;

SF4 +0 = non-inside;

0-deuce SF3

SF3 [A-low]           [A34; A35; A45]

SF3 -2                     [includes 346 and 356; excludes any A-low]

SF3 -1                      [includes 456; for strategy purposes, includes 345]

SF3 +0                    [567 – 9TJ]

1-deuce SF3

SF3 -1                  [W57 – W9J > W56 > W45]   

SF3 +0                [W67 – W9T]  

1-deuce SF4

SF4 [A-low]        [WA34; WA35; WA45]

SF4 -2                  [W346; W356; W347 – W9QK]

SF4 -1                   [W345; W456; W457 – WJQ]

SF4 +0                 [W567 – W9TJ]

2-deuce SF4

          SF4 -2      [WW34 = WW35 = WW46 = WW47 – WW9Q]

          SF4 -1      [WW45 = WW56 = WW57 – WW9J]

          SF4 +0    [WW67 – WW9T]  

1. K♥ Q♥ J♥ T♥ 9♥
2. K♠ K♥ 3♠ 3♥ J♠  
3. A♦ A♠ K♠ 7♠ 3♠
4. A♣ 3♣ 4♣ 5♥ 9♠
5. K♥ Q♥ 9♠ 8♥ 5♦
6. J♠ T♠ 9♠ 7♠ 8♦
7. Q♦ J♣ T♦ 8♠ 3♠
8. K♠ Q♠ T♥ 9♣ 2♦
9. W 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ A♠
10. W 8♠T♠ 4♥ 5♥
11. W W W T♠ T♥ versus W W W 4♠ 4♥

Now let’s look at how changes to the pay schedule will affect these plays. Note that my statements are strong tendencies, but exceptions may be found sometimes. I’m using the following notation here:

2P — two pair

3K — three of a kind

ST — straight

FL — flush

FH — full house

4K — four of a kind

5K — five of a kind

SF — straight flush

RF — royal flush.

When flushes pay 15 on a 5-coin basis, I’ll say FL pays 3-for-1. I went back and forth about whether to say “pay” or “pays.” I can argue persuasively against either way of doing it, but I had to pick one. So, I did.

Also, I am not including Ultimate X strategies here. I am only discussing strategies where there are no multipliers earned.

1. You ALWAYS throw away the 9. It’s on this list more for completeness because in games without wild cards you ALWAYS keep the 9 when the royal pays 4,000 coins. Not all players go back and forth between games seamlessly
   
2. Whether you hold one pair or two depends on how much you get for the FH. When FH pays 3-for-1, hold one pair. When FH pays 4-for-1, hold two pair. When you hold one pair, if all 4K pay the same and all 5K pay the same, it doesn’t matter which pair you hold. In a game like Bonus Deuces where five 3s pay more than five Ks, if the FH pays 3-for-1, just hold the 3s.
   
3. Hold the pair when FL pays 2-for-1. Hold the spades when FL pays 3-for-1.
   
4. Hold the A-low SF3 when the sum of FL and SF pays 12 or more. That is, in FPDW, FL pays 2 and SF pays 9 — so you throw everything away. In pNSU, where FL pays 3 and SF pays 9, hold A34. Do not even think about holding A345. That has only half as much value as an inside straight draw and is never held.
   
5. If FL pays 3-for-1, hold KQ. If FL pays 2-for-1, throw everything away. In games where FL pays 2-for-1, you probably hold KQ if none of the remaining three cards are 9 or higher (i.e. a straight penalty) and none are suited with the KQ (i.e. a flush penalty).
   
6. Hold all five cards when ST pays 2-for-1. Just hold the spades when ST pays 1-for-1.
   
7. When FL pays 3-for-1, hold QT.  When FL pays 2-for-1, hold QJT8.  If the J were a 9, sometimes you hold QT even if the FL pays 2-for-1 — depending on how much the SF pays.
   
8. Hold KQ if ST pays 1-for-1. Hold KQT9 if ST pays 2-for-1.
   
9. Hold all five cards if FL pays 3-for-1. Just hold W789 if FL pays 2-for-1.
   
10. W8T is ALWAYS preferred to W45 (see the chart prior to the list of problem hands), although sometimes both W8T and W45 are inferior to holding the W by itself. You’ll prefer W8T to just the W if the sum of the FL and SF add up to 12 or more.
    
11. When 4K returns 5-for-1, hold the quints when they include TT, JJ, QQ, KK, or AA and otherwise just hold the deuces. It’s a close play and the reason for the difference has to do with the possibility of getting wild royals. In the more common situation where 4K returns 4-for-1, hold the quints when 5K pays more than 12-for-1.