Joker in a Home Game

[MonarchDon]

What is the gerneal rule concerning the Joker in a Home Game ? I am putting together my House Rules and I have it written as follows: "....a Joker will be used to help A's, Straights and Flushes only. A Joker is not an Ace by itself, it only helps A's, Straights and Flushes". If I keep it like this my concern is in Low-Ball games (best hand being A-2-3-4-5), what is the Joker considered?

[Vollycat]

We play same Joker rules except the Joker can be an Ace by itself. During low hand we play Joker can fill in anywhere in the low cards need--not my favorite. I think the Joker can be an Ace, fill a straight, or fill a flush. Period. IMHO!!

[Nate Finch]

Feh.. wild cards are for jokers /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Seriously, not a big fan. But yes, generally jokers are an Ace, or any card in a flush or straight (including straight flush).

-Nate

[OilMan]

In "Ace to 5" lowball (California lowball) the joker is considered the lowest card that is not in your hand. If you hold (Ace, 2, 4, 8, joker), the joker is used as a three. In high games the joker is usually only used in 5 card draw. This is also a California thing. In high games the joker can be used as an Ace (whether you have an ace in your hand or not) or to complete straights and flushes.

[smartalecc5]

that is so confusing. No jokers allowed. Period.

[hulk3rules]

When the joker is used in 5-draw, is it generally just 1 or are 2 used?? What is the common practice

[MonarchDon]

I don't like "Wild Card" Games, however in a friendly home game I think the Joker can be used to help make things interesting, like helping to fill out a flush or straight, but as far as it being a wild card in gereral I don't like that. I am from Cali so maybe it is the way I have always played the reason why I still do.

[gmunny]

We haven't used the joker in our home game for many years. But when we did, it was considered a "bug", meaning it is either and Ace, filler for straight, filler for flush or filler for low. We never used both jokers in a deck.
G$

[MonarchDon]

G, I think I should change my wording in regards to the Joker. Why did you guys stop playing with the Joker? I may consider that also.

[Nelly]

We have a strict no wild card policy in our game - but the Joker is, IMHO, an integral part of draw lowball and is allowed.

Can anyone tell me if it used in the triple draw lowball played in the WSOP?

[gmunny]

Hey Monarch,
We play dealer's choice and would play mainly 7 card stud (or variations) and 5 card draw and double draw games. We played a mix of both high, low and split games and the bug kept it interesting. This was at least 4 years ago.

We stopped using the bug when most people would deal hold'em or omaha games and we would need to remove the bug from the deck. Since it was a pain in the ass to stop play and remove the bug every time these games were dealt, we decided to stop using it. We tried playing with separate decks (one with a bug, one without), but we would always forget to swap em and it never failed the bug would come out when we played hold em/omaha). Even though we still play 7 stud once in awhile, we are too lazy to add the "bug" back into the deck, so for us it's gone like donkey kong!
/images/graemlins/smile.gif
G$

[Nick_Foxx]

we insert the joker to complete the 53-card deck when lowball (ace to five or deuce to seven) is called... obviously it acts as the lowest card not currently in your hand... just remember to remove it before u move to stud or flop games, we've forgotten a couple of times

mike

[Al Mirpuri]

[ QUOTE ]
we insert the joker to complete the 53-card deck when lowball (ace to five or deuce to seven) is called... obviously it acts as the lowest card not currently in your hand... just remember to remove it before u move to stud or flop games, we've forgotten a couple of times

mike

[/ QUOTE ]

The trouble with this is that the Joker is not tatty like the rest of the pack. A tricky dealer could deal it in or out of the game at will.

[Nick_Foxx]

actually whenever we play dealer's choice, it always gets to the point where pot limit lowball is the only thing that gets called so the card has seen i would say at least 50-60% of the usage of a normal card... not to mention we play with a brand new set of kems every month or so (each of the regulars takes a turn buying a new set)

mike