Every 2 can become the card you need. That changes the draws worth chasing—and the good-looking hands worth breaking.
Start here: count your deuces, keep them, then use that section of the chart. With no deuces, a lone ace is not a reason to hold. And before any of it, match the pay table: full pay and NSUD need different decisions.
Four standard pay tables. Every possible hold compared. Full-pay chart organized from four deuces to none.
Deuces Wild uses a standard 52-card deck. You receive five cards, choose which to hold, then replace the rest once. All four 2s are wild; the other 48 cards keep their printed rank and suit. Cards you discard cannot return on the draw.
2♦ J♠ Q♠ K♠ A♠ is a wild royal flush: the deuce acts as 10♠. It does not have to match the suit printed on the other cards. You do not choose its identity manually; the game awards the highest-paying result it can make.
2♣ 9♠ 9♥ makes three nines. But an ordinary pair—even aces—or two pair without a deuce pays zero. A pair can still be worth holding because of what you might draw.
A natural royal is 10–J–Q–K–A of one suit, with no deuces. On the schedules here it pays 800 per credit at five credits bet. A wild royal pays 25; four deuces pays 200, regardless of the fifth card.
A♥ K♣ 8♦ 5♠ 3♥ has no useful pair or draw. Discard all five. On full pay that returns 0.3269 per 1 bet on average, versus 0.1630 for keeping A–K. A high pair has no special payout to chase here.
No deuces · full pay · all five cards discarded. This applies to this unconnected hand, not to aces that form a stronger draw.
Tap cards to choose your hold, or use Change card to enter a deal. The analyzer compares every possible hold, including what to keep beside your deuces. Choose your actual pay table first; the default is full pay.
Examples keep your selected pay table. Changing a card or table selects a best hold again; tap the cards to compare your own choice.
Draw 2 cards · 1,081 possible draws.
This is the best hold for the selected pay table.
The three deuces turn the two 9s into five of a kind, worth 15.0000 per 1 bet. Keeping only the deuces returns 15.0574. The small advantage favors discarding both 9s. With three deuces on full pay, five of a kind made with 3s through 9s is the exception to keeping a made five of a kind. Switch between full pay and Not So Ugly Ducks to compare.
1,081 of the 1,081 possible draws make a paying hand (100.0000%). The table describes the best hold shown, not your own choice. How much each hand pays matters as much as how often it comes.
| Final hand | Possible draws | Chance | Payout per 1 bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four deuces | 46 | 4.2553% | 200 |
| Wild royal flush | 40 | 3.7003% | 25 |
| Five of a kind | 67 | 6.1980% | 15 |
| Straight flush | 108 | 9.9907% | 9 |
| Four of a kind | 820 | 75.8557% | 5 |
Scroll sideways for the full comparison
| Hold | Draw | Possible draws | Return per 1 bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2♠ 2♥ 2♦BestYour hold | 2 | 1,081 | 15.0574 |
| 2♠ 2♥ 2♦ 9♣ 9♠ | 0 | 1 | 15.0000 |
| 2♠ 2♥ 2♦ 9♣ | 1 | 47 | 10.2553 |
| 2♠ 2♥ 2♦ 9♠ | 1 | 47 | 10.2553 |
| 2♠ 2♥ 9♣ 9♠ | 1 | 47 | 5.6383 |
