Bonus Poker Deuce

Deuces Wild Strategy

When I first saw Bonus Deuces! at Sam's Town with a payoff of only 4-for-1 for quads, I thought it was just another variation designed to entice unwary players away from the full-pay machines. Due to the low estimated payback, I offered only a few obvious changes to the standard Poker Deuces Wild strategy. Many readers expressed an interest in this game, however, citing an article which projected a payback of up to 101.3%. As a result of this controversy, I did a complete analysis. The results surprised me. The payoff schedule, along with final hand probabilities with perfect play.
The complete analysis reveals that with Precision Play system generated specifically for this game we can expect at least 100.9% payback, making it one of the highest payback fixed-jackpot games. You get the double pay on four deuces only if you play five coins. Playing fewer than maximum coins costs nearly 4.2% on the four deuces payoff and bout one percent on the royal flush, thus reducing the total payback to less than 96%. Therefore, it is imperative that you do not play these machines unless you will be playing five coins every hand.
Bankroll fluctuations will be greater even than with regular Deuces Wild since more than ten percent of the payback is concentrated in the two jackpots. Similarly, the chances of a small win are reduced. The primary incentive for playing this game is having that $500 jackpot in the medium term (about once in 4,800 hands) as compared to the long term for the natural royal flush (a $1,000 jackpot averaging once in 45,000 hands).

Double Bonus Poker

The full pay (10/7) version of Double Bonus Poker is one of the few Jacks or Better type of games that offers over 100 percent potential payback in spite of only returning the player's bet for two pair. This game is often favored by professional players because it is typically the only attractive game offered in $1 or higher denominations. It is rarely attractive for non-professional players who are looking for the best play for their money. I have three reasons for saying this:
(1) The volatility (expected bankroll fluctuations) is even greater than for Deuces Wild, (2) the maximum payback is only marginally positive at 100.15% (about one-fifth the player advantage of Deuces Wild), and (3) the strategy is too complex to be reduced to Precision Play rules, so many players will not achieve even 100 percent payback.
Note the 10/7 payoffs for the Full House and Flush. The 9/6 version pays only 97.5% and should be avoided. Although the long term payback is 100.15% with accurate play, this is a very volatile game due to so much of the payback being concentrated in the four-of-a-kind payoffs. The push on two pair results in very high short term cost while waiting for quads.

Double Pay Deuces Wild

This is a much more common game than Bonus Deuces described, but it offers less than 100% payback. It's mentioned here only to point out the difference and recommend that you avoid it.

Loose Deuces and Triple Pay Deuces Wild

Other poker Deuces Wild variations pay 2500- or 3000-for-5 for four deuces. The payoff schedules are more closely related to the common short-pay Deuces wild than to Bonus Deuces. The surprising result is a long-term payback of about 101 % on the 2500-coin Loose Deuces and nearly 99.9% on the 3000-coin Triple Pay game. (A more recent complete analysis puts the payback of the 15/10 Loose Deuces at 100.95 %.) Thus the 15110 Loose Deuces offers slightly higher payback than Bonus Deuces. But be- ware- nearly 12% of the payback is concentrated in the four deuces and royal jackpots, so very large bankroll fluctuations are to be expected and do occur. At 500 hands per hour, you have an expected loss rate of about $70 per hour while waiting for four deuces or a royal.