I refer to the vpFREE VP Pay Tables at http://members.cox.net/vpfree/PayV.htm often when looking up unusual paytable variations.
While perusing the list, I noticed something about the base Deuces Wild section: it actually contains 2 distinctly different versions of Deuces Wild: FPDW and NSU, each with variations.
FPDW and its myriad of related paytable flavors all start with 1-2-2-3, down to the (awful) 16/13/4 Colorado Deuces. In fact, all but the 2 most downgraded versions begin with 1-2-2-3-5. The NSU variants all begin with 1-2-3-4-4, including APDW and the so-called "LV Airport/Illinois Deuces", which the Dancer/Liam strategies call "pseudo-NSU" or pNSU.
The distinguishing characteristics between the two groups can be boiled down to the payoffs for full houses and flushes: FPDW is 3/2, while NSU is 4/3. Undoubtedly, these basic paytable characteristics make for similar strategies at the most fundamental level. For example, when dealt two pair, you probably always hold only one of the pairs in FPDW variants, while always holding the two pair in NSU variants. I haven't actually checked this, but I suspect its true due to experience with paytable variations in other games like 10/7 DB versus 9/7 DB and 10/6 DDB versus 9/6 DDB.
Therefore, I submit that we should split the base Deuces Wild group into two groups, like this:
3/2 Deuces Wild
1-2-2-3-4-09-15-25-200-800 ... 94.34% - Ugly Ducks
1-2-2-3-4-10-15-25-200-800 ... 94.82%
1-2-2-3-4-13-16-25-200-800 ... 96.77% - Colorado Deuces
1-2-2-3-5-09-12-20-200-800 ... 98.94%
1-2-2-3-5-09-12-25-200-800 ... 99.81%
1-2-2-3-5-09-15-20-200-800 ... 99.89%
1-2-2-3-5-08-15-25-200-800 ... 100.36%
1-2-2-3-5-09-15-25-200-800 ... 100.76% - FPDW (FP)
1-2-2-3-5-09-15-25-200-800 ... 101.28% - 12,000 SEQ
4/3 Deuces Wild
1-2-3-4-4-10-10-20-200-800 ... 96.98%
1-2-3-4-4-09-12-20-200-800 ... 97.06%
1-2-3-4-4-10-12-20-200-800 ... 97.58%
1-2-3-4-4-09-15-25-200-800 ... 98.91% - pNSU/LV Airport/Illinois Deuces
1-2-3-4-4-10-15-25-200-800 ... 99.42%
1-2-3-4-4-10-16-25-200-800 ... 99.73% - NSUD (FP)
1-2-3-4-4-11-15-25-200-800 ... 99.96% - APDW
I never liked the moniker "Almost Positive Deuces Wild". There are 2 variants of FPDW that are "almost positive", so this name doesn't distinguish it from the other two, nor does it indicate that APDW is a variant of the 1-2-3-4-4 or NSU-type paytable. Likewise, I don't like giving a place name to a paytable variation, as in LV Airport Deuces, because that place might change their paytables, which in this case they have. For the same reason, I opposed calling calling APDW "Wynn Deuces". I prefer "15/11 NSU" to APDW, and "15/9 NSU" to "pNSU", "LV Airport Deuces", or "Illinois Deuces". Since 16/10 NSU is the most common variant of its class, it could then be designated as "FP" or the full pay version of the 4/3 Deuces Wild paytable as I've done above.
BTW, since "Not So Ugly Deuces" is listed, I think "Ugly Ducks" deserved to be listed too. I believe "Ugly Ducks" is the same paytable as FPDW except it pays 4 coins for a four-of-a-kind instead of 5. If so, it pays 94.34%, which is truly "ugly"! I've included it above.
JD
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