How to play
Joker Poker is five-card draw against a pay table, played with a 53-card deck: the usual 52 cards plus one joker. The joker is wild. It counts as whatever card gives you the best hand, and it’s highlighted on the table.
- Choose your bet from 1 to 5 credits. Bet one raises it by one; Bet max bets 5 and deals straight away.
- You get five cards. Tap the cards you want to keep; they’re marked Held.
- Press Draw. Every card you didn’t hold is replaced from the same deck.
- Your final hand is paid according to the table. Every hand is dealt from a freshly shuffled 53-card deck.
Pay table (per credit bet). This is the “Kings or Better” Joker Poker table:
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Natural Royal Flush (no joker) | 250 (4,000 for a 5-credit bet) |
| Five of a Kind | 200 |
| Wild Royal Flush (with the joker) | 100 |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four of a Kind | 20 |
| Full House | 7 |
| Flush | 5 |
| Straight | 3 |
| Three of a Kind | 2 |
| Two Pair | 1 |
| Pair of Kings or Aces | 1 |
The lowest paying pair is Kings: a pair of Queens or lower doesn’t pay. With the joker, five of a kind is possible, for example four 9s plus the joker. An Ace counts high or low in a straight, but straights don’t wrap around.
Strategy
With perfect play, this pay table returns slightly more than 100% over the long run. First, never throw away the joker. Then use the first rule that matches.
With the joker.
- Keep four of a kind or better, a full house, and 4 cards to a royal flush.
- Keep 4 cards to a straight flush (the joker counts as one of them), even if it means breaking up three of a kind or a straight. A made flush is only worth breaking when the four are in a row, like the joker with 5-6-7 suited.
- Keep three of a kind (the joker plus a pair), a flush or a straight.
- Keep the joker with 2 suited royal cards (like K-Q of the same suit).
- Keep the joker with 2 or 3 suited cards that could still make a straight flush with it: cards close together (like 6-7 or 4-5 suited), a King or Ace with another card of its suit, or 3 cards of one suit that include a King or Ace. These beat the joker with a lone King or Ace.
- Keep the joker with a King or an Ace, which already makes a paying pair.
- Otherwise keep the joker, with 3 cards in a row if you have them (like 5-6-7). Don’t keep a Queen or Jack for its own sake: a pair of them doesn’t pay here. Hint shows the exact best hold.
Without the joker.
- Keep a straight flush or four of a kind, and 4 cards to a royal flush.
- Keep any full house, flush or three of a kind.
- Keep 4 cards to a straight flush, even if it means breaking up a straight or a pair of Kings. A straight only pays 3 here.
- Keep any other straight.
- Keep two pair.
- Keep 3 cards to a royal flush, even if it means breaking up a pair of Kings or Aces. The exception is A-Q-J, A-Q-10 or A-J-10 (an Ace without the King): the pair is worth more.
- Keep a pair of Kings or Aces.
- Keep 4 cards to a flush. It beats a low pair.
- Keep a low pair (Queens or lower). It beats 4 cards in a row like 6-7-8-9.
Weak hands. If nothing above matches, the choices are close. Good holds, roughly from best to worst: 3 suited cards in a row toward a straight flush (like 5-6-7) and 4 cards in a row that can be finished at either end (like 6-7-8-9 or 10-J-Q-K); 2 suited high cards with a King (like K-Q suited); a King and an Ace of different suits; a single King or Ace. A Queen or Jack isn’t worth keeping on its own, even with a suited partner. With nothing at all, draw five new cards: 1 in 53 cards is the joker. Hint shows the exact best hold.
Always play 5 credits if you can. The natural royal flush pays 4,000 at 5 credits but only 250 per credit at lower bets.
Related games. In Deuces Wild there are four wild cards instead of one. Jacks or Better has no wild cards and pays from a pair of Jacks.
If you enjoy Joker Poker, try Keno or Klondike Dice next.
