Awild card incard games is one that may be used to represent any otherplaying card, sometimes with certain restrictions.[1]Jokers are often used as wild cards, but other cards may be designated as wild by the rules or by agreement. In addition to their use in card games played with a standard pack, wild cards may also exist indedicated deck card games, such as the 'Master' card inLexicon.[2]: 134
A wild card is one that may be used to represent anynatural card, its holder usually designating itsrank andsuit.Jokers are frequently used as wild cards, for example in games of theRummy family. Jokers, however, may also have other uses, such as being a permanent toptrump in games likeEuchre or500, the odd one out inOld Maid, or high-value matching cards inZwicker.
In many games, ordinary cards may be designated as wild, for example, theJ♣ and9♦ inClassic Brag or the "deuces wild" inPoker.[3] A card that is not wild may be referred to as anatural card.[4]
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 asCanasta,Perlaggen orYellow Dwarf, the wild card or cards are a standard feature of the rules.
In some Austrian andSouth Tyrolean card games, one or more other cards may be used as wild cards, including theWeli, a special 6 of Bells, the 7 of Bells and 7 of Acorns. In the game ofPerlaggen there are six or seven wild cards: four permanentPerlaggs -
K orMaxl,
6 orWeli,7 orLittle Weli, the 7 of Bells orBell-Spitz and
7 orEichelspitz - as well as 3 "TrumpPerlaggs" - the 7, Unter and Ober of Trumps.
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.
A 'limited wild' card may be called a 'bug'. 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 astraight,flush, orstraight flush. Under this rule, a hand such asK♠ K♥ Jkr 5♣ 2♥ is just a pair of kings (with an acekicker), but any four same-suit cards with a bug make a flush, and a hand such as7♥ 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 thedouble-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).
The following is a selection of cards and the games in which they are wild, based on Parlett:[5]
7 –Perlaggen7 –PerlaggenK –Perlaggen
S –Mus
C –Mus