Games · DJ Wild
How to play DJ Wild poker
DJ Wild is five-card poker against the dealer with one twist that changes everything: the deck has 53 cards, and all four deuces plus the joker are wild. Five wild cards in 53 means you will make a pair or better on 72% of hands; the game feels like it is paying you constantly. What it actually costs is 1.73% of the money you are required to put up.
The bets, and the one decision
- Post Ante and Blind. They must be equal, and both are required. This is the detail that makes the usual "3.47% house edge" quote misleading: that figure is measured against the ante alone, as if the blind were optional.
- Look at your five cards. Then either raise exactly 2× your ante, or fold and forfeit both the ante and the blind.
- The dealer reveals. There is no qualifier; the dealer's hand always plays. Best hand wins; identical hands push everything.
If you win, the ante and play pay even money and the blind pays its own table. If you lose, all three go. That is the entire game: one decision, no draws, no discards.
The strategy is one sentence
That is genuinely all of it, and it raises on 69.3% of hands by our own count of every possible deal. The strange exception is real rather than a rounding artifact: a pair of fours beats a pair of threes, and holding a three yourself makes it less likely the dealer holds a pair of threes, so that one hand tips from a marginal raise to a fold.
Because you raise on roughly seven hands in ten, your average total wager is about 3.39× your ante. That is why the "element of risk" figure, 1.02%: is so much friendlier than the headline: it divides the same expected loss by a much bigger denominator.
Wild cards change which hands are rare
With five wilds, the hand you are used to fearing becomes routine and a new top hand appears above the royal flush. All five wild cards in one hand, five wilds, pays 1000:1 on the blind and happens exactly once in 2,869,685 deals; there is precisely one such hand in the 2,869,685 possible.
The practical consequence is the opposite of exciting. A pair is now the most common outcome at 46.7% of hands, and the blind bet, the one paying those big multiples, needs a straight or better, which arrives only 6.12% of the time. The flashiest bet on the felt is asleep more than nine hands in ten.
Every number, priced
Three numbers, one game. Which is "the" house edge depends entirely on what you divide by, and the friendliest of the three is the one you will usually see quoted. We show all three because the money you actually put at risk is closer to 3.39× your ante than 1×.
The Blind bet; pays on a straight or better
| Hand | Blind pays | Frequency | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five wilds | 1000:1 | 0.0000% | 1 in 2,869,685 |
| Royal flush | 50:1 | 0.0350% | 1 in 2,858 |
| Five of a kind | 10:1 | 0.0488% | 1 in 2,050 |
| Straight flush | 9:1 | 0.1271% | 1 in 787 |
| Four of a kind | 4:1 | 1.8012% | 1 in 56 |
| Full house | 3:1 | 0.5244% | 1 in 191 |
| Flush | 2:1 | 0.6606% | 1 in 151 |
| Straight | 1:1 | 2.9272% | 1 in 34 |
| Three of a kind or less | push | 93.88% | n/a |
The blind only comes alive on 6.12% of deals, and it must also beat the dealer to collect. It is the flashiest line on the felt and the quietest one in practice.
The Trips side bet: same hands, four prices
| Hand | Frequency | 90-25-7 | 90-30-6 | 90-25-6 | 60-25-6 ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild five wilds | 1 in 2,869,685 | 2000 | 2000 | 2000 | 2000 |
| Natural royal flush | 1 in 717,421 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Wild royal flush | 1 in 2,870 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 90 |
| Wild five of a kind | 1 in 2,050 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 70 |
| Natural straight flush | 1 in 79,713 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| Wild straight flush | 1 in 794 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 25 |
| Natural four of a kind | 1 in 5,435 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 60 |
| Wild four of a kind | 1 in 56 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Natural full house | 1 in 906 | 40 | 40 | 30 | 30 |
| Wild full house | 1 in 242 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Natural flush | 1 in 576 | 25 | 30 | 25 | 25 |
| Wild flush | 1 in 205 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Natural straight | 1 in 282 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Wild straight | 1 in 39 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Natural three of a kind | 1 in 68 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Wild three of a kind | 1 in 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| House edge | 0.59% | 1.19% | 3.16% | 6.16% |
Read the placard before you bet this. The cheapest schedule (90-25-7) costs 0.59%; the most common one (60-25-6, marked ★) costs 6.16%: over ten times as much for hands that arrive at exactly the same rate. The tell is natural four of a kind: 90 on the good table, 60 on the bad one.
The whole strategy
Raise with a pair of fours or better: except a pair of fours with a lone three, which folds.
That is the entire published strategy, and by our enumeration it raises on 69.3% of hands, which is where the 3.39× average wager comes from (1 ante + 1 blind + 2 more on 69.3% of deals). The odd exception is real: a pair of fours beats a pair of threes, and holding a three yourself makes the dealer's pair of threes less likely, so the marginal hand tips to a fold.
The Trips side bet: check the paytable
Trips resolves on your five cards alone, whether you raise or fold, and pays more for a natural hand (one that stands up at face value, with no wild doing the work) than a wild one. It is the single most variable-priced thing on the table: the same hands cost 0.59% on the best schedule and 6.16% on the most common one, more than ten times the price for identical odds.
The tell is the natural four of a kind line: 90 on a good table, 60 on the common one. If you cannot see the paytable, assume the expensive one.