Reason #3 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

Excellent Odds

In my opinion many online casinos are too stingy when setting the odds on their games. They think they will make more money that way but I believe they are misguided, because when players lose too quickly it’s not fun, and those players might not come back.

Bovada is one of the few casinos that understands this. They offer generous odds to let you play longer and get you a better chance of winning. Among their generous offerings are Full-Pay Jacks or Better returning 99.54%, six other video poker games paying over 99%, single-zero roulette, and my favorite, Pick ’em Poker, returning 99.95%!

Kudos to Bovada for not being afraid to give their players a good gamble.

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Simple Strategy for Deuces Wild video poker

Last Update: Dec 13, 2001

The following strategy is my "simple strategy" for deuces wild video poker. Using the strategy on a fullpay machine will result in an expected return of100.71%. Compared to the optimal strategy return of 100.76%,mistakes in the simple strategy will cost 0.05%, or one total bet every 1869 hands.

To use the strategy look up all viable ways to play an initial hand on the following list and elect that which is highest on the list.

4 deuces

4 deuces

3 deuces

Pat royal flush
3 deuces only

2 deuces

Any pat four of a kind or higher
4 to a royal flush
4 to a straight flush with 2 consecutive singletons,6-7 or higher
2 deuces only

1 deuce

Any pat four of a kind or higher
4 to a royal flush
Full house
4 to a straight flush with 3 consecutive singletons,5-7 or higher
3 of a kind, straight, or flush
All other 4 to a straight flush
3 to a royal flush
3 to a straight flush with 2 consecutive singletons,6-7 or higher
deuce only

0 deuces

4,5 to a royal flush
Made three of a kind to straight flush
4 to a straight flush
3 to a royal flush
Pair
4 to a flush
4 to an outside straight
3 to a straight flush
4 to an inside straight, except missing deuce
2 to a royal flush, J,Q high

Terms:

Outside straight: An open ended straight that can be completed at either end, such as the cards 7,8,9,10.

Inside straight: A straight with a missing inside card, such as the cards 6,7,9,10. In addition A,2,3,4 andJ,Q,K,A also count as inside straights because they are at an extreme end.

Any hand that does not appear on the above lists should never be played. Most notably a two pair, keeping a single pair has a higher expected value.

Example: Suppose you have the following hand.

The top two plays are (1) keep the pat flush, and (2)keep the 4 to a straight flush. The 4 to a straight flush consists of 3 consecutive singletons with a range of 5-7 or greater. This appears higher on the list than a pat flush,and is thus the better play.

Comparison to Optimal Strategy

The following table compares the probability and return of each hand under both the simple strategy and the optimal strategy.

Simple Strategy to Optimal Strategy Comparison
Hand	Pays	Probability
Hand	Pays	Simple	Optimal	Simple	Optimal
Natural royal flush	800	0.000022	0.000022	0.017396	0.017667
4 deuces	200	0.000206	0.000204	0.041257	0.040741
Wild royal flush	25	0.001785	0.001796	0.044631	0.044896
5 of a kind	15	0.003164	0.003202	0.047466	0.048024
Straight flush	9	0.004206	0.00412	0.037854	0.037079
4 of a kind	5	0.06523	0.064938	0.326151	0.324691
Full house	3	0.021303	0.021229	0.063909	0.063687
Flush	2	0.016977	0.016581	0.033955	0.033161
Straight	2	0.053711	0.056564	0.107422	0.113129
3 of a kind	1	0.287044	0.284544	0.287044	0.284544
Nothing	0	0.546351	0.5468	0	0
Total		1	1	1.007085	1.00762

The next table is a frequency distribution of the error,or difference in expected return, between the simple strategy and the optimal strategy.

Error Frequency
Error	Number	Probability
0	2520216	0.969702
.01%-0.99%	16488	0.006344
1.00%-1.99%	37848	0.014563
2.00%-2.99%	18336	0.007055
3.00%-3.99%	1548	0.000596
4.00%-4.99%	492	0.000189
5.00%-5.99%	2700	0.001039
6.00%-6.99%	864	0.000332
7.00%-7.99%	180	0.000069
8.00%-8.99%	252	0.000097
9.00%-9.99%	0	0
10.00%-10.99%	36	0.000014
Total	2598960	1

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Basic Video Poker Info My main Video Poker page Return tables: Probability of Ruin for single-play video poker Random simulations of multi-play video poker The standard deviation of n-play video poker Practice / Play Video Poker for Free Play my free video poker game/trainer Video Poker Calculator Analyze the return for almost any video poker paytable Other Stuff Jacks or Better quiz Probability distribution for each hand by number of cards held in Full-Pay Deuces Wild Video poker programming tips San Diego County video poker survey	Strategies Full-Pay Jacks or Better: Simple Strategy (return of 99.46%) Intermediate Strategy (return of 99.52%) Optimal Strategy (return of 99.54%) Full-Pay Deuces Wild: Simple Strategy (return of 100.71%) Optimal Strategy (return of 100.76%) 3 to a wild royal (ace-high) vs. Deuce only 2 to a royal (king-high) with a straight penalty 2 to a royal (king-high) with no penalty Quick Quads: 9/6 Jacks or Better 8/5 Bonus Poker 9/7 Double Bonus 9/6 Double Double Bonus 8/5 Triple Bonus Other Strategies: "Not So Ugly Ducks" 8/5 Bonus Poker 10/7 Double Bonus 9/6 Double Double Bonus

Simple Strategy for Deuces Wild video poker

Comparison to Optimal Strategy

Basic Video Poker Info

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Video Poker Calculator

Other Stuff

Strategies

Full-Pay Jacks or Better:

Full-Pay Deuces Wild:

Quick Quads:

Other Strategies: