Gambling Info Game Odds and Strategies Gambling Online Ask the Wizard Play for Fun Blog 
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.
‘Not So Ugly Ducks’ Deuces Wild Strategy
Last Update: Jun 28, 2009
This section contains my intermediate strategy for the "Not So Ugly Ducks" deuces wild game, mostly noted by paying 16 for a 5 of a kind and 10 for a straight flush. The following table shows the probabilities and return based on optimal strategy.
| Return Table for NSUD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
| Natural royal flush | 800 | 458740044 | 0.000023 | 0.018411 |
| 4 deuces | 200 | 3722640204 | 0.000187 | 0.037351 |
| Wild royal flush | 25 | 38014202784 | 0.001907 | 0.047677 |
| 5 of a kind | 16 | 61970767656 | 0.003109 | 0.049743 |
| Straight flush | 10 | 102265178496 | 0.005130 | 0.051304 |
| 4 of a kind | 4 | 1217014431948 | 0.061055 | 0.244218 |
| Full house | 4 | 520619308704 | 0.026118 | 0.104473 |
| Flush | 3 | 413496638196 | 0.020744 | 0.062232 |
| Straight | 2 | 1142019668916 | 0.057292 | 0.114585 |
| 3 of a kind | 1 | 5327850287628 | 0.267285 | 0.267285 |
| Nothing | 0 | 11105798652624 | 0.557150 | 0.000000 |
| Total | 19933230517200 | 1.000000 | 0.997278 | |
Intermediate Strategy
Following is my intermediate strategy.| 4 Deuces | |
| Hand | Expected Return |
|---|---|
| 4 Deuces | 200 |
| 3 Deuces | |
| Hand | Expected Return |
|---|---|
| Wild Royal | 25 |
| Five of a kind | 16 |
| 3 deuces | 14.344126 to 14.482886 |
| 2 Deuces | |
| Hand | Expected Return |
|---|---|
| Pat Four of a kind to Wild Royal | 5.02128 to 25 |
| 4 to a RF | 4.382979 to 5.06383 |
| 4 to a SF: 0 or 1 gap except 34, 35, 46 | 3.212766 to 3.468085 |
| 2 deuces | 3.034968 to 3.095035 |
| 1 Deuce | |
| Hand | Expected Return |
|---|---|
| Straight flush to wild royal | 10 to 25 |
| 4 to a RF | 3.489362 to 4.106383 |
| Flush to 4K | 3 to 5.0213 |
| 4 to a SF: 0 or 1 gap | 2.191489 to 2.510638 |
| Straight | 2 |
| 4 to a SF: 2 gaps | 1.9574 |
| 3 of a kind | 1.888067 |
| 4 to a SF: A low | 1.680851 |
| 3 to a RF: J-K high | 1.13136 to 1.379278 |
| 3 to a SF: 0 gaps (67 to 9T) | 1.108233 to 1.153562 |
| 3 to a RF: A high | 1.06013 to 1.07308 |
| 3 to a SF: 1 gap (57 to 9J), 45 | 1.010176 to 1.074931 |
| 4 to a straight: 0 gaps (567 to TJQ) | 1 |
| 1 deuce | 0.990867 to 1.026446 |
| 0 Deuces | |
| Hand | Expected Return |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 800 |
| 4 to a RF | 19.659574 to 20 |
| 3 of a kind to 4 of a kind | 1.888067 to 25 |
| 4 to a SF | 1.638298 to 1.914894 |
| 3 to a RF | 1.304348 to 1.517114 |
| 4 to a flush | 0.765957 |
| 2 pair | 0.680851 |
| 3 to a SF: 0 gaps (567 to 9TJ) | 0.547641 to 0.592044 |
| Pair | 0.546778 |
| 4 to a straight: 0 gaps (4567 to TJQK) | 0.510638 |
| 3 to a SF: 1 or 2 gaps, 345, 456 | 0.412581 to 0.509713 |
| 2 to a RF: J or Q high | 0.344249 to 0.407956 |
| 3 to a SF: A low | 0.33765 to 0.345051 |
| 4 to a staight: 1 gap, 3456 | 0.340426 |
| 2 to a RF: K high | 0.323343 to 0.341351 |
| Toss everything | 0.313949 to 0.332771 |
Methodology
My video poker program can produce an optimal strategy to any game. However the said optimal strategy to this game was 7798 lines long. I then went through by hand and grouped like hands according to my best judgment.
Play For Fun
Practice playing Not So Ugly Ducks on my free Java game.
Other Resources
For an NSUD strategy card I recommend the NSU Deuces Wild Strategy Cardby Bob Dancer and Liam W. Daily.
For software that can produce a strategy to most video poker games I recommend Video Poker Strategy Master by Tom Ski or Frugal Video Poker Softwareby Jim Wolf (contributions by Jean Scott).
| My Video Poker Offerings | |
|---|---|
Basic Video Poker Info
Practice / Play Video Poker for Free
Video Poker Calculator
Other Stuff
|
StrategiesFull-Pay Jacks or Better:
Full-Pay Deuces Wild:
Quick Quads:Other Strategies: |
Copyright © 1998-2012 Wizard of Odds Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved. • About | Privacy & Terms | Site Map | Links | Contact
The Wizard’s other sites: Wizard of Vegas | Wizard of Macau | Math Problems • Recommended: Vegas Click