Joker Kings

[New2vp]

I messed around with Joker Kings on my VPW software last evening.  It's a cool game kind of like Jacks or Better with a wild card.  I can see a straight flush is a big deal.  One thing I don't understand.  When you are dealt a Joker without a royal flush draw, kings or aces, the software sometimes tells you to hold the joker and a lone small card with it.  Why is this?The short answer is to maximize EV. The longer answer is that it is easier to make 5 of a kinds if you hold an extra card and easier to make straights, flushes, and straight flushes if you hold the right card. I'll give an example below.* The increases in expected coins from these final hands offset the better chances at getting a paying pair by drawing a King or Ace if you hold only the joker. To get the paying pair, you are better off tossing all 4 non-joker cards.

Below isn't perfect strategy when dealt a joker and 4 non-matching ranks with no king or ace and no reasonable straight flush possibilities; but if you see nothing better to hold, then a reasonable priority is to hold the joker and one of the following:

1. Hold a 6, 7, or 8 if you have no other card suited with it.
2. Hold a Ten if you have no other card suited with it.
3. Hold a 5 or 9 if you have no other card suited with it.
4. Hold a 6, 7, or 8 with one card suited with it.
5. Hold a Ten with one card suited with it.
6. Hold a 5 or 9 with one card suited with it.

If you have 4 of the 5 ranks in {Q, J, 4, 3, 2}, with no straight flush possibilities, you can then hold the lone joker. These ranks don't help much in making straights or straight flushes. A rare exception is to hold the Jack with the Joker if you have 4 suits and the other 3 cards are 432.

This isn't perfect, but it'll do until and if you would want to get into nuances like when dealt Joker-9862 of different suits, that the 6 is better than the 8 because the 9 hurts the 8 more than it hurts the 6 in terms of making straights. With a lot of people, this hurts their head and makes the game less enjoyable. For those who like math better, it may be part of the fun. Nevertheless, be aware that computer-perfect software will sometimes give answers inconsistent with the shortcut priority that I listed.

Bob Dancer has written some columns on these games going way back in the past that you may want to consult. There's a particular reason why 5s, 9s and tens aren't as good as 6s, 7s, and 8s. It requires a little thought and Bob explained it well.

*As for the promised example, let's consider the admittedly rare possibility of getting 5 of a kind when dealt Joker-Q-8-5-2 with two options. Option A: Hold the joker only. Option B: Hold the joker and another card.

With Option B, you have to match the remaining 3 cards to whatever ranked non-joker card that you held. Admittedly this is very rare. Picking the exact perfect 3 cards out of 48 cards. Odds against 17295 to 1.

With Option A, you have to match the last 3 cards to whatever card you pick as your first card. Matching the last 3 cards will be almost but not quite as tough as in Option B IF the first card you pick is NOT a Queen, 8, 5, or 2. But if the first card is one of the twelve remaining Queens, 8s, 5s, or 2s, you will have no chance whatsoever of getting 5 of a kind. So 3/4 of the time, you will actually have slightly better odds to get quints, one chance in 16,215 (3 perfect cards out of 47 this time). But the other 1/4 of the time, when the first card you draw matches one of the ranks that you tossed, you will have no chance. This combines to be odds of 21,619 to 1 against.

To maximize your chances for 5 of a kind, it doesn't matter which card you select, so long as you pick one of them and do not toss all 4. So that leaves you with a choice to pick the best card when considering other final hands. If you pick a card that has no matching suits among the other 3 cards, you can get more flushes. If you pick a card in the middle of the deck (a five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten), you can get more straights. And you get a lot more straights and flushes with a joker in your hand than you can get when playing non-wild games. This is why you want to hold these single cards along with the jokers, a hold with which a non-wild game player could be unfamiliar.

Best of luck. The strategy is much more complicated as you broaden your horizon to include this game than it is when considering only non-wild games.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=new2vp]Best of luck. The strategy is much more complicated as you broaden your
horizon to include this game than it is when considering only non-wild
games.[/quote]Thanks for the explanation.  My head is already spinning.  I suspect there aren't many who play this game 100% perfect.  The next time I go to the casino I will check our pay schedules and see if it's worth learning a new game.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=pokerforme]Love the keno story lol! Wish they would separate VP and keno games. They are not fun to play around[/quote]I agree.  With only six good machines in Hollywood, it's annoying to have them tied up with keno players.  They can play any VP machine in the casino and they are sitting on the good games with their balls dropping.  

[onemoretry]

  They can play any VP machine in the casino and they are sitting on the good games with their balls dropping.  
You do mean the keno balls, don't you?

[FloridaPhil]

Well yes.  Some of our keno players are up in age, so it could be both.   The coolest thing I ever saw happen in keno was about 5-6 years ago in Tampa.  I was playing next to a young black man in the far back end of the casino.   I didn't notice what he was playing at first.  All of a sudden he started hollering and jumping all around.   I looked over and he was playing single dollar Keno with seven numbers.  He had hit all seven numbers for $7,000!  To say he was excited would be an understatement.   He proceeded to tell me he plays keno every day on his lunch hour and this was his biggest jackpot to date.  He called his wife and told her what had happened.   I was so happy for him.  I've seen a lot of Keno jackpots, but that was the best.