Deuces Wild is a popular online video poker variant because all the twos also act as wild cards. Four wild cards in a deck make it easier to form winning combinations, so the payout table begins with three of a kind hand. If you compare with the standard Jacks or Better video poker variant, three new hand rankings are there in the payout table. Five of a kind and wild royal flush are necessarily made with the help of deuces. There is a special four of a kind hand with four deuces.

In order to achieve the high average return to player that Deuces Wild offers, you have to play using optimum strategy. This outlines which cards you must hold in a given situation. A simple way to understand the strategy is based on the number of deuces dealt in the initial hand. If you start with four deuces you have a winning hand that pays 200 to 1, so you hold on to the deuces and the fifth card becomes irrelevant.

With three deuces, if you have a wild royal flush or five of a kind with cards ranked at ten or higher then you hold all cards. In the next stage you hold the card which is ranked at 10 or higher and replace the other card in the hope of getting a wild royal flush. Finally you hold the deuces and replace the other two cards.

When dealt two deuces, you first hold the cards that give a hand ranking of four of a kind or higher. Optimum Deuces Wild strategy dictates that you must then hold cards that make up four cards to a royal flush. After that hold cards that make a straight flush with the lowest card being a six. If none of the above is possible then the player must hold the two deuces and replace the remaining three cards.

With only one deuce or no deuce, you first hold paying hands of four of a kind and higher. You then try for a wild royal flush, breaking lower paying hands if need be. Then hold a dealt full house. In the next stage the player must try for following hands in decreasing order of importance: four cards to a straight flush with the lowest card being five; dealt three of a kind, straight or flush; four cards to a lower straight flush; three cards to a royal flush and three cards to a straight flush with the lowest card being a six. Finally you hold the deuce and replace the other cards.