Total Dhamaal If You Use Your Jokers Right

There are two kinds of people – those who know the value of a Joker when playing rummy, and those who are dismissive of them. Are you the latter?  Well, that’s about to change. As a rummy player, knowing how to use your Jokers can turn your game around completely! No card is either more or less important than the others. But Jokers tend to have a slight edge. How you use the cards in your hand is up to you. 

There is a reason why a pack of cards includes two Jokers, and a rummy game has four wild-card Jokers. They bring fun, excitement, and drama elements to the game. This doesn’t mean in any way that playing with a Joker makes the game a breeze, since, with the Joker, the chances of finishing the game fast are high. That holds true for you, as well as your opponents. However, the Joker is the most versatile card in the game, and you can have loads of fun with it! Sit back and allow the joker to lead you to victory.

Know thy Joker

Joker cards are of two kinds – the printed ones and the wild card that is selected randomly from the closed deck. Cards of the same rank (the wild card selection) are also used as Jokers in the game. For instance, if the Joker is 3 of Hearts, the other 3s can also be used as Jokers to form sets and sequences. 

Joker = Trump card 

That’s right. With this in mind, know that it is a card that should be used as a last resort. Once you’ve been dealt your cards, if you have a Joker in your hand, put it aside until it is essential. Prioritise on making the pure sequence first, and you have already put yourself in the safe zone. Once this is done, the Joker can swoosh right in to complete the impure/real sequences, and to tickle your opponents’ brains. 

Club your Jokers

If you have more than one Joker, resist the urge to use them in sets right away. Put them aside for a while, as they may block your mind from being able to see cards that could be used to create more than one pure sequence. Winners use the Joker as a life jacket. Once your pure and real sequences are formed, you can reduce points in your hand and finish as many sets as possible.

Keeping points minimal

You never know what might happen in a game of Rummy. And should you lose, you want to ensure you are giving away as few points as possible. One of the first moves of an experienced player would be to drop higher value or face cards that show no promise of a sequence. The best way to use the Joker card is to pair it with face cards that are on their way to making a sequence. Instead of waiting for the missing cards to appear during the game, this move can save you time (and points, eventually)! You can also use a Joker if you have two number cards of the same value but different signs. And what if you have 2 Queens? Same goes for this situation! Your Joker can complete the triplet sequence and save you valuable points! 

And here is another little trick for when you’re playing online rummy. Keep your Jokers mixed with your other cards. The melded Jokers will get counted in sets and help to keep your points limited. This helps in case of sudden power failure or technical glitches, and you stay ahead even when you get back to the game. You can try this tip by playing online rummy on RummyCircle.

Confuse your opponents

The best strategy is knowing when and where to throw in your Joker. You can boggle your opponents by discarding cards close to the Joker. For instance, if the wild-card Joker is a 7 of Spades, you can put down the 6, 8 and 9 of Spades. Since most players are not likely to use their Jokers to create a pure sequence, they will avoid picking up these cards, giving you an upper hand. 

An abundance of jokers?

You already know that to have a smooth game, you must treat a Joker as a curative rather than a preventive. If a Joker wasn’t dealt to you, the only way of acquiring it is from the closed deck. But what do you do once you’ve used a Joker in your set and are now left with extras? Why, discard them, of course! This can be quite annoying for your opponents since they cannot pick up tossed Jokers. Besides, there will always be one Joker sitting under that closed deck, taunting them. 

Now that you are aware of what this incredible card is capable of, make your way over to the Rummy app for some dhamaal tournaments and cash games!