Joker Poker Rules: The Wild-Card Video Poker Game
Joker poker rules explained: how the wild joker works, the 53-card deck, the pay table, and the extra hands you can only make with a joker.
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Joker poker is a video poker game played with a 53-card deck — the standard 52 cards plus a single joker that acts as a wild card. You’re dealt five cards, keep the ones you like, draw replacements for the rest, and get paid according to the machine’s pay table on your final hand. The joker’s job is simple and powerful: it stands in for any card you need, which unlocks bonus hands like five of a kind that ordinary poker can’t make. It’s a close cousin of jacks or better, tweaked around that one wild card.
The deck and the goal
Joker poker uses 53 cards: a normal 52-card deck plus one joker. There are no opponents — you’re playing against a pay table, trying to build a hand that qualifies for a payout. The stronger your final five-card hand, the bigger the payout, and the joker helps you reach hands you’d rarely hit otherwise.
How a hand plays out
Every round follows the same five steps:
- Bet. Choose your coins per hand (betting the max usually unlocks the best royal-flush payout).
- Deal. The machine deals you five cards face up.
- Hold. Tap the cards you want to keep — including the joker, which you should almost always hold.
- Draw. The machine replaces the cards you didn’t hold with new ones from the same deck.
- Payout. Your final five cards are scored against the pay table and paid accordingly.
For the mechanics shared by every machine game — random dealing, the return-to-player idea, and reading a pay table — see how video poker machines work.
How the wild joker works
The joker is wild: it becomes whatever card completes your best hand. Hold four cards to a flush plus the joker and it’s a flush; hold two pair plus the joker and it’s a full house. It also creates hands that don’t exist without a wild card:
- Five of a kind — four matching cards plus the joker (e.g. four kings + joker).
- Wild royal flush — a royal flush completed using the joker in place of one of the five cards. It pays less than a natural royal but more than most other hands.
The pay table and the minimum hand
Joker poker comes in two common flavors, and the difference is the lowest paying hand:
| Version | Minimum paying hand |
|---|---|
| Kings or Better | A pair of kings or aces |
| Two Pair | Two pair (pairs and single high pairs pay nothing) |
The natural royal flush (no joker) sits at the top, followed by five of a kind and the wild royal flush. Because the joker inflates how often you hit big hands, the minimum is set higher than jacks-or-better to keep the math balanced. Read the pay table printed on the machine before your first hand — it drives every hold decision. The underlying order of hands still follows the standard ladder in the hand rankings guide, with the wild-only hands slotted above four of a kind.
Joker poker vs. jacks or better
They look similar but play differently:
- Deck: joker poker adds the wild joker (53 cards); jacks or better uses a plain 52.
- Minimum: joker poker pays from kings or two pair; jacks or better pays from a pair of jacks.
- Bonus hands: only joker poker has five of a kind and the wild royal flush.
The hand ranking order with a wild card
Adding the joker slots two new hands into the ladder. From strongest to the paying minimum, a typical kings-or-better machine ranks hands like this:
| Hand | Notes |
|---|---|
| Natural royal flush | No joker used — the top jackpot |
| Five of a kind | Only possible with the joker |
| Wild royal flush | Royal completed with the joker |
| Straight flush | Five in sequence, one suit |
| Four of a kind | |
| Full house | |
| Flush | |
| Straight | |
| Three of a kind | |
| Two pair | |
| Kings or better | The paying minimum |
Notice that five of a kind outranks the wild royal but still pays less than the rare natural royal flush.
Quick beginner strategy
- Keep the joker every single time.
- With the joker plus a paying pair, you already have three of a kind — a strong hold.
- Chase flushes and straights aggressively when the joker is helping complete them.
- Don’t hold low pairs in kings-or-better; they can’t pay.
- Bet max coins so a natural royal flush pays its full bonus rate.
The takeaway
Joker poker is video poker with a wild card: a 53-card deck, a joker that fills in for any card, and bonus hands — five of a kind and the wild royal flush — that plain poker can’t make. You bet, hold, draw, and get paid by a pay table whose minimum is either kings-or-better or two pair. Always keep the joker, read the pay table first, and you’ll play it well. Compare it to its wild-free cousin in how to play jacks or better, or head back to the how-to-play hub.
Frequently asked
What is joker poker?
Joker poker is a video poker game played with a 53-card deck — the standard 52 cards plus one joker that acts as a wild card. You're dealt five cards, hold the ones you want, draw replacements for the rest, and get paid on the final hand. The joker can stand in for any card to complete a winning hand.
How does the joker work in joker poker?
The joker is wild: it substitutes for whatever card makes your strongest hand. It can complete a straight, a flush, a full house, or four of a kind, and it also enables special hands like five of a kind and the wild royal flush that don't exist in games without a wild card.
What is the lowest paying hand in joker poker?
It depends on the pay table. The most common version, kings-or-better, pays starting at a pair of kings or aces. Some machines use two pair as the minimum. Always read the pay table on the machine before you play, because the minimum sets the whole strategy.
Is joker poker the same as jacks or better?
No. Jacks or better uses a 52-card deck with no wild card and pays from a pair of jacks up. Joker poker adds a wild joker, uses a higher minimum like kings or two pair, and includes bonus hands such as five of a kind that jacks or better can't make.