| 2♠ 2♦ 9♣ 9♠ | 1 | 47 | 5.6383 |
| 2♥ 2♦ 9♣ 9♠ | 1 | 47 | 5.6383 |
| 2♠ 2♥ | 3 | 16,215 | 2.4419 |
| 2♠ 2♦ | 3 | 16,215 | 2.4419 |
| 2♥ 2♦ | 3 | 16,215 | 2.4419 |
| 2♠ 2♥ 9♣ | 2 | 1,081 | 2.2183 |
| 2♠ 2♦ 9♣ | 2 | 1,081 | 2.2183 |
| 2♥ 2♦ 9♣ | 2 | 1,081 | 2.2183 |
| 2♠ 2♥ 9♠ | 2 | 1,081 | 2.2183 |
| 2♠ 2♦ 9♠ | 2 | 1,081 | 2.2183 |
| 2♥ 2♦ 9♠ | 2 | 1,081 | 2.2183 |
| 2♠ 9♣ 9♠ | 2 | 1,081 | 1.6494 |
| 2♥ 9♣ 9♠ | 2 | 1,081 | 1.6494 |
| 2♦ 9♣ 9♠ | 2 | 1,081 | 1.6494 |
| 2♠ | 4 | 178,365 | 0.6683 |
| 2♥ | 4 | 178,365 | 0.6683 |
| 2♦ | 4 | 178,365 | 0.6683 |
| 2♠ 9♣ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.6050 |
| 2♥ 9♣ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.6050 |
| 2♦ 9♣ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.6050 |
| 2♠ 9♠ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.6050 |
| 2♥ 9♠ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.6050 |
| 2♦ 9♠ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.6050 |
| 9♣ 9♠ | 3 | 16,215 | 0.2492 |
| Discard all five | 5 | 1,533,939 | 0.0990 |
| 9♣ | 4 | 178,365 | 0.0790 |
| 9♠ | 4 | 178,365 | 0.0790 |
For every hold, the tool counts all possible final hands from the 47 unseen cards and weights their payouts. It uses exact combinations, not random trials, for one standard deck and the complete selected pay table. Tied best holds are shown; returns are rounded to four decimal places.
These are gross returns. A value of 0.3269 means an average payout of 0.3269 per 1 originally bet, not a 32.69% chance of winning. The wager is already committed when you choose a hold. A best decision can have a return below 1, and its next draw can still lose. The whole game’s return is a different figure.
Check the full payout schedule against your game. This tool does not cover progressive royals, bonus variants, altered awards or lower-credit natural-royal payouts.
These cards expose the habits that cost the most confusion: keeping a made hand automatically, treating two pair like ordinary poker, or chasing a flush just because a deuce fits. All examples below start on full pay.
The smallest differences need the whole deal. With 2♠ A♦ K♦ J♣ 7♥, full pay favors the deuce alone: 1.0363 versus 1.0287 for keeping 2♠ A♦ K♦. The discarded jack is unavailable to complete a draw. Replace the two discards with 6♣ 9♥ and the royal draw wins instead. This is the penalty-card exception attached to line 24 of the chart.
Start in the group matching the number of 2s in your original hand. Within that group, stop at the first line that fits, including its note. Keep the highlighted cards and replace the rest. This is a full-pay reference; use the analyzer for other schedules and close exceptions.
The analyzer is on a different pay table. This chart and its penalty-card note remain for full pay only.
44 of 44 lines shown · all deuce counts. Read from the top of your deuce group. The first matching line in your group is the chart’s play.
Use only your deuce-count group. Take its first matching hold. Full schedule: natural royal 800, four deuces 200, wild royal 25, five of a kind 15, straight flush 9, quads 5, full house 3, flush 2, straight 2, trips 1. Royal rate assumes five credits bet.
