Deuces Go Wild

The wonderful world of wildcards

Deuces Wild Video Poker is fun, even more fun than most Video Poker games. Don't ask me why but wildcards are just plain fun. You get bigger, more exciting hands, mini-jackpots on four deuces and in the case of a full pay Deuces Wild Video Poker game, you also get a return percentage of 100.76%! The downside is that the game is quite volatile compared to its Jacks or Better cousin. Full pay machines though are quite hard to find outside of Nevada.

There are many variations of wildcard games, including a number of pay-schedule variations on Deuces Wild. Most common is the switch from five coins to four on a four of a kind hit. This can ruin the game completely, so much so in fact that most manufacturers make other compensatory changes if they happen to make this major one.

Another excitement builder comes in the form of the Joker wild machines. When a Joker is added to the deck, it's 53 cards per deck. If this were all that was different in Joker Poker, we wouldn't have much to worry about. Sadly though the main shortcoming of the game is the fact that you really can't find a full pay machine anywhere. They barely exist.

As pure proof that you're now a member of the Video Poker elite, have a look at Atlantic City. You'll find a million and one Joker Poker boxes with pay-schedule changes that make them a fairly horrible game, and a million and two casino patrons putting their money in.

Usually the casino takes what should be a 20-coin payoff on four of a kind to 15 coins, dropping the 100+% payback percentage right down to 96% and change. Some games even short you on a pair of kings, only paying back for two pair. They claim to compensate with larger payoffs on big hands, but none of them compensate enough.

One version of Joker Poker that stands out though, is a variation called Double Joker, which uses an extra joker for a 54-card deck. The perfect play pay on this machine is 99.97% - pretty respectable. Three words in particular apply to this variation though: beware the volatility!

So Jokers Wild and Deuces Wild Video Poker offer a little more excitement and variety to our everyday lives, and we appreciate it, to a point. Look hard for a full pay version of one of these machines, if you're lucky enough to find one you'll certainly enjoy yourself.