Wild Card
A card designated to substitute for any other card in a hand to complete the highest possible combination.
Detailed Explanation
A wild card is a card (or joker) that can stand in for any other card value to help form the best possible hand. Wild cards are rarely used in standard casino-banked table games — blackjack, baccarat, and most poker variants are played with standard 52-card decks without wilds. However, wild cards appear in certain video poker variants and in some home game formats.
In video poker, common wild card games include Deuces Wild (all 2s are wild), Joker Poker (one or two jokers added as wilds), and Double Joker. Wild cards dramatically increase the frequency of strong hands but casinos adjust the pay tables downward to compensate. Deuces Wild typically requires a minimum of three-of-a-kind to pay out, offsetting the advantage of having four wild cards in the deck.
Optimal strategy for wild card video poker games differs substantially from standard Jacks-or-Better strategy. Players should study game-specific strategy charts for any wild card variant before playing.
Related Entries
Table Game Terms
Ante
A mandatory bet placed before any cards are dealt to initiate a round.
Table Game Terms
Burn Card
A card removed face-down from the top of the deck after a shuffle before dealing begins.
Table Game Terms
Color Up
Exchanging a stack of lower-denomination chips for fewer higher-denomination chips of equal total value.
Table Game Terms
Cut Card
A solid-coloured plastic card used by players to cut the deck before dealing begins.