A Different Version of NSU Deuces Wild - Part II of III

Last week I began a discussion comparing the "normal" version of NSU Deuces Wild (16-10-4-4-3) and another version that I arbitrarily called Super NSU (15-11-4-4-3). You might want toBob Dancer is one of the world's foremost video poker experts.  He is a regular columnist for Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and the Las Vegas Review-Journa land has written an autobiography and a novel about gambling.   He provides advice for tens of thousands of casino enthusiasts looking to play video poker.  Bob's website is www.bobdancer.com  check out that column (available a few mouse-clicks away) before reading this one. Today I want to look at the hands with one deuce, which I signify by a W (standing for wild card).

1. W'789K'; W'357'6; W'A35'5

In NSU, there are a series of rules about 1-deuce 4-card straight flushes compared to dealt hands. The rules are:

When we go to the SNSU game, all of the SF4 will increase in value, obviously, because now straight flushes are paid 11 for 1 rather than 10 for 1. The value of 3-of-a-kind will decrease in value because now 5-of-a-kinds are paid 15 instead of 16.

My three tests are designed to see if SF4 0i is now more valuable than a dealt flush (answer: NO), whether SF4 2i is now more valuable than a dealt straight (answer: YES), and whether SF4: A-low is now more valuable than 3-of-a-kind (answer: NO). This makes the rules for SNSU

In addition to the change in rules, let me point out a few things that will be obvious to the experienced players but not-so-obvious to some newcomers. First of all, the value of a dealt FLUSH and a dealt STRAIGHT didn't change between the two pay schedules. This is because the pay schedule didn't change in these areas.

Second, the fewer insides to the SF4 combination, the more the value changes with a pay schedule change. The reason for this is that when you start from W'789' (or any other SF4 0i), there are seven cards you can draw to complete the straight flush. When you draw to W'457' (or any other SF4 1i), there are six perfect cards you can draw. When you draw to W'346' (or any other SF4 2i), there are five perfect cards, and when you draw to W'A35' (or any other SF4: A-low) there are only four perfect cards.

Next, if you're new to NSU or SNSU, the number of rules might seem pretty large. The rules in this section aren't very difficult for any player seriously about winning. In my opinion, players who don't have at least these rules memorized and at their fingertips aren't prepared to play this game in a casino. Having the rules on a strategy card or sheet is better than nothing, of course, but there are so many far-more-complicated rules in this game that if you don't have these rules mastered, you have no hope of even seeing the others.

Finally, and this point was also made in last week's column, the change in value to the SF4s (where you need to draw one card) is much larger than the change in value to the 3-of-a-kind (where you need to draw two cards).

2. W45

In NSU, W45 is a very close play. Sometimes you hold the deuce by itself and sometimes the W45. There are penalty-card considerations and numerous "Power of the Pack" considerations. The rules are presented below. If you wish an explanation of "why" on these combinations, see the Dancer / Daily Winner's Guide for the game. (fp = flush penalty; sp = straight penalty)

1. hold W alone with fp+sp, or when two sp other than A8
2. hold W alone when suited 39 or 3J or when suited-or-not 3Q or 3K
3. hold W alone when W'459'+K, W'45J'+K, or W'45Q'+K
4. hold W alone when W'45K' + 9, J, or Q

The examples shown are somewhat arbitrary. These are some of the closer plays, some of which have changed between games. The summary of the rules is as follows:

1. hold W alone with fp plus 3, 6, or 7
2. hold W alone when W'45K' +A
3. hold W alone when suited-or-not 3 plus 8

One of the things to notice is that W'45' ALWAYS increased by the same 11.1¢ (allowing for rounding) in all of our examples. That's because none of the spare cards in our examples affected the frequency of the straight flush. If we had such a card, like an 8 of the same suit as the '45', we would simply have held the 4-card straight flush W'458'.

Another thing to notice is that there is quite a bit of variance in how much the value of the deuce alone changes, but it's usually around 1¢. It's difficult to easily see why there are these differences because there are 178,365 different draws you can make to a single deuce. The number of 5-of-a-kind draws is always 296, but the number of straight flushes varies between 791 and 895.

Many people will consider these differences too small and/or too rare to try to remember. For me they aren't that tough, and I play NSU frequently enough, for large enough stakes, that I consider the benefit from knowing the distinctions worth the cost.

Next week, we'll examine 1-deuce 4-card straights, such as W567 and 2-deuce 4-card straight flush draws. We'll find quite a few differences between the two games.