Straight Flush Draws Made Simple for Deuces Wild Video Poker

Published: October 3, 2014

One of the characteristics of Deuces Wild is that it's extremely difficult to learn how to play all of the different wild cards scenarios. What makes this even harder is that there are different types of draws based on which wild cards you have and which you do not, and that can complicate things further. What we have for you here is a way to think about the most difficult draws in this game: straight flush draws. We'll show you how to play them for the most common and most difficult situations.

If you have no wild cards, then any four to a straight flush is worth the same amount of value relative to the other hands. Four to a straight flush is worse than made hands, better than three to a royal and better than any pair. Keep in mind this is when you have no wilds in your hand whatsoever, and don't confuse it with the other situations. If you have a choice between a pair, three to a royal and a straight flush draw, then go for the four-card straight flush draw. This clears up a lot of confusion for these non-wild spots.

When you have a single wild card in your hand, then there are two different types of straight flush draws. What's known as a major straight flush draw has a wild card along with three consecutive cards in the same suit that are all five or higher. For example, Ac2c8s7s6s would be a good example of a major straight flush draw. A minor straight flush draw, on the other hand, are all of the others. A major draw with one wild is stronger than made hands like straights and flushes, but a minor straight flush draw is not. This is why it's important to know the difference.

Finally, if you have two wilds in your hand, the only type of straight flush draw that you'll keep is when you have two wilds along with two suited cards that are only one rank apart and that are both six or higher. All other straight flush draws will be broken up by just discarding everything but your wilds if you don't have four to a royal flush or four or a kind or better anyway. Overall, these guidelines should keep you straight on which straight flush draws matter more than others.