| Rank | What to hold | Example deal | Analyze the example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 deuces Keep all four | |||
| 01 | Four deuces | ||
| 3 deuces Wild royals, high five of a kind, then just the deuces | |||
| 02 | Wild royal flush | ||
| 03 | Five of a kind with 10s or higher | ||
| 04 | Three deuces | ||
| 2 deuces Made hands and selected strong draws | |||
| 05 | Wild royal flush | ||
| 06 | Five of a kind | ||
| 07 | Straight flush | ||
| 08 | Four of a kind | ||
| 09 | 4 to a wild royal flush | ||
| 10 | 4 to a straight flush with suited 6-7, 7-8, 8-9 or 9-10 | ||
| 11 | Two deuces | ||
| 1 deuce Follow the draw order carefully | |||
| 12 | Wild royal flush | ||
| 13 | Five of a kind | ||
| 14 | Straight flush | ||
| 15 | Four of a kind | ||
| 16 | 4 to a wild royal flush | ||
| 17 | Full house | ||
| 18 | 4 to a straight flush with suited 5-6-7 up to 9-10-J | ||
| 19 | Flush or straight | ||
| 20 | Three of a kind | ||
| 21 | Any other 4 to a straight flush | ||
| 22 | 3 to a wild royal flush without an ace | ||
| 23 | 3 to a straight flush with suited 6-7, 7-8, 8-9 or 9-10 | ||
| 24 | 3 to a wild royal flush with an ace Note 1 | ||
| 25 | The deuce alone | ||
| 0 deuces Natural hands and draws · high cards get no premium | |||
| 26 | Natural royal flush | ||
| 27 | 4 to a royal flush | ||
| 28 | Straight flush | ||
| 29 | Four of a kind | ||
| 30 | Full house | ||
| 31 | Flush | ||
| 32 | Three of a kind | ||
| 33 | Straight | ||
| 34 | 4 to a straight flush | ||
| 35 | 3 to a royal flush | ||
| 36 | One pair (from two pair, keep one) | ||
| 37 | 4 to a flush | ||
| 38 | 4 to an outside straight | ||
| 39 | 3 to a straight flush with no more than one gap, no ace | ||
| 40 | Suited 10-J | ||
| 41 | 3 to a straight flush with two gaps, no ace | ||
| 42 | 4 to an inside straight, except A-3-4-5 | ||
| 43 | Suited J-Q or 10-Q | ||
| 44 | Draw five new cards | ||
No matching lines in this group. Clear the search or choose another deuce count.
A penalty card is an original card you would discard, which leaves it unavailable to complete your draw. Apply this exception to line 24, in the one-deuce group.
The chart is a learning aid for full pay (25/15/9/5/3/2). Played exactly as written, it returns 100.7605%, against 100.7620% for perfect play: it parts from perfect play on 11,484 of the 2,598,960 deals, close calls worth 0.0015% in all. On the short-pay table it gives up 0.0754%. Where a full house pays 4 and a flush 3, keep two pair and hold 4 to a flush over one pair: on Illinois / Airport that cuts what the chart gives up from 0.8359% to 0.1913%, and on NSUD from 0.9135% to 0.2743%. The analyzer checks your exact cards on your table.
Full-pay Deuces Wild pays 5 for quads, 3 for a full house and 2 for a flush. NSUD pays 4, 4 and 3—but also raises five of a kind and the straight flush. Match every row. The game’s name alone cannot tell you its return.
Full pay means the complete 25–15–9–5–3–2 schedule shown here. Its theoretical return is above 100% with optimal play and the maximum-coin natural royal award. This long-run figure does not predict a session’s result.
This selector also changes the analyzer. Returns assume one standard deck, one draw and an 800-per-credit natural royal. Each table requires its own optimal strategy.
Why 100.76% is not a promise of profit| Full-pay Deuces Wild | Per creditat five credits | Five-credittotal payout |
|---|---|---|
| Natural royal flush | 800 | 4,000 |
| Four deuces | 200 | 1,000 |
| Wild royal flush | 25 | 125 |
| Five of a kind | 15 | 75 |
| Straight flush | 9 | 45 |
| Four of a kind | 5 | 25 |
| Full house | 3 | 15 |
| Flush | 2 | 10 |
| Straight | 2 | 10 |
| Three of a kind | 1 | 5 |
Other awards are unchanged across these presets. See the complete selected table above. Reading a pay table shows how to tell the versions apart.
NSUD is more than a lower-paying version of the same strategy. When no higher-priority draw applies, keep both pairs instead of breaking one; an ordinary four-card flush draw moves ahead of a pair. With three deuces, keep any five of a kind. Those are useful starting differences, not a complete NSUD chart.
