Every deck of card in any rummy card game has at least 2 joker cards in the group. There’s one which can be easily identified since it has the joker picture printed on the same. But the wild card joker is the one which can’t be identified easily. The joker designs are also innovative. If you see the variations you’ll be amazed.

Earlier when online rummy apps where not introduced, blank cards were used as joker. However, now things have changed. For those who’ve never played any game of rummy or are not acquainted with the joker, please note that the joker is a very powerful card. Do you need a sequence? Get a joker to complete the same successfully. Do you need a set? Even then the joker will help you?

However, the role of joker has evolved over time. If you ask what’s the main reason behind the same? Then, please note that since the different variants of rummy has developed over the time hence the rules for joker has also changed.

Having a brief look at the role of joker in rummy will give you a fair idea of the same.

Indian rummy:

While playing rummy in apps, if you opt for the Indian rummy version, then the role of joker can be completely utilized. The jokers in this variant is used for completing impure sequences and sets. To win in this version of rummy, you need to make one pure sequence, one impure sequence and a set. So, the joker will play a very important role here. There may be cases when you don’t have the right cards to form another pure sequence. If that’s the case, then joker will rescue you from such tricky situation.

Canasta:

This is a variation of 500 Rum. Here a joker card always acts as a wild card. There’s also a deuce card in hand and the only difference between both is joker has more points and deuce card has less points. Hence, whenever you’re engaged in playing rummy online and you’ve opted for the canasta version, then taking up the joker is a wise decision because it will get you more points than the deuce.

Pitch:

You’ll hear few people referring this game as “high low jack” as well. However, don’t be confused as both are same. It’s unquestionably one of the simplest variant and is still a popular variation of rummy which is played in England. Here the jokers are either called high pointers or low pointer cards. So, depending on the value that you need, you can use the type of joker during the gameplay.

There are around 7 versions of rummy that are being played worldwide. More or less the rules are same for every variation. However, the way you can use the joker keeps varying. In some variations the joker is used during melding and in others the jokers are not counted during the scoring time.

Play wisely and choose the game suiting to your style!