Every month, there seems to be a new variation of video poker and because of the many different types of poker games, it can be difficult keeping up with the rules of each one. Besides some of the catchy titles like Triple Double Bonus, Loose Deuces and Aces and Faces, the two most popular games of video poker are Deuces Wild and Jokers Wild.
Deuces Wild
As implied by the name, every “2” card in a deck is considered wild, which allows the player to substitute those wild cards for another card in their hand. To play this game and win, you must modify your game strategy because the bottom payout is on a three-of-a-kind hand. Sometimes, the entire hand must be thrown out if the cards take up space for the wild deuces. There is no point in keeping a single Ace if three-of-a-kind is what pays.
Seasoned players tend to discard 20 percent of their hands. You should always stand if you have five-of-a-kind, four deuces, a royal flush that includes a deuce or a natural royal flush. Game statistics show that players get one four-deuce hands for every 5000 hands, which makes it harder to get a royal flush than four deuces.
Jokers Wild
In Jokers Wild, the typical 52-card deck is utilized as well as one wild joker. The joker can be substituted for another card in the hand. This game requires a King or better and has no payout for two Queens or two Jacks. However, this game has high-end returns to compensate for what is taken on its low-end. Besides the high payout for a royal flush, Jokers Wild also pays fairly well for wild royal flushes and five-of-a-kinds. What is most important to remember in this game is that the Queen and the Jack are useless by themselves unless you are working towards creating a straight or a royal flush.
Expert players recommend to keep three cards or a royal flush instead of a pair of Aces or a pair of Kings unless you have a Joker. If you have three cards in order that will create a straight flush, get rid of your smaller pairs. But if the three cards are not in order, get rid of those three cards and keep the pairs for the possibility of getting a three-of-a-kind. And with a “junk” hand that includes a Joker, everything but the Joker must go.