The short-pay preset changes just one full-pay award: quads falls from 5 to 4. Its optimal return falls from 100.76% to 94.34%. Frequent modest payouts can matter more to the overall return than an unchanged 4,000-credit royal. Check the entire table before choosing a strategy or stake.
Full pay’s 100.76196% optimal return means about $7.62 in expected net gain per $1,000 wagered over the long run. It does not mean a 100% chance of leaving ahead. The estimate assumes the complete table, the full natural-royal award and optimal decisions; mistakes reduce it.
For the other schedules here, expected net loss per $1,000 wagered is about $2.72 on NSUD, $10.87 on Illinois / Airport, and $56.58 on the short-pay table. Total wagers include money won and bet again, not just the cash you started with.
On the conventional credit schedule, a natural royal pays 250 per credit at one through four credits, then 800 per credit at five. The chart and analyzer assume that larger royal rate. Five credits at $0.25 cost $1.25: a natural royal returns $1,000, while four deuces returns $250.
Choose an affordable denomination and set a spending limit before playing. Bet sizing cannot make a weak pay table stronger, and a long wait does not make four deuces or a royal due.
Keep every deuce on the standard tables covered here. Then decide which natural cards, if any, are worth keeping beside it. That advice is scoped to these schedules; progressive royals, promotions and modified games can require a separate strategy.
Not on full pay. With three deuces and a natural pair of 3s through 9s, keep just the deuces and draw two. Keep all five when the pair is tens through aces. With one or two deuces, keep a completed five of a kind. On NSUD, keep any five of a kind.
When no higher-priority draw applies, keep either pair and draw three on full pay. Both pairs have the same expected return; a higher pair gets no premium. On NSUD and Illinois / Airport, keep both pairs instead. Three suited royal cards can outrank these pair choices, so check the chart or analyzer before deciding.
Yes. Two deuces with three eights make five eights. A deuce can also take any suit needed for a flush or straight flush. The hand still counts as wild, so a royal completed by a deuce gets the wild-royal payout, not the natural-royal payout.
With 9♠ 10♠ J♠ Q♠ K♠, keep 10–J–Q–K on the full-royal schedules covered here. A natural royal is worth enough to make that draw better on average, even though the guaranteed straight flush is lost. Most other straight flushes cannot supply four natural royal cards, so this is not a rule to break every straight flush.
No. Full pay uses 15 / 9 / 5 / 3 / 2 for five of a kind, straight flush, quads, full house and flush. NSUD uses 16 / 10 / 4 / 4 / 3. Their optimal returns are about 100.76% and 99.73%, respectively, and their strategies differ. Other awards must match too.
Yes, if the standard 52-card rules and complete full-pay schedule match, including the natural-royal rate. For the other three supported schedules, use the analyzer. On conventional multi-hand games, the starting hold is shared but each extra hand increases your total wager. Extra features, bonus payments and progressive jackpots need their own analysis.
No. Joker Poker adds a different wild card; Bonus and Double Bonus Deuces Wild alter awards. This tool covers only the four displayed standard Deuces Wild schedules. If any payout differs, its result may not apply to your game.
With optimal play on the full-pay table, the final hand contains four deuces about once per 4,909 hands on average, including draws. Being dealt all four immediately is much rarer: once per 54,145 deals. These are long-run averages, not a schedule; a long wait does not make the next hand more likely to contain four deuces. The after-draw rate depends on the strategy and pay table.
No. A gamble offered after a payout is a separate wager under its own rules. The chart, analyzer and base-game return figures do not require using it.
What to carry to the table, biggest first.
Every hold starts from the number of deuces, and each count has its own section of the chart. Never throw a deuce away: on no deal of any table here is that the best play.
No pair pays, so a jack, queen, king or ace is worth little on its own. With no deuces, a lone ace is never the best hold on any table here.
Played perfectly, full pay returns 100.76%, NSUD 99.73% and short pay 94.34%. Four of a kind paying 5 instead of 4 is worth 6.42 points; match every award before you play.