# poker with a joker **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 5, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362 "2013-02-05T04:12:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carlu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@carlu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlu)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/1 "2013-02-05T04:12:55Z")
four flush cards on the board in holdem one person has the joker and the other player has the ace the natural hands wins correct ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/2 "2013-02-05T04:24:30Z")
There’s no ‘official’ rules in this case, so, in order: 1. House rules trump all. Whoever runs the game makes the rules. 2. In some home games, you might see a natural card rule where the fewest wild cards win ties. 3. Casinos (any that still spread wild card games, anyway) don’t recognize natural card rules - they split the pot. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/3 "2013-02-05T04:24:37Z")
Depends. I’m not a hold’em player. Nor am I really much a poker player of any type, so take it with a bit of salt, but the way I understand it is casinos do not distinguish between wilds and naturals when paying out. Tie hands split the pot regardless of the number of wilds are in play. However, some people in home games will house rule that the least number of wilds wins. So without knowing your specific situation, it’s hard to say one way or the other. However, you can probably assume that if no house rule was explicitly in play that was agreed upon by all players, the situation would default to how casinos typically do it, which means both hands will split the pot. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/4 "2013-02-05T04:26:45Z")
No - that isn’t really even a “real” game, but if you were to play it - it would be a tie. Split pot. “Natural” cards aren’t worth more. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/5 "2013-02-05T05:06:28Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > No - that isn’t really even a “real” game, but if you were to play it - it would be a tie. Split pot. > > “Natural” cards aren’t worth more. I’ve never played hold 'em with jokers, but back in high school and college when we played lots of wild card games, there was no differentiation between natural and wild cards in terms of ranking hands. Split pot would be the decision in the case here, too. But house rules over all, so if you make a rule that a natural ace is better than a joker in case of a tie, that’s fine, as long as it’s agreed to beforehand. In absence of any such rules, a wild card is just as worthy as a natural card. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/6 "2013-02-05T05:10:01Z")
Can the wild card be the same as a natural card in the same hand? If the board is A-9-7-4 suited, one player has the suited king and the other has the joker, does the joker make a A-A-9-7-4 flush? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/7 "2013-02-05T06:15:41Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Can the wild card be the same as a natural card in the same hand? If the board is A-9-7-4 suited, one player has the suited king and the other has the joker, does the joker make a A-A-9-7-4 flush? Usually, it represents a card not already present in the hand, so the wildcard there could only represent as high as a K. Now, some people play “double ace flush” rules, where there is no such restriction, and you can have your A-A(wild)-9-7-4 flush. But in both cases, usually five-of-a-kind is allowed and is the highest possible hand in wild card variants of poker, even though such a hand would require the duplication of a card. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-with-a-joker/649362/8 "2013-02-05T06:28:13Z")
Should mention I agree with everyone saying house rules trump all. I assumed there was no house rule :). As someone else mentioned - if there is no house rule - i would default to what the casinos do. We do this in our house games (luckily I don’t have to remember all of them) and you get rules on what to do with misdeals, split pot (extra chip goes to high hand), extra chip if quartered goes to left of dealer (or maybe right - cant remember). Also in some wild games - the joker counts as a “bug” which means - well it’s a bit complicated, but: > **[Bug (poker)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug_(poker))** > > A bug in poker is a limited form of wild card. One or both jokers are often added to the deck and played as bugs. > In draw poker played for high and pai gow poker, the bug is considered to be an ace, unless it can be used as a missing card to complete a straight or a flush, in which case it becomes the highest card which can complete the hand. > In California lowball, the bug is the lowest unpaired card in a hand. For example in 8-6-4-3 plus the bug, the bug becomes an ace; in A-2-3-5 plus the b...