Wild Cards

Now that you have got the hang of the full basis of Chinese Poker it’s time to add some more action to your poker game. With Wild Cards you can spice up your game even more!

Spice up your game

It’s possible to make your Chinese Poker games even more interesting. You can do this by adding Wild Cards to your games. In Wild Games certain games will function as jokers. These Wild Cards (or jokers) can then be used for any card that will provide you with the best possible combination.

In the Regular and Progressive variation the 2’s functions as a joker. In the Low variation the Jack (J) is used as a Wild Card.

Below is an example of Wild Cards in a Low game. The Wild Card on top will count as a 4, this creates a Three of a Kind on the top line. On the middle line a Low hand has to be made, therefore the joker will transform into the lowest card possible, a 2.

Don’t know what we’re talking about when we’re saying Low Games? Reread Lesson 9.

Top line becomes a Three of a Kind

Some adjustments in Wild Games

Wild Games require a few adjustments.

Five of a Kind

For starters an extra combination is possible when Wild Cards are added to your game: Five of a Kind (also called a Poker). When you have a Five of a Kind, the name says it, you have 5 cards of the same. The value of this combination is in between a Royal Flush and a Straight Flush. On the bottom line a Poker is worth 20 points. In the middle it even accounts for 40 points.

In the example below, the player has used 3 wild cards. The game format is OFC Low. On the middle line, the two jokers will count as 2–3 off-suit to create the nuts. On the bottom line, the joker counts as a 4, hence creating a Five of a Kind of 4’s.

Bottom line becomes a 5 of a Kind

Staying in Fantasyland

Another rule that enters the game has to do with staying in Fantasyland. When Jokers are in game staying in Fantasyland will become much easier. To prevent you from staying in Fantasyland for hours on end, you’ll have to place a Three of a Kind on top or a Four of a Kind on bottom without using any Wild Cards on those lines.

We will explain this using an example. Below on the left you see that you won’t go stay in Fantasyland with this hand. On top, of course the joker will be changed to an A to create a Three of a Kind A–A–A. However, this does not count to stay in Fantasyland. Only with a “natural” hand, a hand without Wild Cards, you’re able to stay in Fantasyland. The same rule applies for the bottom line. You’ll stay in Fantasyland with a natural Four of a Kind, but not when you have placed 4–4–4–J–K.

On the right you will stay in Fantasyland. You have a natural Three of a Kind on top, 10–10–10, without having used any Wild Cards to create this Trips. Therefore you get to stay in Fantasyland. You can always use Wild Cards on the other lines of your hand. This won’t affect the line with which you qualify for (staying in) Fantasyland.

Unique situations

Wild Cards allow a whole bunch of new unique situations. For all these situations rules have been established. When you’re not in Fantasyland there’s no problem: the Jokers will form the best possible combination without creating a dead hand.

Example: when you have a Flush on the bottom and 2 Pair in the middle with a Joker (7–7–5–5–2), your Wild Card won’t create a Full House. When your Wild Card would be transformed to a 7, your hand would be considered dead, because a Full House is a better combination than a Flush. In the Days of Poker app the scoring happens automatically. When instead of a Flush you have a Four of a Kind, your middle line can be a Full House so your Wild Card will count for a 7.

The situations that we’ve explained here will mostly happen in Fantasyland. As mentioned before, if you want to stay in Fantasyland, you need a natural Three of a Kind on top or Four of a Kind on bottom. In certain cases you will have to make a choice: either you play a natural hand to stay in Fantasyland, either you use your Wild Cards to pick up the most royalty points. When playing live you can verbally indicate this and choose for yourself. When you are playing on the Days of Poker app, the app will make this choice for you.