A wild card in card games is one that may be used to represent any other playing card, sometimes with certain restrictions. These may be jokers, for example in Rummy games, or ordinary ranked and suited cards may be designated as wild cards such as the J♣ and 9♦ in Classic Brag or the "deuces wild" in Poker.[1] A card that is not wild may be referred to as a natural card.[2] Jokers, however, may also have other uses, such as being a permanent top trump.
A joker being used as a wildcard to represent a queen, in a hand of cards
In some cases, the wild card or cards must be agreed upon by players before the cards are dealt and play commences. However, in many games, such as Canasta, Perlaggen or Yellow Dwarf, the wild card or cards are a standard feature of the rules.
Sometimes a distinction is made between being fully or partially wild. A card that is fully wild can be designated by its holder as any card they choose with no restrictions. Under this rule, for example, a hand with any natural pair and a wild card becomes three of a kind.
Conversely, a "bug" is a limited wild. The common rule in casinos is that a wild card plays as a bug, which is given the rank of ace unless designating it as a different card would complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. Under this rule, a hand such as K♠K♥Jkr5♣2♥ is just a pair of kings (with an ace kicker), but any four same-suit cards with a bug make a flush, and a hand such as 7♥Jkr5♣4♥3♠ makes a straight.
There is also a variation of the "Fully Wild" rule in which the wild card (in this instance they are usually jokers as there are traditionally only two and there is only one black and one red) can be any card of the suits matching the cards colour or current suit. For example, in a jokers wild game with these rules, the red joker could be used as any card of hearts or diamonds. Inversely, the black joker would be any card of clubs or spades.
Two exceptions to standard poker practice sometimes seen in home games are the double-ace flush rule, and the natural wins rule. The latter rule states that between hands that would otherwise tie, the hand with fewer wild cards wins. This is not common in casinos and should be treated as an exception to standard practice (as is the double-ace flush).
In some Austrian and South Tyrolean card games, one or more other cards may be used as wild cards, including the Weli, a special 6 of Bells, the 7 of Bells and 7 of Acorns. In the game of Perlaggen there are six or seven wild cards: four permanent Perlaggs - K or Maxl, 6 or Weli, 7 or Little Weli, the 7 of Bells or Bell-Spitz and 7 or Eichelspitz - as well as 3 "Trump Perlaggs" - the 7, Unter and Ober of Trumps.
ExamplesEdit
The following is a selection of cards and the games in which they are wild, based on Parlett:[4]
wild, card, cards, wild, card, card, games, that, used, represent, other, playing, card, sometimes, with, certain, restrictions, these, jokers, example, rummy, games, ordinary, ranked, suited, cards, designated, wild, cards, such, classic, brag, deuces, wild, . A wild card in card games is one that may be used to represent any other playing card sometimes with certain restrictions These may be jokers for example in Rummy games or ordinary ranked and suited cards may be designated as wild cards such as the J and 9 in Classic Brag or the deuces wild in Poker 1 A card that is not wild may be referred to as a natural card 2 Jokers however may also have other uses such as being a permanent top trump A joker being used as a wildcard to represent a queen in a hand of cardsWild cards may also exist in dedicated deck card games such as the Master card in Lexicon 3 134 Use EditIn some cases the wild card or cards must be agreed upon by players before the cards are dealt and play commences However in many games such as Canasta Perlaggen or Yellow Dwarf the wild card or cards are a standard feature of the rules Sometimes a distinction is made between being fully or partially wild A card that is fully wild can be designated by its holder as any card they choose with no restrictions Under this rule for example a hand with any natural pair and a wild card becomes three of a kind Conversely a bug is a limited wild The common rule in casinos is that a wild card plays as a bug which is given the rank of ace unless designating it as a different card would complete a straight flush or straight flush Under this rule a hand such as K K Jkr 5 2 is just a pair of kings with an ace kicker but any four same suit cards with a bug make a flush and a hand such as 7 Jkr 5 4 3 makes a straight There is also a variation of the Fully Wild rule in which the wild card in this instance they are usually jokers as there are traditionally only two and there is only one black and one red can be any card of the suits matching the cards colour or current suit For example in a jokers wild game with these rules the red joker could be used as any card of hearts or diamonds Inversely the black joker would be any card of clubs or spades Two exceptions to standard poker practice sometimes seen in home games are the double ace flush rule and the natural wins rule The latter rule states that between hands that would otherwise tie the hand with fewer wild cards wins This is not common in casinos and should be treated as an exception to standard practice as is the double ace flush nbsp Three of the wild cards in PerlaggenIn some Austrian and South Tyrolean card games one or more other cards may be used as wild cards including the Weli a special 6 of Bells the 7 of Bells and 7 of Acorns In the game of Perlaggen there are six or seven wild cards four permanent Perlaggs nbsp K or Maxl nbsp 6 or Weli nbsp 7 or Little Weli the 7 of Bells or Bell Spitz and nbsp 7 or Eichelspitz as well as 3 Trump Perlaggs the 7 Unter and Ober of Trumps Examples EditThe following is a selection of cards and the games in which they are wild based on Parlett 4 J Boston Guimbarde and Reversis 7 Yellow Dwarf nbsp 7 Perlaggen nbsp 7 Perlaggen K Perlaggen nbsp S Mus nbsp C Mus Matto Ottocento Begato Ottocento Deuces Wild card Rummy Push Rummy Canasta BragFootnotes and references Edit The Language of Cards A glossary of card playing terms by David Parlett at www parlettgames uk Retrieved 1 Jun 2018 Parlett David The Penguin Book of Card Games London Penguin 2008 ISBN 978 0 141 03787 5 Augarde Tony 1994 The Oxford A to Z of word games Oxford University Press pp 133 135 ISBN 0 19 866178 9 Parlett 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wild card cards amp oldid 1159530263, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
